More evidence has emerged that the Washington Post’s newsroom can’t take a joke after lightning rod reporter Taylor Lorenz took offense at a Father’s Day COVID quip by a fellow left-wing journalist.
Matthew Yglesias, co-founder of Vox and an influential liberal pundit, tried to crack wise on Twitter after learning he had contracted COVID-19. But Lorenz, like former colleague Felicia Sonmez, who was fired after blasting a colleague and the paper over a mildly sexist joke, didn’t think it was funny.
“Some personal news: I have contracted the novel coronavirus,” Yglesias tweeted Sunday. “Frankly, I think the virus should respect Father’s Day more than this.” He then went on to quip that “FYI, all future typos are due to long Covid.”
Wash Post still working out the struggle I guess. pic.twitter.com/DIDtZKnrrf
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 19, 2022
Lorenz, who was recently dropped from the newspaper’s vaunted features team after an embarrassing screwup in a story on content creators and the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, wasn’t laughing or expressing concern for Yglesias’ health.
“I’m glad it’s a joke for u Matt and that you’re lucky enough to get access to great care, but for those who have had their lives destroyed by the virus and who have had loved ones die from or suffer w/ LC it’s not funny. Hope you can have a little more empathy, especially today,” she tweeted.
Earlier this month, the newsroom was rocked by another attempt at humor. Star reporter David Weigel retweeted a joke that offended Sonmez, who publicly called out the newspaper.
“Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual,” was the joke that prompted Sonmez to question on Twitter why the newspaper would employ someone who would share such a joke. Sonmez then continued to complain about her colleagues when some defended Weigel, who had immediately apologized.
The newspaper suspended Weigel for a month without pay but then fired Sonmez when she refused to stop publicly complaining.
On Friday, “Real Time” host Bill Maher said the Washington Post’s newsroom was like a “daycare center” full of spoiled and entitled scolds. And that was before Lorenz objected publicly to Yglesias’s tweet. Maher invoked the Post’s storied past, including breaking the Watergate story nearly 50 years ago. “Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were focused on getting stories, not finding offense in their colleagues’ behavior,” he said.
“If someone named Deep Throat called the paper today and wanted to meet in a parking garage, this crew of emotional hemophiliacs would have an anxiety attack and report it to HR that they didn’t feel safe,” Maher said.