Today's Mantra Is Scream Into That Void Until You Feel Something Real! Woooo!
Happy Tuesday, darlings! I spent the weekend battling back a cold that hit me Thursday night, which meant 10 hours of sleep a night and constantly burning sage (j/k kinda but seriously.) So when I sat down to write the Missive yesterday, I kept drawing a big old blank, so I instead made an extra cup of coffee and went to work early. My life: you KNOW you’re envious of how glamorous it is.
But the internet does not (evidently) wait for any such inspiration, so let’s get to it!
On Sunday, Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter accident in LA. Amidst internet mourning, Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez pointed her Twitter followers to a 2016 Daily Beast article on a sexual-assault allegation against the basketball star from 2003. This led to a massive backlash against her on the platform, with death threats sent also to her inbox. Sonmez then shared those threats with her followers on Twitter. Shortly after all of this, The Washington Post suspended her, claiming that her tweets were outside her coverage area. And shortly after that, Erik Wemple, the Post’s media critic, published an excellent opinion piece on why the Post suspending her was just such a bad idea.
Need your weekly scream into the void? Site That Ran Anti-Semitic Remarks Got Passes for Trump Trip (if an awful screed like that can get presidential press credentials, do ya think that if I abandoned all of my morals and turned this newsletter into a hate-filled cesspool, I could use this Missive to get a free coffee somewhere?)
Oh yea, void screaming is all the rage, because also this! Bolton Was Concerned That Trump Did Favors for Autocratic Leaders, Book Says. And if you’re wondering why I’m not covering the impeachment trial much in this here newsletter, it’s because every time I try and get caught up on it, I find myself grinding my teeth and tbh I don’t think my blood pressure can handle it.
And finally, via McSweeney’s, I FEEL ATTACKED!!!! I Am Quitting Exclamation Points.
Adore you all. Be kind to each other, ok?
xoxo Amy