The Washington Post recently moved columnist Taylor Lorenz from features staff to the technology team, sources told The New York Times.
After a recent incident regarding incorrect attribution, The Washington Post removed her from the features staff team and has requested that the paper’s senior managing editor, Cameron Barr, review all of her articles before publication, The New York Times reported.
The Washington Post issued two corrections to Lorenz’s June 3 article, “Who won the Depp-Heard trial? Content creators that went all-in,” that stated YouTubers Alyte Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy did not respond to her requests for comment. The two separately tweeted that they were never contacted by Lorenz.
The editor’s note stated that the piece “incorrectly” reported that they were contacted for comment, noting that Lorenz only contacted Mazieka via Instagram before the column’s publication. The issue was updated to say that Mazeika “declined to comment” and ThatUmbrellaGuy “could not be reached.”
Lorenz blamed her editor, who sources identified to be David Malitz, for adding the incorrect information and had asked that it be removed after publication. (RELATED: Taylor Lorenz Walks Back Claims After Falsely Alleging A Drudge Report Editor Harassed Her)
“Last Thursday, an incorrect line was added to a story of mine before publishing due to a miscommunication with an editor,” she tweeted June 4. “I did not write the line and was not aware it was inserted. I asked for it to be removed right after the story went live.”
The line was a sentence saying that I reached out to 2 YouTubers for comment for my story. The inclusion of the YouTubers was only in passing, citing another outlet’s reporting.
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 4, 2022
The tweets were discussed and agreed upon between Lorenz and three editors before posting them, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper also addressed a line in the article that incorrectly attributed a quote to Hollywood actor Johnny Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman. The piece originally claimed Waldman said he “‘slid’ into big influencer’s DM’s” to provide evidence that his client was innocent of the accusations brought against him by his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
“A previous version of this story also inaccurately attributed a quote to Adam Waldman, a lawyer for Johnny Depp,” the editor’s note said. “The quote described how he contacted some Internet influencers and has been removed.”
Malitz was previously offered a promotion to run the features department, but executive editor Sally Buzbee pushed back on that offer after the Lorenz incident, according to The New York Times.
Buzbee met with editors in a video conference Tuesday to discuss the recent newsroom uproar and emailed employees Wednesday of a draft updating social media policy, according to The New York Times. The draft said employees are not expected to engage on social media platforms or “harm the integrity” of the newsroom.
Conflict arose in the newsroom after political reporter David Weigel retweeted a joke by YouTuber Cam Harless that said, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if its polar or sexual.” Former national political reporter Felicia Sonmez repeatedly targeted her own outlet and co-workers accusing them of discrimination for several days before Buzbee sent her a termination letter on June 9.