The WaPo’s Attiah Walkback
Nearly a week after an independent arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to rehire fired opinion columnist Karen Attiah and award her full back pay for much of the last year, the newspaper has remained remarkably silent.
While the paper has indicated that it respects the arbitration process, it has not addressed Attiah’s reinstatement, and its executives have yet to discuss the matter with staffers. Attiah, the founding editor of The Post’s global opinions section and the paper’s only Black female columnist, told me she wants to return to her old job, but has heard nothing from the paper’s leadership.
The silence has not gone unnoticed among media observers—or inside The Post, where some employees are wondering whether the Jeff Bezos-owned paper actually intends to welcome Attiah back into the fold. For now, that remains unclear. But behind the scenes, Status has learned…
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