- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
The numbers of Kobe Bryant 1:05
New York (CNN Business) - An important editor of The Washington Post said on Tuesday that a journalist who was suspended for tweets she published immediately after Kobe Bryant's death had not violated the newspaper's social media policy. The reporter was reinstated.
The reporter, Felicia Sonmez, faced a violent reaction online after she tweeted a 2016 Daily Beast story, just hours after the news of the tragic helicopter crash of the basketball legend, detailing a charge of sexual assault against him.
Bryant was charged in 2003 with sexual assault, but the criminal charge was later dropped. Although Bryant failed to admit his guilt, he acknowledged that while he considered the meeting as consensual, his accuser did not. Bryant then settled a civil lawsuit with his accuser for an undisclosed amount of money.
The newspaper said Monday that Sonmez had been placed on administrative leave while checking whether his tweets violated newspaper policies, an action that was widely criticized by journalists, including The Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple.
"After conducting an internal review, we have determined that, although we believe that Felicia's tweets were not timely, she did not clearly and directly violate our social media policy," Tracy Grant, executive editor of The Washington Post said in a statement. .
"In social networks, reporters represent The Washington Post, and our policy states that 'we must always keep in mind the preservation of The Washington Post's reputation for its journalistic excellence, justice and independence,'" Grant continued. "We constantly urge moderation, which is particularly important when there are tragic deaths."
And he concluded: "We are sorry to have spoken publicly about a matter of our staff."
A spokesman for The Washington Post added to CNN Business that Sonmez had been reinstated.
Grant had said in a statement on Monday that Sonmez's tweets "showed a poor judgment that undermined his colleagues' work." And, according to The New York Times, Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, sent an email to Sonmez after his tweets were initially published to say these showed "a real lack of judgment."
On Tuesday, Sonmez tweeted that he believes that readers and newspaper staff, including herself, should listen directly to Baron about the newspaper's handling of this matter.
"The Washington Post journalists strive to comply with the newspaper's mission statement, which says: 'The newspaper will tell EVERYTHING the truth as far as I can know it, in relation to the important issues of the United States and the world,'" he wrote. . "My suspension and the January 26 email from Mr. Baron warning me that my tweets about a public record issue were 'hurting this institution', unfortunately they have sown confusion about the depth of management's commitment to this goal."
Wemple wrote on Monday that Sonmez's suspension by the newspaper was "wrong."
Sonmez told Wemple that he stayed in a hotel room on Sunday night for fear of his safety after receiving death threats for his tweets.
According to Wemple, Grant previously told him in an email that the newspaper's concern with Sonmez's tweet was that he did not "belong" to his "coverage area."
But, as Wemple observed, "if journalists in the newspaper are prone to suspension for tweeting stories outside the field of action, the entire newsroom should be administratively licensed."
Sonmez was one of two people who accused Jonathan Kaiman, former head of the Beijing office of The Los Angeles Times, of inappropriate sexual behavior in 2018.
After an investigation, Kaiman finally resigned, according to The New York Times, although he defended his actions and said they were "mutually agreed."
In a statement released Monday, The Post Guild, which represents newspaper employees, said: "This is not the first time The Post has tried to control how Felicia talks about sexual violence issues."
“Felicia is an assault survivor who bravely presented her story two years ago. When articles in which other media attacked her were published, the newspaper did not issue a statement in support of one of its respected policy reporters, ”Guild said. "Instead, management issued a warning letter against Felicia for violating the vague and inconsistent guidelines of The Post's social networks."
The Post Guild criticized The Washington Post, saying that the newspaper "had not offered a clear explanation of why they put it on leave."
Kobe Bryant