Embarrassing WaPo Social Media Feud Continues

The newspaper that broke Watergate continues to be broken by tweet-gate as a fed-up reporter begged her whistleblower colleague to mute her attacks on bosses and co-workers after they described the newsroom as “collegial,” according to The NY Post.

“Please stop,” tweeted Washington Post reporter Lisa Rein at fellow staffer Felicia Sonmez, who continued her social media onslaught Tuesday despite the suspension of politicss writer David Weigel  for retweeting a joke she deemed sexist.

Rein, Weigel, Sonmez (NY Post graphic)

Sonmez’s tweetstorm came after Sally Buzbee, the Washington Post’s executive editor, circulated a stern memo warning reporters to stop “attacking colleagues either face to face or online.”

It followed a missive she issued over the weekend as the Twitter storm brewed in which Buzbee wrote: “We are a collegial and creative newsroom doing an astonishing amount of important and groundbreaking journalism. One of the great strengths of our newsroom is our collaborative spirit.”

After the second memo, some of the paper’s most prominent journalists chimed in to calm the boiling tempers at the Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet. Their tweets included nearly identical language professing how “proud” they are to work at the newspaper and the “collegial” attitude in the newsroom.

Ashley Parker, the White House bureau chief, tweeted: “The Post is not perfect. No institution is. But I’m proud to work here. I love coming to work (almost) every single day, and knowing that my colleagues are collegial, collaborative and the fun humans — not to mention talented journalists — who are always striving to do better.”

Investigative political reporter Josh Dawsey tweeted, “no institution is perfect, including the post. but the place is filled with many terrific people who are smart and collegial. i’m proud to work here.”

And Amy Gardner, a political reporter, wrote: “The Washington Post newsroom is filled with collegial, collaborative and respectful journalists who do critically important work every day. I’m immensely proud to work here.”

Sonmez quickly mocked the idea that her place of work was “collegial.”

These tweets falsely accusing me of “clout chasing,” “bullying,” “cruelty” and directing an “eager mob” to carry out “a barrage online abuse” are still up … even after I repeatedly raised them to management and noted that I’ve been receiving threats and abuse.

Collegial! pic.twitter.com/uZpoGEyEGh

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 8, 2022