Thread by @feliciasonmez

I’ve gotten a few questions about whether @EmilyYoffe reached out to me for her Reason piece on the accusations against Jonathan Kaiman. So let me address them here. (1/x)

Three weeks ago, Ms. Yoffe sent me an email informing me of the story and seeking comment. When writing an actual investigative piece, most reporters send a list of detailed questions asking their source to rebut accusations and confirm information. Ms. Yoffe didn’t do that. 2/x

I thought that was a red flag. I was also familiar with Ms. Yoffe’s previous work, including a 2013 piece in which she argued that sexual assaults on drunk women were the woman’s fault. I declined to comment and sent Ms. Yoffe a quote I gave to another outlet last year. 3/x

Hours later, a woman who has accused Mr. Kaiman — but had not gone public in press reports — told me she had received an alarming email from Ms. Yoffe. The email was intended for @kmanguward, Ms. Yoffe’s editor at @reason. But Ms. Yoffe had sent it to the woman by mistake. 4/x

In the email, Ms. Yoffe said she “loved” the details of the woman’s sexual encounter with Mr. Kaiman, which was an alleged assault. Ms. Yoffe also told her editor that the incident proved women get a “thrill” out of accusing their attackers. 5/x

With the woman’s permission, I contacted Ms. Yoffe and her editors about the email the next day. I wanted to make sure they were aware of her comments, which were not only offensive but also appeared to show bias against victims and would call her credibility into question. 6/x

I received a reply from @kmanguward stating that she was aware of Ms. Yoffe’s email and that she would take my concerns into consideration. 7/x

After the piece published on Friday, the woman decided to share Ms. Yoffe’s email publicly — sacrificing her anonymity in order to call attention to Ms. Yoffe’s statements and @reason’s egregious decision to publish her piece anyway. 8/x

Ms. Yoffe’s editor, @kmanguward, has responded by defending the piece and dismissing Ms. Yoffe’s problematic remarks. “There is nothing in the email that is not reflected in more professional tones in the published piece,” she writes. 9/x

To write fairly about sexual misconduct — or, indeed, any issue — requires gaining the trust of both sides, as any good journalist could tell you. Ms. Yoffe’s email and her previous work obviously undermined that effort. 10/x

Ms. Yoffe’s editors surely understood that the gleeful tone of her email, in which Ms. Yoffe denigrates one of Mr. Kaiman’s accusers and appears to mock her allegations, would compromise her ability to gain any of our trust. I already had misgivings, but this confirmed them. 11/x

So, to sum up: no person should feel obligated to give an interview to someone they believe is operating in bad faith. And if you decline an interview request and the author and her editors later publish an error-riddled nightmare, that’s not your fault, either. 12/x

The day after I posted my correction request, another reporter told me of someone they know who was interviewed by Ms. Yoffe for a piece years ago and later felt their words were used inaccurately to support Ms. Yoffe’s argument. My heart breaks. This is unacceptable. 13/13