Washington Post editors said they had “lost faith” in Taylor Lorenz after she branded President Joe Biden a “war criminal” in a social media post, according to a report. When asked about it by his superiors, he said, “I intentionally caused a misunderstanding.''
Lorenz, the controversial technology columnist who made headlines for doxxing “TikTok Ribs” and crying on MSNBC and later accusing the network of deceptive editing, last week posted a new update to his Substack newsletter. He announced that he was leaving the Washington Post to start a new publication.
But it was after the New York Post's John Levine posted a screenshot of an image Lorenz had uploaded to her Instagram account that she reportedly lost the trust of the newsroom's top editors. That was later. According to National Public Radio.
In the photo, Lorenz is seen wearing a mask while Biden speaks to the audience in the background. The caption “war criminal” appears just below Biden's photo, with a frowning emoji next to it.
Mr. Biden has been branded a “war criminal” by many pro-Palestinian supporters outraged by his Israeli-related policies as military operations continue in Gaza, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries.
Lorenz, who was attending a Creators Summit for online influencers at the White House in August, intended for the image to be seen by a select number of “close friends.” This is a feature on Instagram that allows users to target groups of their choice. According to Levine's report in the Post, it's the believers, not the general public.
She later claimed that the photo had been digitally altered, saying, “You're going to be fooled by some ridiculous edit that someone has made.”
However, NPR corroborated Levine's report, I checked the original post The caption “war criminal” was real.
Lorenz later wrote to X, “I have literally never 'denied authenticity',” and claimed the post was an “obvious meme.”
NPR said Lorenz “deliberately misled” editors when asked about the social media posts. The Washington Post launched an investigation after Levin revealed the contents of the report.
The paper did not publish the results of its investigation.
A Washington Post spokesperson said, “We are grateful for the work Taylor has created at the Post,” referring to the paper's previous statement on the matter.
“She has resigned to pursue a career in independent journalism. We wish her all the best,” the spokesperson said.
“I have no idea what their review is,” Lorenz told NPR.
“All I know is that they're incredibly cool to me, super nice people, and I have a good relationship with them.”
She said her desire to work as an independent journalist prompted her to leave.
“I want to get out of the whole legacy media thing for so many reasons,” Lorenz said.
“That's not a criticism of legacy media. I love and support all of my friends in that system, but it's not the right environment for me to do the work I want to do.”
Washington Post reporters told NPR that while they were impressed with how well-sourced and collegial Lorenz was in the office, she also faced online criticism and criticism of aspects of her work. He said that there is a possibility that he will show an indomitable attitude if he is criticized for his actions.
In 2022, Lorenz accused one of her editors on social media of inserting an error into her story.
That same year, Lorenz also criticized a colleague at the Washington Post who opined about X. A New York Post article details how shock jock and notorious germophobe Howard Stern was afraid to leave his apartment for fear of getting infected. COVID.
Lorenz, who continues to wear a mask in public because of a medical condition, called columnist Helaine Ohlen's comments “ridiculous” and “insensitive.”
