Karen Attiah, a columnist for the Washington Post, has said she was dismissed from the newspaper after 11 years over social media posts about gun control and race in the wake of the killing of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
In a Substack post, Attiah, 39, wrote that she was fired for 'speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s apathy toward guns'. The Post accused her posts of being 'unacceptable', 'gross misconduct' and endangering colleagues' safety – charges she rejected as false.
Attiah said her job came under threat after a clash with opinion editor Adam O’Neal, who has reportedly offered buyouts to writers not fitting the editorial mix under owner Jeff Bezos. The Post declined to endorse a candidate in the November election and Bezos’s Amazon contributed $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund.
Attiah noted she was the last remaining Black full-time opinion columnist, and criticised the paper for no longer reflecting Washington DC’s diverse population. The Post’s opinion section now focuses on 'personal liberties and free markets'. A spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters.
The firing follows a similar case at MSNBC, where political analyst Matthew Dowd was dismissed for describing Kirk as 'divisive' and pushing 'hate speech'. Dowd said his comments were misconstrued and MSNBC caved to pressure from a 'rightwing media mob'.
