Karen Attiah: “The Washington Post Fired Me”
Former Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah this morning on Bluesky: “I’ve been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.” Until the Post’s relatively recent shift towards the right, Attiah had been a pivotal figure at the paper:
I am perhaps most proud of starting Washington Post’s Global Opinions section.
As its founding editor, I helped build a journalistic home for diverse writers from around the world, many of them censored for their views in their countries.
I hired Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2017, and worked with him closely until he was murdered by the Saudi regime in Istanbul — simply for expressing himself.
I put my safety on the line for years to push publicly for justice and accountability in his murder.
But now, she’s one of the dozens of people who have been fired or forced to resign over their comments in the aftermath of Kirk’s murder:
Now I am being silenced by the Washington Post for — *checks notes*
Lamenting America’s acceptance of apathy towards political violence and gun deaths — especially when the violence is encouraged and carried out by white men.
You can read what was so objectionable to the Post in Attiah’s newsletter, e.g.:
I wish I had hope for gun control and that I could believe “political violence has no place in this country”.
But we live in a country that accepts white children being massacred by gun violence.
Not just accepts, but worships violence.
She made only one direct reference to Kirk, quoting his own words:
“Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot”.
-Charlie Kirk
For this, the Post fired her:
And yet, the Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being “unacceptable”, “gross misconduct” and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false. They rushed to fire me without even a conversation.
I’m very glad we’ve put this cancel culture business behind us and that we once again have free speech. 🇺🇸
Comments 12
thread
latest
popular
Firing a Black woman for quoting Kirk’s horrific statements about Black women is insane. It seems the Washington Post would rather perform politeness (and demand that the people Kirk harmed do it too) that tell the truth: https://karenattiah.substack.com/p/the-washington-post-fired-me-but?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2bz6j
So the Washington Post fired Karen Attiah—a Black woman—for doing nothing more than quoting Charlie Kirk's words about Black women?
Is that what I'm understanding here?
https://bsky.app/profile/nickturse.bsky.social/post/3lyurlmo3ek2z
The firing of Karen Attiah infuriates me. She has been a voice of reason on a Washington Post opinion staff that has steadily become an embarrassment to a free press, thanks to Trump-enabling oligarch owner Jeff Bezos.
This is what "media capture" looks like in a society descending into fascism.
https://bsky.app/profile/karenattiah.bsky.social/post/3lyuo2opb4s2j
Even before the Post's firing of Karen Attiah, I wrote about the unbelievable irony of an unholy war to silence professors, schoolteachers, journalists and others who dare voice their opinions about the murder of Charlie Kirk, the supposed free-speech hero
My column https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/censorship-charlie-kirk-assassination-20250914.html
“Democracy Dies in Darkness” was meant to be a warning not a to-do list. How on earth can the Washington Post be expected to fight against government overreach in crushing dissent when it is doing Trump’s work for him?
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreig7lyfp32gt22egrtih2kurvrzwqj4ymqzizbdbwjs4d4rh6vnh6m@jpeg
We're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing. As has the lack of urgency/silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.
Karen Attiah, a black woman, got fired for
A: accurately quoting what Charlie Kirk said about Black women
B: Accurately observing that most white Americans seem permissive of white violence.
It's bullshit, but almost expected in this white supremacist country.
https://bsky.app/profile/karenattiah.bsky.social/post/3lyuo2opb4s2j
The Post’s decision to fire Karen Attiah, one of their strongest voices, is just despicable. Unfortunately, it speaks to the moment we’re in.
The best thing we can do is vigorously support Karen’s work.
https://bsky.app/profile/karenattiah.bsky.social/post/3lyuo2opb4s2j
What is heartbreaking is how unprepared journalistic institutions are to defend democracy, which can’t exist without a free press. They have miserably and horribly failed. This is just the latest example.
Black Voices Are Vital to Democracy. The Media Must Stop Firing Them.
Status got a copy of the letter that the Post sent to Attiah. You can read it here without a subscription.
The Washington Post Fires Its Last Black Opinion Columnist For Directly Quoting A Bigot:
Hello! In order to comment or fave, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions. Or try logging out and then back in. Still having trouble? Email me!
In order to comment or fave, you need to be a current kottke.org member. Check out your options for renewal.
If you feel like this comment goes against the grain of the community guidelines or is otherwise inappropriate, please let me know and I will take a look at it.
This thread is closed for new comments & replies. Thanks to everyone for participating!