AP Staffers Blast Reporter's Firing for Old Social Media Posts in Open Letter
Source: Mediaite
It 'Caused the Public to Question the Credibility of Our Reporting'. More than 100 Associated Press staffers sign a Monday letter to their company asking for details on Emily Wilder's firing, claiming it caused readers to "question" the "credibility" of their reporting.
"We strongly disapprove of the way the AP has handled the firing of Emily Wilder and its dayslong silence internally," the employees wrote in the open letter to company management. "We demand more clarity from the company about why Wilder was fired. It remains unclear -- to Wilder herself as well as staff at large -- how she violated the social media policy while employed by the AP." "We are also concerned about the ramifications of this decision for newsroom morale and AP's credibility," the group added. "Wilder was a young journalist, unnecessarily harmed by the AP's handling and announcement of its firing of her. We need to know that the AP would stand behind and provide resources to journalists who are the subject of smear campaigns and online harassment."
Wilder, a 2020 graduate of Stanford University, began working for the company on May 3. She was fired 16 days later, after saying on social media that she disapproved of how media outlets -- including the Associated Press -- covered Palestine's conflict with Israel. "'Objectivity' feels fickle when the basic terms we use to report news implicitly stake a claim," Wilder wrote. "Using 'israel' but never 'palestine,' or 'war' but not 'siege and occupation' are political choices -- yet media make those exact choices all the time without being flagged as biased." The comment also inspired criticism of posts Wilder wrote on social media as a college student, including one in which she referred to Jewish donor Sheldon Adelson as a "naked mole rat-looking billionaire." "As journalists who cover contentious subjects, we are often the target of people unhappy with scrutiny," reporters wrote in their Monday letter. "What happens when they orchestrate a smear campaign targeting another one of us? Interest groups are celebrating their victory and turning their sights on more AP journalists. They have routinely made journalists' identities subject to attack. Once we decide to play this game on the terms of those acting in bad faith, we can't win.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/news/ap-staffers-blast-reporters-firing-for-old-social-media-posts-in-open-letter-it-caused-the-public-to-question-the-credibility-of-our-reporting/
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