It hasn’t been an easy week for the Washington Post, the disgraced paper was in the news for the wrong reason on three separate occasions.
Occasion One
Back in 2028, the WaPo published an article by
actress Amber Heard where she claimed to be a victim of sexual violence and
domestic abuse. The implication was that her then-husband actor Johnny Depp was
the perpetrator.
Any responsible news organization would have confirmed with
Depp about the allegations prior to publication. The WaPo did no such
thing, they published Heard’s version.
Depp sued Heard for defamation over the op-ed. After a trial
that drew considerable public interest, the jury found that claims made in
Heard's op-ed were false, defamed Depp, and made with malice. They awarded
Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Surprisingly Depp didn’t sue the WaPo for allowing the piece
to be publishing the piece.
Reason Two.
Washington Post politics reporter Dave Weigel was under
the spotlight for retweeting a ‘sexist joke’ that states,
“Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar
or sexual.”
The line is neither funny nor insightful, it is juvenile and
immature.
But Weigel’s WaPo colleague Felicia Sonmez was incensed by
it.
Sonmez tweeted it was “Fantastic to work at a news outlet
where retweets like this are allowed!” with a screenshot of Weigel’s retweet.
Sonmez and Weigel shared a byline in
WaPo in late April, she obviously knows him personally. She could have
privately reached out to him and expressed her displeasure. But instead, she
chose to attack him in public.
Weigel deleted his ‘offensive tweet’ and issued an apology
https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1532771139323211776
But bullies such as Sonmez are only emboldened with apologies.
We know victimhood can earn you fame and wealth in current
times. Sonmez probably realized this and proceeded to add fuel to the fire
on social media.
Sonmez also tweeted images of another WaPo colleague Post, Jose
Del Real, who accepted that Weigel’s retweet was “terrible and unacceptable,”
but rightly urged her to accept Weigel’s apology instead of “rallying the
internet to attack him for a mistake he made,” which “doesn’t actually solve
anything.”
Sonmez claimed to be attacked by Del Real and compared
Weigel’s tweet to racism and prejudice against LGBT+ people.
https://twitter.com/feliciasonmez/status/1533431677518856193
This prompted Del Real to reveal he is both gay and Mexican
i.e. twice the victim as Sonmez.
https://twitter.com/jdelreal/status/1533287799050354689
Sonmez realized she couldn’t go any further and claimed her
tweets were ‘directed towards Del Real.
https://twitter.com/feliciasonmez/status/1533298003510972416
Days later, Sonmez retweeted many who supported her and shared
screenshots of some who abused her.
She even Tweeted an image of the famous Wiesel quote i.e. she
was comparing herself with the victims of Nazi Germany for a 'joke' that
wasn't even directed at her.
https://twitter.com/Red_eyedjedi/status/1533454540690837505
Finally, Wa Po Executive Editor Sally Buzbee sent a memo to
her colleagues urging them to treat each other with respect and kindness
https://twitter.com/BenMullin/status/1533479995426865153
But Sonmez’s tirade on
social media still continues.
Reason Three
Next was Taylor Lorenz, WaPo "internet culture"
columnist, who claimed in her story about YouTube channels that thrived during
the Depp-Heard trial that she had reached out for comment to two YouTubers,
"LegalBytes" host Alyte Mazeika and an anonymous user named
ThatUmbrellaGuy. She also suggested that Depp’s representative was in contact
with some Internet influencers, implying that this was a coordinated effort.
Both Mazeika and ThatUmbreallaGuy called out Lorenz on Twitter
and said she never attempted to seek comment from them prior to
publishing.
After Lorenz was exposed for her baseless claim, The Post
issued a corrigendum, stating, "A previous version of this story
inaccurately attributed to [Depp representative] Adam Waldman a quote
describing how he contacted some Internet influencers. That quote has been
removed. The story has also been amended to note The Post’s attempts to reach
Alyte Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy for comment. Previous versions omitted or inaccurately
described these attempts."
Back in April, WaPo carried an op-ed by Lorenz about the
Twitter account Libs of TikTok where they revealed the identity of the account
owner as Chaya Raichik and information about her address. Lorenz explicitly and
needily stated that Raichik was an orthodox Jew, causing many to wonder if it
was a dog whistle for antisemites to attach Chaya.
In the past, Lorenz had falsely claimed to as being
"relentlessly" harassed by someone who she publicly identified as an
editor for Drudge Report.
When she worked with the New York Times, Lorenz falsely
claimed on Twitter that the Silicon Valley investor Marc
Andreessen had called her "r-slur" during a conversation on the
audio-driven social media app Clubhouse about Redditors' recent splash.
Beyond Lorenz, the Washington Post has always had a
distant relationship with facts. They were a leading proponent of the Russia
collusion hoax for which they were awarded the Pulitzer by a jury that
comprised of their own associate editor, Carlos Lozada.
The WaPo also smeared
the Covington Teen Nick Sandmann alleging that he displayed bigotry
towards Native American elder Nathan Phillips’s path. Sandmann then filed a
$250M defamation lawsuit against WaPo, which the disgraced paper was compelled
to settle.
The WaPo isn’t always mean, they have displayed compassion on
rare occasions. When ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was killed after
President Trump issued an order. The WaPo described
him as an “austere religious scholar” who “maintained a canny
pragmatism” and that “acquaintances would remember him as a shy, near-sighted
youth who liked soccer but preferred to spend his free time at the local
mosque”.
Their record is disgraceful, yet do not expect any course
correction on their part.
The self-righteous never see their own mistakes.
They will still maintain Amber Heard is the victim and the
'sexist' jury was wrong. They will insist that Felicia Sonmez was right to
create a firestorm over a silly joke. They will also contend that despite being
a serial offender Taylor Lorenz’s mistakes were purely inadvertent. They may
even insist that Trump colluded with Putin to win the 2016 elections, but the
evil genius that he is, he managed to evade Special Counsel Mueller’s watchful
eyes.
They do not need to be factual. They have also developed
a business model where fanatical subscribers, including Washington insiders,
read their propaganda to have their biases confirmed and hate affirmed.
They exist to appease their subscribers who fund their
enterprise founded on falsehoods. These subscribers are like addicts looking to
get high from their latest dose of hate against Trump, the GOP, conservatives,
and anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their worldview. To keep their
subscribers 'high', the WaPo is devolving into more outrageousness and toxicity
every day.
Despite their ignominious record, their stories still lead the
news cycle. They have also built an eco-system where they win prestigious
journalistic prizes after having their personnel as jury.
This week they have proved that the WaPo is not only rotten in
output i.e. their content but also rotten within with their staff members squabbling in public for cheap publicity.
The motto of the WaPo is “democracy dies in
darkness”.
What has died in broad daylight is their credibility and
reputation
Also appears on American Thinker
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