Reporters from the political news website Politico were warned that the word “mother” could be offensive during an argument over transgender reporting, according to a new book.
It also describes how a reporter was told that her stories should be vetted by colleagues who acted as “sensitivity readers” after complaints that she had used the term “biological women” in a story.
In “The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media,” journalist Amber Athey claims to expose how liberal activists have pressured news organizations to follow their agenda.
A March 2021 Politico article about how Republicans hoped to capitalize on transgender issues sparked internal complaints and an editorial review, according to a new book
The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media by Amber Athey will be published March 21 by Bombardier Books
It’s because the idea of ”sensitive readers” has made headlines. Over the weekend, it emerged that Ian Fleming’s James Bond books have been rewritten for modern audiences and hundreds of sentences in Roald Dahl’s children’s stories have been altered on the advice of sensitivity experts.
Athey writes that a new generation of “awakened” reporters has overtaken American newsrooms.
“They create a culture of fear where everyone — including the adults who are supposed to be in charge — is terrified of stepping out of line and becoming a target of the bullies.”
At Politico, she describes how a March 2021 piece by Gabby Orr, titled “GOP seizes women’s sports as an unlikely wedge problem,” was criticized and led to an internal review.
Athey reports that Orr was summoned to meet with Politico’s director of editorial diversity initiatives, Robin Turner. He said two colleagues had raised concerns.
At that meeting, Orr was questioned about her employment history at the Washington Examiner, a center-right outlet, and asked why no transgender voices were omitted from the story — even though the piece had quoted Kate Oakley, senior counsel at the human rights organization. Campaign, an activist organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues.
“Orr’s colleagues also complained that she quoted conservatives such as American Principles Project director Terry Schilling and former White House policy adviser Stephen Miller without contextualizing their comments.”
Schilling downplayed the risk of violence against transgender people, while Miller said the position of the left would drive “non-ideological voters” to the GOP.
“Orr, her colleagues argued, should have explicitly told readers that those comments were offensive and transphobic,” Athey writes.
One meeting participant also objected to the use of the phrase “biological women” by interviewees, arguing that it was offensive to transgender readers.
Newsrooms across the country have grappled with how to deal with transgender issues and the evolving language surrounding them against a highly fraught backdrop
Athey is Washington editor of The Spectator. In her forthcoming book, she writes that a new generation of “awakened” reporters has overtaken American newsrooms
“Turner suggested at the end of the meeting that Orr’s colleagues serve as ‘sensitivity readers’ — that is, individuals who could make sure Orr wasn’t offensive — prior to the publication of future stories on transgender issues,” even though Orr recently published a 5,000-word Politico magazine cover story on the same topic without controversy.
Soon after, she left Politico to join CNN.
A seminar with three transgender people followed to teach the editors how to report on transgender issues in a ‘more comprehensive and inclusive way’.
Panelists told reporters that what they thought were “neutral” positions on transgender issues were likely created by “white, cisgender men” and could not be trusted.
“Gender words, they said, can originate in ‘exclusion’ and can in fact cause ‘trauma’ for transgender and gender-neutral individuals,” writes Athey, who received an email from Politico editors summarizing the seminar.
A former Politico reporter who attended the seminar said the panelists complained that the word “mother” could potentially be offensive when used by reporters and mocked reporters who struggled with the grammatical implications of referring to singular individuals as ‘she she’. .”
The ideas caught on quickly. A source told Athey that they overheard an editor arguing with colleagues that “birthing people” should be used instead of “birthing moms,” which could be seen as offensive and exclusive.
In the wake of the controversy, a standard editor was appointed to oversee “accuracy, fairness, clarity and impartiality.”
A style guide followed in January 2022. It warned against using the term ‘pregnant women’.
In general, avoid references to a transgender being born as a boy or girl, and opt for wording such as ‘identified as a boy/girl at birth’. A person’s biology does not take precedence over his or her gender identity, and such oversimplifications can invalidate the person’s current, authentic gender,” one article read.
Another said: ‘Consider using gender neutral language such as ‘pregnant people’ or ‘people using birth control’ rather than ‘pregnant women’ as there are non-female identifying people who may become pregnant, need reproductive health care, etc .’
Politico is not alone in trying to chart a new course through emerging trends and issues. Newsrooms have had to develop a new language to accommodate people rejecting traditional labels, pronouns and adjectives against a highly political background.
Politico isn’t the only news organization that has run into trouble over transgender issues. The New York Times was accused by some of its own writers and contributors of “bias” in reporting on the trans rights debate
Athey traces Politico’s internal unease to early 2021, when Politico let Daily Wire founder and conservative radio host Ben Shapiro take over the reins of Playbook, the website’s influential morning newsletter.
It caused a wave of anger. More than 100 staff members signed a letter to the publisher of the website demanding an apology and more diversity in the editorial staff.
Athey says this was the beginning of staffers feeling encouraged, and that several reporters besides Orr had been warned about their coverage of transgender issues.
“Thanks to persistent complaints from awakened staffers, transgender reporting at Politico now reads like pure propaganda over well-informed and reasoned reporting,” she concludes.
Politico denied updating its style book or holding a seminar based on Orr’s article.
“Athey’s conclusion is inaccurate and totally misinformed,” a spokesman said. “The article she was referring to was published two years ago (March 2021) and had absolutely no bearing on POLITICO’s standards and practices.”
For context, Politico – like other media organizations – regularly updates its style book, which is intended to keep Politico impartial, accurate and fair. The stylebook covers a wide range of topics and is a living document that changes every week, sometimes every day.’
The spokesperson added that most entries match the AP’s style book.
.