To those bizarrely attacking me for speaking out, or snidely saying things like “Day 7” — of course I’m still speaking out.
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 9, 2022
This is about systemic issues that run far deeper than a single tweet by any employee. Pushing for change takes far longer than 7 days. 15/
And here's the Vanity Fair article from 2 days ago, containing a lot of background, "'CLUSTERF--K': INSIDE THE WASHINGTON POST’S SOCIAL MEDIA MELTDOWN/A flurry of Twitter flare-ups and Slack spats involving Post journalists, along with a controversial suspension, have upended the newsroom and are presenting a major test for executive editor Sally Buzbee, who urged staff Tuesday to “be constructive and collegial'":
Sonmez has a history of taking the paper to task. Last year she sued the Post and some of its highest-ranking newsroom members for temporarily preventing her from covering sexual-misconduct stories after she publicly identified herself as a sexual assault victim; the case was later dismissed....
In the past, Sonmez has had widespread support in the newsroom; hundreds of colleagues signed a letter on her behalf in 2020, after [the previous executive editor Marty] Baron suspended her for tweeting an article detailing a rape allegation against NBA legend Kobe Bryant shortly after his death. (A “newsroom revolt” is how this publication described it at the time.) Soon after the paper’s guild sent that letter to management, she was reinstated.
But since then, there have been multiple instances of Sonmez calling out the paper publicly—and she has done so internally in response to a staff email as well. About two weeks ago, Gold, the National editor, sent out an email urging colleagues to “take time to assess how you are doing” and “seek help if you need to talk to someone” in the wake of the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde and the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
“Just a reminder that I was punished after I told an editor that I had to take a walk around the block after reading a difficult story,” Sonmez replied—to the entire National staff—according to emails reviewed by Vanity Fair....
On Thursday, after the initial publication of this article, Sonmez responded on Twitter: “I stand by what I wrote in that email. In 2018, I was punished after I told my editors I needed to take a walk around the block after reading a difficult story. Other colleagues have been punished for their trauma far more recently, but their stories aren’t mine to tell. I’m not ‘discouraging reporters at the Post from seeking help they need.’ Far from it. The Washington Post’s own actions are doing that. I care deeply about my colleagues, and I want this institution to provide support for all employees. Right now, the Post is a place where many of us fear our trauma will be used against us, based on the company’s past actions.”
Posts
75 comments:
Bunch of wussies. Nobody cares. Grow up.
Seems the WaPo reporter forgot that social media isn't reality, and thus overreacted to it.
Gotta remember that pixels aren't sticks and stones, let alone words that will never hurt you.
She's not hurting the WaPo's reputation, but rather fits right in. And her writings are in demand.
Teenage wasteland, it's only teenage wasteland...
Is she trying to portray herself as a whistleblower for her attacks on her colleagues? That she has tried in the past to work within the institution and they retaliated against her for it so she had no choice but to go outside the organization?
That might be a good defense if the thing she were complaining about were a real problem, but Going after Weigel for a boorish tweet and then going after everyone who defended him or criticized her doesn't really fit that bill.
I bet she's super fun at parties.
This is what it looks like when privileged people who have experienced no trauma act as though they have.
This woman sued her employer. Her days at this job were numbered once she did that, management just needed to wait for her to do something that would justify getting rid of her.
No corporation is going to tolerate this sort of hostile attitude and destructive behavior on the part of a mere wage earner, not for long. I mean, seriously what is wrong with people?
Felicia apparently comes from some money too, it's been revealed.
Channeling Ann Richards:
"Poor Felicia! She was born with a silver foot in her mouth!"
Just as Trump is/was a symptom, but not the cause of a sickness in our political system, a reaction to the otherwise fatuous leadership we've seen from both sides in Washington, Somnez is not, by herself the issue. She's a symptom. And a common one at that.
I've often noted how we've f**** up our kids nationally. But we've really done a number on our young women. We have seriously messed them up for life. What she is, how she acts, and what she seems to think of herself and the outside world does not sound uncommon to me. It sounds all-too familiar. I've read this sort of attitude, these comments, these actions from other female journalists, professors, HR directors, etc. etc, for years. We have really messed up an entire segment of our young, professional female class. And they are not doing well with it as they age.
Felicia Somnez is not a happy person. And she hates all of you, every one of you, no matter where you think you fall politically. And she's not alone. This attitude is all over the place. They're working in your company right now. Or handing you your morning coffee at Starbucks- hating you as they hand it off to you.
Sound extreme, the picture I'm painting? It does, doesn't it. But look around you, and pay attention. We have seriously messed up our young women. (and our young men...but that's a story for another time).
Now that WaPo has fired Felicia Sonmez, it feels like a good time to...
...say, "nevermind, it doesn't matter," in wondering who this person is that no one ever heard of before and will never hear of again.
She was fired by another woman?
The plot thickens.
This sounds way more exciting than the Get Trump Prime Time show.
Is Felicia Sonmez like Trump?
Never give up. Never surrender.
On reddit yesterday the metaphor that kept getting bandied about was "shoe-on-head retarded" in reference to her idiot persistence in the face of tens if not hundreds of opportunities to stop (including one that said "please stop").
I disagree with shoe-on-head retarded. That rates higher than hat-on-foot retarded. Sonmez was hat-on-foot retarded, she doesn't get shoe-on-head, that has to be earned.
Her last tweet was the one about being "punished" for having to walk around the block after some difficult story. Why hasn't she tweeted since? Imagine how many laps around she's been taking.
Comprehensive settlement: large check in exchange for dropping the court appeal, keeping silent and not contesting the grounds of her termination, and signing an NDA. The just-get-the-hell-of-of-here check is probably larger than the one she would have [garnered] had she won the lawsuit.
Put down the Twitter Ma'am.
I think "Flustercluck" is a better euphemism than that which Vanity Fair used. You can visualize the whole WaPo newsroom sitting around flustered and clucking.
Sonmez tried to weaponize phony trauma and pull her Klaiman stunt on the entire paper. It's the Hearding of America.
For now, like Depp, WaPo is showing some balls.
Doesn't change the fundamentals though. Democracy dies in darkness has been misinterpreted to mean that they want to save "our democracy." Not so. They always meant to spread darkness.
David Weigel Tweeted...
“Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Bye, or is it Bi-Felicia?
In 2018, I was punished after I told my editors I needed to take a walk around the block after reading a difficult story.
Ummm, OK.
Ultimately, I think the WaPo handed it better than recent NYT woke follies
"Pushing for change takes far longer than 7 days. 15/"
"Doin' right ain't got no end."
She will "fail upward" like they all do... probably a TV gig in her future
Maybe try out “Democracy Dies in Dopiness, Dude” next?
1. Believe that most, if not all, change is good
2. Blame conservatism and tradition as the likely source of all problems
3. Hire ‘power-all-the-way-down’ activists
4. Continue moving further and further Left, while getting co-opted by the activists
5. Have more mediocrity rise through the ranks
6. Have activists attack you
7. Curl into a fetal position while the walls crumble, blaming others
***Ignore the massive and transformative technological change affecting your industry
***ignore the massive change affecting your authority and the authority you derive, often parasitically, from other institutions
***ignore the harm your failure cause individuals until it’s your day in the barrel.
I needed to take a walk around the block after reading a difficult story.
A person so sensitive might need a weeklong mental health leave after researching and writing a difficult story.
Or might never be able to accomplish the required research or composition, while STILL needing a recovery break.
Such a sensitive and fragile snowflake might need a different career. WaPo may be doing the child a favor.
@rhhardin
WaPo fired her, so they didn't think she fit in... or didn't want other people to see that she did... or something.
She's a troll with a thin skin.
https://reason.com/2019/08/23/im-radioactive/
Sonmez is the second woman in the article to make a complaint against this man.
I am not defending or criticizing the man or Sonmez.
I remember the article from when first posted but was reminded by Instapundit link.
The most important thing is to be the center of attention.
Please do not think that this behavior is limited to media and academia. This is also occurring in Corporate America and is not just limited to tech. HR is the dominant department in many Fortune 500 companies now and everyone from the VP level on down lives in fear of them. I am not in that world but my business occasionally interacts with it. It is a very fearful place for a white middle aged man right now. They are licking their lips trying to find ways to get you out so you can be replaced by someone like Felicia.
It's all just friends helping friends except that all the friends are crazy, power hungry monomaniacs.
She became the harassing lunatic she decried.
Sucks to be her. Perhaps she can intern for Rachel Maddow.
“WaPo fired her, so they didn't think she fit in... or didn't want other people to see that she did... or something.“
Getting fired is like a promotion, I predict.
I'm not saying this is necessarily true of her, but I think we see a lot of manic episodes on Twitter. Bipolar? BPD? I don't know. Just irrationally manic.
She sounds like a good Veep candidate for the Commie Dem ticket. At least she talks.
Blaming others all day long for your misery will not resolve your misery. Plus, no one wants to hear it constantly, so you end up shrinking your network.
Jayson Tatum’s (Boston Celtic star forward) mom never let him make excuses when he had setbacks growing up and starting his career. That’s the right message for all of us, young and old, corporate and personal.
I love it when liberals destroy each other...
Poor attitude. Felicia gets a low grade for deportment.
As someone said on Megyn Kelly's podcast yesterday, "Felicia's bloodlust is insatiable. She wants to take a blowtorch to the entire WaPo newsroom!" She will not be ignored.
That lawsuit she filed against the Post a couple of years ago was dismissed with prejudice. We lawyers know what that means.
A little less butter on the popcorn, please.
I never much cared for Robespierre before, but now that he's been guillotined, it feels like a good time to start listening to his speeches.
Pushing for change takes far longer than 7 days.
Looks like it took less than 7 days. Weigel is suspended without pay and she's fired. Life happens fast, one day you are making comments outside of work and soon you don't have a paying job.
Guess who's still there?
Lying liar Taylor Lorenz, who lied in her report, lied, in her correction, lied about her editors, who in turn lied to protect the little liar.
Next thing you know it's David Weigel to the rescue.
btw- I still think Dave W's joke was funny.
Progressive women are mostly wound tight, and unable to laugh at anything... esp related to their own precious gender.
Pushing for change takes far longer than 7 days.
This won't be over until Felicia says its over. She may have suffered a temporary setback, but you can be assured that this isn't over. The book and book tour are just around the corner, along with the litigation and appeals.
There is no opportunity in the 21st century that matches the power of victimhood. She'll probably name the book Bye, Felicia!
She's playing the long game for keeps.
Jake said, "The most important thing is to be the center of attention."
Yep.
I also endorse Rollo's comment about paying more attention to Robespierre after his head has rolled down the street.
Felicia seems to take great pride that her attitude is that having attitude is what makes her special.
Hilarious. She fits the "Bi" joke perfectly
Felicia forgot the First Rule of Holes.
What's surprising is that there's still someone at the WaPo who can not only recognize but act on the realization that Sonmez' liability/benefit ratio has become far too high to make it worthwhile to keep her.
If there's a lesson here it would be, "Avoid making yourself a potentially costly liability to your employer for lest they realize that whatever you offer is just not worth the cost."
That, and, all those "indispensable" people inhabiting graveyards. Truly, they can do without you. And if you make yourself too costly, they will.
Tell me your newspaper is controlled by a bunch of adolescent Mean Girls without telling me your newspaper is controlled by a bunch of adolescent Mean Girls. . . . .
…….needed to take a walk around the block after reading a difficult story.
The difficult story Felicia read that sent her walking around the block was the Washington Post story reporting Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation that a teen age Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her decades ago. That story triggered in Felicia’s mind the memory of Felicia’s drunken hook up with a fellow reporter she later —several years later—recalled/reframed as a sexual assault. That recasting of the hook up cost fellow Journalist Jonathan Kaiman his career and reputation.
I don't know Felicia Sonmez personally, so I don't like commenting on her. But I will.
She seems simultaneously over-controlling and over-fragile. That's not a useful combination if you want to work with people.
You gots to be on the team, no matter how odious the team is. Go Katherine Heigl. Get Katherine Heigled.
She can dish it out, but she can't take it. Only the hand-picked people she follows get to comment.
Amadeus 48 said...
That lawsuit she filed against the Post a couple of years ago was dismissed with prejudice. We lawyers know what that means.
minorities no longer get graded on deportment.
Though the first lawsuit was dismissed, you know her lawyers, and you know she already had them, are proofing another bite at hostile workplce and adding retaliation
Felicia plays a role in this very long, incredibly detailed #MeToo story.
As much as Human Relations Departments have ruined the country and the world, I really pity anybody who has to spend hours, days, weeks, months, and years dealing with "he said, she said" stories.
Someone suggested that the Post should give her a settlement.
I disagree. She was fired. If she is owed any severance pay, vacations days etc pay that. But not another nickle. If she wants to sue, fight every inch of the way. If she wins, keep fighting. Run regular stories detailing the case (If legally allowed) to provide maximum exposure as to why she was fired.
The why and even the fact that she was fired is normally confidential. She has published it which seems like it would make it OK for the WaPo to tell it's side of the story.
If they don't fight this, it just encourages the behavior in others. Make the process as painful and as public as possible evenif it is more expensive than a settlement.
John LGKTQ Henry
Anyone want to take book on how this plays out? Will she become a cause or an outcast?.....If she was complaining about Fox News, she'd be Joan of Arc. However, she bitching about the Washington Post and their newsroom. These are familial bonds that she's subverting. Blood is thicker than water. Maybe it's even thicker than feminism.....Sometimes it's thicker than politics. See Franken and Cuomo. Sometimes not. See Clinton and Biden. I don't know how to handicap this....She's not a sympathetic character. I hope she loses. The antipathy of people like me will cause others to love her.
Felicia no sueña como una persona muy feliz.
Which brings a thought to mind. Is Felicia una persona or should she be una personx? And if personx, what is the correct article un or una?
Her parents should have named her Pendeja. A more aptly yclept name for the person their little girl grew up to be.
John LGKTQ Henry
Seriously, who would hire a person like that? All the companies I know, if they care about being able to function, are very very careful not to hire people who tear other people down. It's an absolute deal-breaker, right above, Able to do the job well.
The guy became suicidal, and his career was destroyed.
From what I can tell he was used as a stepping stone for her career, to gain victim points. It did get her the Washington Post Gig. Her goal seem to make herself a premier voice due to being a "sexual assault survivor", that was why she did the Kobi tweet.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/27/kobe-bryant-reporter-suspended-over-sexual-assault-case-tweet-washington-post
> Blogger RoseAnne said...
> https://reason.com/2019/08/23/im-radioactive/
Bi, Felicia.
-Jack Posobeic
She might have an alcohol problem.
I’ll give props to the Post, which I never would expect I’d write, for not letting her cover the Kavanaugh hearings. Surprisingly good editorial judgment.
Felicia graduated with a BA from Harvard in 2005 - Wikipedia doesn’t say what her degree is in nor her age, so I am assuming she is a Millennial. My experience in watching Millennials is that many feel that they are entitled on just about anything and everything. An example I observed at work was spending their workdays surfing the web for pleasure on company computers instead of what they were being paid for - their job! Including in this entitlement for Felicia is to ignore directives from the executive editor (which I assume is further up the org chart from her at the WaPo) to tone it down in their internal food fight. Felicia ignored these warnings to her detriment. I don’t care for how Bezos and the WaPo have mislead and continue to mislead the public when they go after people they disagree with, but I agree that Felicia crossed a line too many times and needed to pound the pavement. However, I believe Felicia got more chances than a conservative employee, assuming there are any left at WaPo, would have gotten - 1 misstep, even much less egregious than what Felicia committed, and the conservative would have been looking for a new job.
QUESTION: Does this feel similar to the Prof. Amy Chua (sp?) scandal at Yale?
Yale asked the Prof. to stop inviting students to her home, and Prof refused to stop.
WaPo asked Somnez to stop tweeting about confidential Personnel matters, and Somnez wouldn't stop.
I'm glad the WaPo used the term Insubordination in their termination letter. It's an antiquated word, but very effective at eliminating problem employees.
"Punished"?
She's 39 according to a search. When I was 25 in Naval Officer Candidate School, failed inspection and had extra military instruction, I never thought of it as being "punished" in the way I read her statement. Even 20 years later when I fell out of favor and had my bosses gunning for me, I didn't think "punished". Losing the bureaucratic wars, yes, but not punished.
She really is a 39 yr old middle school mean girl.
I never post links here. I don't know how, and never quite sure if they'll work anyway, but---
Do you want even more Felicia Somnez ? Have you been looking for a new rabbit hole to fall down through? (The days are getting longer !!!)
This--> https://reason.com/2019/08/23/im-radioactive/
The Felicia Somnez stuff is more toward the end, but I would read it all. Very graphic, but no profanity. I love things that are explicit, yet clinical.
Temujin is right, what the Women's Movement, the WorstRulingClassEver and BigDaddyGovernment have sold to women (and done to men) in America is monstrous.
Us women may be the reason American Civilization ends with a whimper in this century. I actually figure it is already over, as of the facetious election of Nov. 2021. If the American vote can be jiggle-rigged, we're downhill from here on out.
Good goin' grrlz.
Twitter is a sewer. It’s a sewer because, like all social media, it provides a global, amplified forum for all those multitudes of humans who, in Dickensian times, would have been those sweeping the streets with straw brooms, hand washing clothes at the river, and tugging at their forelocks when gentry passed. They had nothing to say worth hearing then, and nothing has changed since.
And, for that matter, the same goes for the passing gentry. I would much prefer that folks endure their “traumas” in Stoic silence.
- Krumhorn
They all deserve each other.
Ace had a hilarious tweet today. "Dear Felicia. You sound like the perfect woman for me" Johnny Depp.
Elitist Beverly Hills Boutique Hollywood Consigliere Krumhorn heaping scorn on the everyman blue collar salt of the earth Trump loyalists. Sempre Fidelis
A good time to follow her on twitter? First of all, twitter is the work of Satan, but more importantly, Sonmez is the Platonic Ideal of the kind of meritocratic white chick who mistakenly believes she’s entitled to run the world — in other words, Hillary Clinton 2.0. Her Woke HR ideas will follow me around whether I like it or not; I don’t have to follow her.
The WaPo has published entire articles on how it is okay to hate men. That's denegration of a class of people. But it's an approved denegration.
The Post is obviously sexist and must be made to pay.
Or is it different when they do it.
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