Washington Post staff rally behind journalist suspended for tweeting about Kobe Bryant rape case

Staff members at the Washington Post have rallied behind a journalist who was suspended after posting a tweet in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death that focused on allegations of sexual assault against the late NBA player.

The newspaper’s media critic Erik Wemple described the move as “misguided” in an opinion piece posted on the outlet's own website, as the Washington Post Guild — a union representing 1,000 editorial staff at the publication — expressed “alarm and dismay” at the decision in an open letter to the top editors.

“We understand the hours after Bryant’s death Sunday were a fraught time to share reporting about past accusations of sexual assault,” the Post Guild wrote in its letter to executive editor Marty Baron and managing editor Tracy Grant. “The loss of such a beloved figure, and of so many other lives, is a tragedy. But we believe it is our responsibility as a news organization to tell the public the whole truth as we know it — about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely.”

Felicia Sonmez, national political reporter for the Washington Post, tweeted a Daily Beast article from 2016 on Sunday which detailed the sexual assault allegations against Bryant, including a 2003 rape accusation. Along with a link to the article, she wrote its headline titled: “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.”

She then said in a follow-up tweet that thousands of people had sent her comments and emails “with abuse and death threats”, adding: “Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality is unsettling.”

Ms Sonmez continued: “That folks are responding with rage [and] threats toward me (someone who didn’t even write the piece but found it well-reported) speaks volumes about the pressure people come under to stay silent in these cases.”

The journalist was subsequently suspended from her role at the Post, with reporting from the New York Times saying she received an email from Mr Baron which read: “A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. You're hurting this institution by doing this."

Ms Grant then echoed those comments in a public statement on Monday, saying Ms Sonmez’ tweets “displayed poor judgement that undermined the work of her colleagues."

But the suspension caused swift backlash throughout the media, with other prominent reporters and editors slamming the paper for removing Ms Sonmez during an apparent onslaught of harassment.

Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York Magazine, wrote in a tweet: “News organizations should protect their journalists, not acquiesce to the mob when it comes for them. The Washington Post not only failed Felicia Sonmez, but set a dangerous precedent.”

The move was also condemned as “outrageous” by Yashar Ali, a contributor to HuffPost and New York Magazine with over half a million Twitter followers.

“You don’t even have to agree with @FeliciaSonmez tweets to agree that for her to be suspended for tweeting out a newsstory and then talking about being harassed for her tweets is an insane reaction,” he wrote.

Ms Sonmez later deleted the tweets after reportedly receiving an email from Ms Grant that said she’d be “in violation of a directive from a managing editor” if she kept them on her profile.

She then checked into a hotel while fearing for her safety back at home, according to the Mr Wemple’s report, when she learned in a phone call with Ms Grant that she was being immediately placed on administrative leave.

The media critic also wrote that “if journalists at The Post are prone to suspension for tweeting stories off their beats, the entire newsroom should be on administrative leave.”

The Washington Post has not indicated when Ms Sonmez’ suspension will end.