Violence against women should never be normalized or minimized — least of all in an obituary that one imagines took months if not years to put together, and which likely went through many layers of editing. There are lessons for all news outlets here. 1/x
If your headline mentions the subject’s successes but not the murder they committed, if your story devotes 20 paragraphs to the subject’s career and one paragraph at the end to their violence against women and children — what message does that send to readers? To survivors? 2/x
That news organizations are quick to change their headlines and framing in the wake of a social media backlash is good, but it’s not enough. Survivors are routinely erased in life as well as death. Media outlets have an important role to play in ensuring that does not happen. 3/x
On a personal note: On New Year’s Eve, I went back to the Post newsroom for the first time since the pandemic struck in March. On my desk were two pieces of mail that had arrived while we’ve all been working from home. One was from a reader. 4/x
The reader wrote to encourage me after my suspension last January. He wrote, in part: “It is NOT easy to do the right thing, but people (especially my fellow men) need to be reminded that ‘Me Too’ has forever changed what powerful people can get away with.” 5/x
He concluded: “I’m glad you’re with The Post. Help it be what we all need it to be.” 6/x
It is hard to call out one’s industry, and one’s own employer, when they’re not doing the right thing. But the alternative—giving all women the message that they, too, may one day be erased—is unacceptable. Editors, please help our news outlets be what we all need them to be. 7/7
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
