There is a rather curious controversy brewing over one of the Washington Post’s most controversial writers, Taylor Lorenz. The “tech columnist” for the Post has drawn continual criticism over public meltdowns and alleged doxxing. However, the Post seemed to value her notoriety…until she posted a picture of President Joe Biden with “war criminal” on it. Lorenz appeared to suggest that others added those words before various mainstream media outlets contradicted her account. She is now denying that she denied it was her words and the Post is investigating. What is most curious, however, is what it takes for the Post to investigate alleged false claims by its columnists.
Lorenz posted the image during the White House Creator Economy Conference with the President. Many on the left have characterized Biden as a “war criminal” for his stance on Gaza.
Mainstream media outlets reported the posting by a prominent Post columnist in echoing the criticism of Biden.
Lorenz then responded by seemingly denying that she posted the words, chiding others on X that “[y]ou people will fall for any dumbass edit someone makes.”
Many outlets then covered the story that Lorenz was denying the post. However, that produced a torrent of skepticism from even liberal outlets. For example, NPR ran a story that verified that the photo and “war criminal” caption were real:
NPR has obtained a screengrab of Lorenz’s actual post, which contained that caption. … Four people with direct knowledge of the private Instagram story confirmed its authenticity to NPR. They spoke to NPR on condition they not be identified due to the professional sensitivity of the situation for Lorenz.
After the NPR and other stories questioned her account, Lorenz publicly issued her denial of the earlier denial. She tweeted that “I literally never ‘denied it was real.’” She added “Yeah that’s saying they’re falling for (charitable view) something that’s an obvious meme reference by taking it seriously. Please don’t put words in my mouth[.]”
So now, the Post is looking into it.
For some of us, the controversy only adds to the uncertainty over the current standards at the Post. For example, there is apparently no problem in a White House Post reporter supporting government censorship of Donald Trump as an “America issue.”
Likewise, the Post has publicly stood with reporters who have repeatedly published false claims and conspiracy theories. Take Philip Bump, who had a meltdown in an interview when confronted over past false claims. After I wrote a column about the litany of such false claims, the Post surprised many of us by issuing a statement that they stood by all of Bump’s reporting, including false columns on the Lafayette Park protests, Hunter Biden laptop and other stories. That was long after other media debunked the claims, but the Post stood by the false reporting.
There was no announced or apparent investigation into those claims, or similar alleged false or misleading claims by political or legal columnists. Many of those past controversies involved false claims directed against former president Donald Trump.
The future of Taylor Lorenz is hardly a weighty question for American journalism. However, the lack of consistency on these issues is a matter of concern, particularly as the Post tries to come to grips with falling readership and revenue.
I continue to be amazed by Bezos’ poor management of The Washington Post. I have no liking of him personally but I do respect someone who developed Amazon to the level that he has. Perhaps he’s using the Post as his personal touch stone, something he doesn’t mind losing money on as long as he gets to publicize his ideas. Thge market has told him in no uncertain terms and his own hire told employees of the post, “The public isn’t buying the stuff you’re selling.” That should have awakened them and Bezos, assuming they and he cared, which is not certain at this point.
Bozos didnt make Amazon what it is lmao. The dude is a cretin and a moron. I have his IQ at a firm 110.
Slightly brighter then the 3 stooges, Gigi, George, and Dennis
“I continue to be amazed by Bezos’ poor management of The Washington Post.”
During the Covid years, the Washington Post helped to put its competitors out of business.
And who, pray tell, might those competitors be?
Small businesses as well as some larger ones.
For clarity’s sake, Amazon’s “competitors out of business.”
Lorenz is a stunted little rich girl and stunted little rich girls are killing our country these days. They are the most susceptible group that will fall for any rage of the day. Need Hamas supporters…young women. Need BLM supporters…young women. Need p*ssy hat wearing anti-Trump marchers…young women. Need a trans movement…young women. Need covid lockdown supporters…young women. Need Obama, Biden, Harris, or any other Democrat backers…young women.
The left treats Blacks like garbage and yet Blacks support them. The left treats Jews like garbage and yet Jews support them. The left treats LEGAL immigrants like garbage by filling their communities with UNVETTED illegals and yet immigrants support them.
Blacks, Jews, Hispanics all don’t agree with abortion up to the last minute, “trans women” playing sports with real women, an open border, lax penalties for violence and inflation and that is the good news. Blacks, Hispanics and Jews are starting to slowly switch parties. Unfortunately it is a slow process.
Building a hive doesnt happen overnight. The democrats started in the 1950s.
Any guesses if Lorenz has a cat?
The WP’s self-inflicted reputational damage has been going on for years (as you have and others have noted) with predictable results – declining readership, diminished faith in media, and snowball-in-hell melting revenue. Bezos clearly loves his white elephant trophy but the cockroaches climbing all over it are dooming it to the dump! Perhaps it is time to stop calling it a “newspaper” and rebranding as a scandal rag like the Huffington Post or The Atlantic!
She is emblematic of the ComPost’s reporting style these days. That paper is filled with far left propagandists whose notion of reporting is about as objective as Goebbels. She is just like Philip Bump, a lying, pseudo revolutionary and paid propagandist who spews Marxist crap while she lives the quintessential bourgeoisie life. They are truly despicable human beings
And what do you think of someone that has been found liable for sexual abuse, business fraud, and is quoted as saying “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”?
It depends if said person was charged by a corrupt DA, or DAs, led by his political opponent and tried in front of a corrupt judge. No do Hunter Biden and his father you damn partisan hack.
Who are you reffering to, Joe Biden? Or Hunter Biden? James Biden? Jill Biden?
I was not aware that Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, James Biden, or Jill Biden had been convicted of a Felony or found liable for sexual abuse. When did this happen? Could you please provide a reference to this?
Historically people in the US have been falsely charged, convicted by a jury and then hung, shot or electrocuted or given lethal injection. The US criminal system is and has always been biased, unjust and unreliable just like your talking points
That Jill Biden grabs people by the p***y is new information! the victims are men converted to women? real women ? or youre not a biologist so you wouldnt know?
The lengths people will go to defend their cult leader never ceases to amaze me.
trump is a convicted felon, he has been found liable for sexual abuse of a woman.
He has lost and caused to lose more elections than any politician that I can think of, yet his followers ignore all of this. I hope you find great satisfaction in following your cult leader. Please see a therapist when your cult leader loses his next election and falls into osbscurity.
these “please see a therapist” and “cult leader” lines are really getting to be old, banal.
Can you come up with something a little more original? would be appreciated, thanks, lin.
He cant. That and orange felon god is all he has to justify his own stupidity and voting against his own best interests in defense of dead babies, sexual mutilation of minors and drag queen story hour.
That, and his brain is quite addled from years of getting drunk off of cooking sherry.
What is Trumps date of conviction and wwhat is his convict number?
Wow, suddenly JT is interested in truth?
“What is most curious, however, is what it takes for the Post to investigate alleged false claims by its columnists.”
Every day the Felon Rapist trump talks is another day the lies pile up like dung in a dairy farm.
The Post should assign Philip Bump, that final arbiter of truth, to look at the issue. His assessment should solve it, no questions asked.
This lady will get to keep her job after a light tap on the wrist. However, the lady who wrote yesterday that Kamala should not act like a communist by setting food prices should update her resume and have it at the ready. When other Washington Post reporters such as Bari Weis decided to tell the truth their fellow reporters called them Nazis to their face. Often times the apple looks ripe from the outside but when you bite into it and hear the crunch you suddenly experience the acrid taste of worms upon your palate. One bad apple spoils the barrel and the rotten barrel has been sitting there for a very long time.
I would recommend you not refer to this woman as a “lady.” A “woman”–yes. A “lady”–no. Ladies do not behave the way she has.
They obfuscate, they indoctrinate, they fabricate, they disseminate untruths and most of all; THEY LIE LIKE RUGS. What more needs to be said?
News to me that I have to be left wing to think Joe Biden is a war criminal. That is only one speciality in criminality that he has achieved, and anyone but the heirs of the Final Solution who thinks otherwise is conniving at it or living elsewhere in the cosmos….
You have entirely missed the point. It is irrelevant what Lorenz said. What is relevant is that she has lied. It is indisputable that she lied – because X and ~X can not both be true.
Trust and credibility is – or atleast is supposed to be the core to journalism.
Nor is the story about Lorenz, it is more about WaPo and its lost credibility.
Journalists increasingly are toddlers with chocolate melting all over their face while denying they had gotten into the chocolate chips.
Does lying matter if you are the President?
Not to democrats. They love being lied to.
What is your definition of a war criminal ?
The man whose son carried millions of dollars in cash back to dad as reward for installing fascists in Ukraine government who start WWIII. Lorenz would have the truth as a defense. But truth is the enemy to journalism.
Joss, of all the crimes that Joe Biden has committed the only one that isn’t true is that he is a war criminal. Only a leftist loon like you would attack Biden from his left as if he hasn’t been a far leftist president. Fool. Go back to your antifa meeting in your mom’s basement. Jew hater.
* Hullbobby, Joe is a war criminal. You’re in the middle of a world war and Joe gave arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan and 13 American soldiers died. You aren’t recognizing the new weapons of war apparently. They aren’t really new but so much faster. The speed of light…
No one has asked Big Joe why the watch checking.
This is an example of the rotten core of the leftist mind think. First deny then just say oh my bad and life will go on as usual. Did I say I was against fracking? Oh my bad. Now I am for fracking. Did I say defund the police. Oh my bad. Now I’ll be the law and order President. Did I say the riots should not stop. My bad. America will be a safer place under my administration. Life will just go on as usual.
Your thoughts are all true except nobody ever says, “my bad.”
Their erasing of long-held past policies is ignored completely as though they never existed and the legacy press cheers them on.
Masses of low- information voters are unaware that they’re being duped.
For Turley to criticize any newspaper or news service when he stands in the cesspool of FOXNEWS is to show how low he has gone.
Try standing behind your words if you seek any respect for them.
Didn’t Fox News pay out over $787.5 million for defamation? That is but one example. Even on some Fox News shows the talking heads get into arguments on whether they should tell the truth or not.
–and how many $millions did WaPo (now WayPoorer), CNN, and NBC settle for with little ole high school student Nicholas Sandmann?
Weak whataboutism will only get your steaming turd thrown back in your face
——Confucius
ROFL
Are we never allowed to criticize any instance of deceit unless we concurrently criticize every single instance that someone else thinks is deceit.
Frankly this is a tempest in a very small teapot which is boiling over at a reputed newspaper that long ago gave up it’s reputation, accuracy, veracity and pretty much everything else that is associated with a “national Newspaper”.
Taylor Lorenz is the question and my question is why are we asking any questions about Taylor Lorenz. She has been a columnist at the aforementioned “rag”. She does not deserve the moniker of “Journalist” in my opinion. That usually requires a certain level of intelligence, command of a subject, and at least of passing reference to some of the evidence for and against her position.
She was for the war criminal label before she was against it and now she may be for it again.
She seems to be about as firm about her views as a column of jello would be in your car as you drive to work. It leans right then left then leans into the front before dropping back and leading from the rear. This almost sounds like Obama.
The Jews of Israel have demonstrated through the centuries that they can live with Persian, Arab and Muslim states from Cyrus the Great to the Ottoman Empire
It does not escape me that most of the Muslim countries around the Levant do not want Palestinians but have had peace treaties and cease fires with Israel. Maybe the left should look at the reasons for that. Even Turkey and Iran had peaceful relations with Israel until the fall of the Shah in Iran and the rise of Erdogan in Turkey.
Then we have 10/7/2023 and Jews of Israel are war criminals for responding to a massacre of 1200 of it’s citizens-men, women and children and not by bombing but up close and personal. And I am not even talking about the hostages. I would suggest that almost any nation would be willing to wage total war in response to that. Of course add in another 250 with hostages.
We waged total war world wide after 12/7/1941 for the slaughter of 2100 people that were primarily military but mainly because it was without a declaration of war and during peace negotiations. Then we went on a world wide rampage when 3000 of our citizens were murdered on 9/11. Could the Israelis do any less. There is a way to end this-Unconditional Surrender.
War is hell and there is no glory in it at all. It is slaughter, blood, destruction and only gets worse as it proceeds along. I would think that everyone should know that. It happens often enough.
More important is the lloyd austen, sec o defence, and pine island capital ,conflict of money , austen gave Raytheon 30 billion in contracts in 2023
I’m just waiting for the new editor to actually change something. So far it seems like meet the new boss same as the old boss. Frankly I think reporting on tweets is absurd and a sign of how far removed Americans have become from reality. People argue incessantly about words and tweets while war rages around the world and our borders are wide open to the whole world including human and child traffickers. I think one of the reasons Trump garnered so much hate is that he keeps bringing the conversation back to facts instead of words and tweets. Facts are unpalatable to this nation of cosplayers.
Now we know what it takes, don’t we. Be so advised.
Jeff Bezos appears to be a superb businessman but a despicable human being.
The Washington Compost, is just that, full of shit! ” Where truth goes to die! ” ” Where the light never shines”
Too bad she’s crazier than a cr*phouse rat.. she’s kinda hot.
Anonymous say: “She’s kinda hot.”
How do you feel about Martha Raye or Caryn Elaine Johnson?
She is as hot as Moms Mabley.
@ hullbobby, here’s an oldie for you Zasu Pitts.
For Heaven’s sake, call it what it is. Lying! Quit with the kid gloves and the weasel words. It’s lying!
Nothing that this rag does surprises me. It’s a cult newsletter
It is false to even call it a newsletter; rather call it what it is – a PRAVDA for Americans brainwashed to thee point of not being able to discern the difference.
It’s a weapon of war. .