Felicia Sonmez

2022 - 6 - 9

felicia sonmez washington post

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

Felicia Sonmez terminated by The Washington Post after Twitter ... (The Washington Post)

The politics reporter's criticism of newsroom colleagues had drawn widespread attention in recent days.

“They are among the ‘stars’ who ‘get away with murder’ on social media,” she wrote. Sonmez was briefly placed on administrative leave in January 2020 after tweeting in the hours after NBA star Kobe Bryant’s death about the criminal charges of rape, later dropped, he had faced years earlier. Engaging in repeated and targeted public harassment of a colleague is neither a good look nor is it particularly effective. D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony C. Epstein dismissed her lawsuit in March. Weigel apologized for the retweet and deleted it from his account. It turns the language of inclusivity into clout chasing and bullying.”

Felicia Sonmez: Washington Post reporter fired after a week of ... (CNN)

The Washington Post on Thursday fired Felicia Sonmez, the reporter who has been extraordinarily critical of her colleagues and the newspaper's leadership ...

"Unit leadership is committed to ensuring that our contract is respected and workers are only disciplined with just cause," the statement said. "But," he added, "rallying the internet to attack him for a mistake he made doesn't actually solve anything. "Respect for others is critical to any civil society, including our newsroom." We do not comment on individual personnel issues." Jose A. Del Real, a reporter at The Post, responded on Twitter Saturday to Sonmez's initial tweet. There is such a thing as challenging with compassion."

Felicia Sonmez Is Fired by The Washington Post (The New York Times)

Felicia Sonmez, a national political reporter, has been at the center of a debate over The Post's social media policies.

Ms. Sonmez defended herself in another set of tweets on Thursday morning, before she was fired, saying, “I care deeply about my colleagues, and I want this institution to provide support for all employees. At times she jousted with fellow journalists at The Post on Twitter. The case was dismissed in March, with the judge noting that The Post had attributed the coverage bans not to her being a victim of sexual assault but to concerns that her public statements had created an appearance of bias. The news that Ms. Sonmez was no longer employed by The Post was reported earlier by The Daily Beast. Ms. Sonmez was fired over email on Thursday afternoon, according to one of the people. On Friday, Dave Weigel, a political reporter at the paper, retweeted a sexist joke that implied women were either bisexual or bipolar. Mr. Weigel apologized for the tweet. In the past week, she has been at the center of a public firestorm over the newsroom’s culture. In the following days, Ms. Sonmez wrote numerous posts on Twitter about the newsroom culture at The Post and what she said was the uneven way its social media policy was applied to different reporters. Ms. Sonmez, a national political reporter, sued the paper and several top editors last year, saying they had discriminated against her by barring her from covering stories about sexual assault after she had publicly identified herself as a victim of assault. “We represent and provide support to all members facing discipline,” it said. Felicia Sonmez, a reporter for The Washington Post who in recent days has been at the center of a debate over the organization’s social media policies and the culture of the newsroom, was fired on Thursday, according to three people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Washington Post Fires Reporter Felicia Sonmez After Public Feud (Forbes)

Sonmez clashed with colleagues in recent days after Post journalist Dave Weigel retweeted a sexist joke.

Sonmez was pulled from covering the topic after she revealed she was a victim of sexual assault. Sonmez has long clashed with Post leadership, filing a lawsuit last year against the publication's top editors, claiming their decision to prevent her from covering sexual assault stories was discriminatory. Managing Editor Tracy Grant claimed the tweets "displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues."

Felicia Sonmez fired by The Washington Post (Politico)

The paper's parting with the high-profile journalist came after days of publicly aired infighting sparked by a colleague's retweet of a crude joke about ...

Another Post reporter, Jose A. Del Real, accused Sonmez of trying to publicly bully Weigel over a mistake for which he had apologized. Last year, Sonmez filed a lawsuit against the paper after it prohibited her from covering stories related to sexual assault and misconduct, citing her previous high-profile statements condemning harassment and mistreatment. The Washington Post did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Washington Post Fires Felicia Sonmez After Extended Twitter Blowup (New York Magazine)

The Washington 'Post' has fired Felicia Sonmez, a political reporter who had been waging a social-media battle against the newspaper for days, ...

The saga began when fellow politics reporter Dave Weigel retweeted a sexist joke last Friday and Sonmez highlighted it on Twitter, writing, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” Weigel quickly deleted his tweet and apologized, but the firestorm was only beginning. In 2018, after she publicly disclosed that she had been a victim of sexual assault, the Post temporarily removed her from the Me Too beat and from covering the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, which Sonmez said showed “discriminatory motive.” And in January 2020, the Post temporarily suspended her for tweeting an article about allegations of sexual assault against Kobe Bryant shortly after his death. Sonmez drew widespread sympathy after that episode, which many saw as an overreaction on the part of then-editor Marty Baron. In March, a judge dismissed Sonmez’s lawsuit, though her lawyer said she plans to appeal.

Washington Post Political Reporter Felicia Sonmez Fired After ... (Deadline)

Sonmez started the war by tweeting her objections about an off-color joke retweeted by a male reporter. He took down the joke and apologized, but the WaPo ...

He also said Sonmez’s “public attempts to question the motives of your co-journalists” undermined The Post’s reputation. The New York Times reported it had viewed a copy of the email. Sonmez was unmoved, and kept up her barrage, broadening her attacks on colleagues who issued tweets of support for the WaPo organization.