Washington Post reporter did not break rules by tweeting about Kobe Bryant's rape case, paper rules

Newspaper calls tweets from journalist 'ill-timed' but says she did not violate social media policy

The Washington Post has reinstated a reporter it suspended for tweeting about Kobe Bryant’s rape case following his death, calling the post “ill-timed” but saying it was not in “direct violation of our social media policy".

Felicia Sonmez, national political reporter for the paper, was suspended shortly after posting a 2016 Daily Beast story to her Twitter page, along with a caption stating the name of the article: “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.”

After receiving thousands of messages she said were laced with “abuse and death threats”, the reporter wrote in a follow-up tweet: “Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality is unsettling.”

Tracy Grant, managing editor of the Washington Post, said in a statement: “After conducting an internal review, we have determined that, while we consider Felicia’s tweets ill-timed, she was not in clear and direct violation of our social media policy.

“Reporters on social media represent The Washington Post, and our policy states ‘we must be ever mindful of preserving the reputation of The Washington Post for journalistic excellence, fairness and independence,’” she added. “We consistently urge restraint, which is particularly important when there are tragic deaths. We regret having spoken publicly about a personnel matter.”

According to reports from the New York Times, Ms Sonmez then received emails from executive editor Marty Baron and Ms Grant demanding she stop tweeting and delete the post.

“A real lack of judgment to tweet this,” Mr Baron wrote in one email, according to the New York Times. “Please stop. You're hurting this institution by doing this."

Ms Grant sent the journalist an additional email saying she would be “in violation of a directive from a managing editor” if she did not delete her tweets.

The reinstatement came after a swift backlash from journalists across the media and within the newspaper, as the publication’s own media critic decried the suspension as “misguided” in a piece published on the Post’s website.

A union representing 1,000 editorial staff at the newspaper also slammed the suspension in an open letter to the top editors at the Post, writing: “The Post’s handling of this issue shows utter disregard for best practices in supporting survivors of sexual violence — including the practices we use in our own journalism.

“Assault survivors inside and outside this newsroom deserve treatment that is fair and transparent; that does not blame victims or compromise the safety of survivors,” the letter read.

Ms Sonmez has meanwhile called on the paper's top editors to provide a public explanation as to how they handled the situation, writing in a statement of her own: "I hope Washington Post newsroom leaders will not only prioritise their employees’ safety in the face of threats of physical harm but also ensure that no journalist will be punished for speaking the truth."