After New Hire’s Old Tweets Unearthed, NYT Says ‘We’ve Decided to Go Our Separate Ways’ (UPDATED)
After the New York Times announced their decision to hire tech journalist Quinn Norton for their editorial board, Twitter responded with a fury of outrage — many pointing to her old controversial tweets — and the outlet ultimately opted to go “separate ways” with the writer.
“@quinnnorton has joined the @nytimes editorial board as lead opinion writer on the power, culture and consequences of technology,” tweeted the newspaper’s PR page, just before the storm of criticism hit.
.@quinnnorton has joined the @nytimes editorial board as lead opinion writer on the power, culture and consequences of technology. Read on in a note from @jbennet, @katiekings and @jimdao https://t.co/cASzLbrbB4 pic.twitter.com/groh0Si09M
— The New York Times Communications (@NYTimesPR) February 13, 2018
A number of journalists and media figures dug up Norton’s old tweets where she used the slur “faggot” several times and even uncritically retweeted a post that included the n-word. Others pointed out the writer’s relationship with a notorious Nazi figure.
Below are just a few of the many tweets expressing outrage at the Times for the hiring decision:
More, uh, opinion from the @nytimes‘ new lead opinion writer on the editorial board, Quinn Norton pic.twitter.com/i6T24uxzOE
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) February 13, 2018
Anyone cheering the hiring of Quinn Norton — we have issues. yes, it matters who your friends are.
— Natasha Lennard (@natashalennard) February 13, 2018
For the record, I was a fan of @quinnnorton‘s writing and reporting — and then I read her tweets about weev and neo-nazis.
I have met and reported on neo-nazis. They’re not not misunderstood. They’re not rebels.
They mean what they say, and they want to kill people.
— Christopher Farnsworth (@chrisfarnsworth) February 13, 2018
It’s not so much that Quinn Norton has old, bad tweets. It’s that the New York Times hired her as a technology expert and she didn’t delete her old, bad tweets before the hire was announced.
— Robert Wheel LLC (@BobbyBigWheel) February 13, 2018
so, this fucking sucks
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) February 13, 2018
anyway, why is anyone praising the Times’ decision to hire Quinn Norton as if she did not repeatedly describe herself as a friend of weev despite his neo-Nazi views
— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) February 13, 2018
Bari Weiss and Megan McArdle are definitely on gchat right now coordinating the delivery of a giant muffin basket to Quinn Norton
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) February 13, 2018
NYT Opinion Page: Hey everyone! Please welcome Bret Stephens. He’ll be writing about defending Woody Allen, why climate change isn’t real, and other useless dipshittery.
Readers: We hate this.
NYT Opinion Page: Hey everyone! Please welcome Quinn Norton. She’ll be writing about
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 13, 2018
[Cutting and pasting from the last, oh, ten tweets about @nytimes‘ neo-Nazi cuddling]: Yeah, not regretting canceling my subscription.
— Dennis Perkins (@DennisPerkins5) February 13, 2018
I got a snappier headline for you pic.twitter.com/LiwS4S001S
— Wheezy Cheesy Dutiful Hover Earl (@superrapattack) February 13, 2018
NYT: Trust us to challenge the Trump administration. Subscribe so we can do challenging journalism
NYT within the same year: Hires flaccid neocons Bari Weiss and Brett Stephens, literal nazi sympathizer Quinn Norton
— Chad Dongle (@babymannequin) February 13, 2018
My feed seems to be pretty well divided between people who love Quinn Norton and people who are fixated on how she said she was friends with a Nazi 4 years ago and to be honest I don’t know what to think, except that in general, one should not befriend Nazis.
— David Klion (@DavidKlion) February 13, 2018
Wait.
So while Politico was a publishing “Let’s Give Indentured Servitude Another Chance” think piece, the NYT added Quinn the Nazi Whisperer to it’s editorial board??? pic.twitter.com/v0tTZX22Ol
— Copy McPasty, Writer?????? (@KashannKilson) February 14, 2018
Remember when a victim of Nazi violence politely asked Quinn Norton to consider not minimizing their violence and she got defensive and claimed the survivor came at her? I do. pic.twitter.com/x7CeDYjb6k
— Emily G, Cville. (@EmilyGorcenski) February 13, 2018
The Times sent this statement to The Daily Beast after the old tweets started to surface:
New York Times statement on Quinn Norton’s use of offensive slurs in old tweets pic.twitter.com/KEaHo5wvns
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 14, 2018
UPDATE 1: In response to the criticism, Norton fired off a multi-tweet statement defending her reputation and suggesting her short time at the newspaper is over. However, the Times has yet to make an announcement regarding Norton’s employment status.
OK, omg, all of this. I have a movie to go see, but talk to you all later!
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 13, 2018
Honestly i’m a little disappointed you guys didn’t get #IsQuinnNortonOutOfHerMovieYet trending.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
For those of you honestly concerned. I don’t support weev, that’s not given in how I define friendship. I believe white folks should engage with the racists in their life: https://t.co/IQcN3yz58x and I believe all people are redeemable, and “all people” is all people.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
Weev doesn’t talk to me much anymore, but we talk about the racism whenever he does. My door is open when he, or anyone, wants to talk, but we’re talking about the stupidity of racism and the people in my life know that to be true.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
I only used it in the context of my work with anons. I used it occasionally when amongst gay friends in our community. That’s not really your business, though.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
I retweeted @JPBarlow using offensive language in a sarcastic tweet that was meant to slap back at racists after Obama’s first election. Eh, not my best retweet, even if the intentions, both mine and Barlow’s, were in the right place.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
I used a variation of offensive language to talk about questions of tone. I really wasn’t comfortable using the word directly, so I didn’t. I was trying to make a point, but something else would have made that point better. So, also not my best tweet.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
For people who are calling me a nazi apologist for my article about John Rabe: https://t.co/bm8k7lahfR srsly, wut are u talking about
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
I stand by my angry tweet referencing the 2014 NYtimes “no angel” article about Michael Brown being a terrible, racist call. That should have never run like that.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
One more thing, about me, and anons, and so on. One of the tweets coming up was a conversation I specifically talked about in an article about context collapse: https://t.co/nfJD9oqRft And context collapse is what happened here tonight.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
As I said so many times to the @nytimes, no harm no foul. I’m sorry I can’t do the work I wanted to do with them. I wish there had been a way, but ultimately, they need to feel safe with how the net will react to their opinion writers.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
You were powerful today. You changed at least one person’s life, and if I’m honest, my family’s too. It feels good to be powerful. But this power doesn’t go away. It doesn’t evaporate when you use it without thinking, or at the wrong person.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
What I need is for you to see yourself as powerful, as people who can change the world. And I want you to think about how you’re wield that power.
Choose the targets of your power wisely. History is watching you.
— Well that was fun. (@quinnnorton) February 14, 2018
UPDATE 2: The Times decided to go “separate ways” with Norton shortly after her tweetstorm.
The following is attributable to James Bennet, editorial page editor, The New York Times:
"Despite our review of Quinn Norton’s work and our conversations with her previous employers, this was new information to us. Based on it, we’ve decided to go our separate ways." pic.twitter.com/ZtQnq0MLF8
— The New York Times Communications (@NYTimesPR) February 14, 2018
[images via screengrab]
