What constitutes a conversation these days?
Personally, I think it’s two people talking to each other — on text (think Sydney Leathers), on the phone (think your mom), on GChat (that coworker you snicker with during the office editorial meeting) or…Twitter’s Direct Messaging system.
Washington Post‘s resident Ferguson activist Wesley Lowery did just that this week: He DM’ed with Washington Examiner‘s media writer Eddie Scarry and then denied having the “conversation.” In fact, he denied that it was a conversation, Scarry told The Mirror.
The story was published Wednesday. Lowery offered quotes for it.
For a millennial like Lowery, 24, to not understand that DMing is conversing these days is simply disgraceful. It’s a little like not understanding that people have tongues and that when they use them to speak to others, that this is a “conversation.”
Wesley obviously didn’t like the story, even though it was fair, considering that he clearly inserted himself into the Ferguson story by not leaving a McDonald’s when police ordered him to do so. Hence his getting roughed up against a soda machine with his partner in crime, HuffPost‘s Ryan Reilly, who didn’t get shoved, as riots awaited them outside. Wesley was actually not arrested. He and Riley were detained for 45 minutes, but they milked it for months.
This week’s Examiner story reported that some of Wesley’s coworkers are tiring of his dickish Twitter behavior in which he acts like an activist as opposed to a reporter and accuses fellow journalists of being racist or otherwise not quite up to snuff when covering Ferguson.
“…his social media antics have rubbed some of his colleagues within the newsroom the wrong way,” the Examiner reported while noting that his behavior violates WaPo‘s own social media policy. The story noted that other Washington reporters who’ve inserted their personal takes on controversial matters have gotten removed from the story or fired for it.
Wesley of course had other complaints about the story. And if you’ve ever examined his Twitter feed, with Wesley, complaints are like diarrhea after a trip to Mexico — it’s complicated, explosive and sometimes takes awhile. In yet another “conversation” over DM, Scarry explained that Lowery complained that the story was a “hit piece.” He also groused about a racial tweet concerning the murder of Trayvon Martin that he wrote in 2012 being used in the story. (God forbid a reporter shows a pattern of behavior.)
In reaction to the story, Wesley did the only thing left in his power. He — STAND BACK EVERYONE — blocked Scarry on Twitter.
But it wasn’t without some angst.
“Why is Wesley Lowery still tweeting me after he blocked me?” Scarry tweeted.
Later baiting him a little, Scarry gave his followers the following instruction: “Anytime you tweet at me, include @WesleyLowery so that he’ll always see me in his timeline.”
Wesley snapped, “Grow up.”
But Wesley isn’t the only one with objections to the Examiner story. I have a beef too, which is that I said that Wesley acts like “kind of a bitch” on Twitter. Examiner editors took that line out.
Can’t win ’em all.