Journalists at political news site Politico have been warned the word ‘mother’ could be offensive during an argument over transgender coverage, according to a new book.
It also details how a reporter learned that her stories were to be reviewed by colleagues acting 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 lift the lid on how liberal activists pressured news outlets to follow their agenda.
A March 2021 Politico article about how Republicans hoped to capitalize on transgender issues sparked internal complaints and a press room review, according to a new book.
The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media by Amber Athey is published by Bombardier Books on March 21
This comes as the idea of “sensitive readers” hits the headlines. It emerged over the weekend that Ian Fleming’s James Bond books had been rewritten with modern audiences in mind and that hundreds of sentences had been changed in Roald Dahl’s children’s stories on the advice of sensitivity experts.
Athey writes that a new generation of “woke” journalists has overtaken American newsrooms.
“They’re creating a culture of fear where everyone – including the adults who are supposed to be in charge – are terrified of stepping out of line and becoming a target for bullies.”
At Politico, she describes how a March 2021 article by Gabby Orr, titled “GOP seizes on women’s sports as an unlikely issue,” sparked criticism and sparked internal scrutiny.
Athey reports that Orr was called into a meeting with Politico’s director of editorial diversity initiatives, Robin Turner. He said two colleagues had expressed concerns.
“During that meeting, Orr was asked about her work history at the Washington Examiner, a center-right media outlet, and asked why the story omitted transgender voices — despite the article quoting lead attorney Kate Oakley at the Human Rights Campaign, an activist organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues, broadly.
“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 toward transgender people, while Miller said the left’s stance would drive “non-ideological voters” to the GOP.
“Orr, his colleagues argued, should have told readers explicitly that these remarks were offensive and transphobic,” Athey wrote.
A participant in the meeting also took issue with respondents’ use of the term “biological women” as offensive to transgender readers.
Newsrooms across the country have been delving into how to deal with transgender issues and the changing language around it in a highly charged context
Athey is the editor of The Spectator in Washington. She writes that a new generation of “woke” journalists has overtaken American newsrooms in her next book
“Turner suggested at the end of the meeting that Orr’s colleagues serve as ‘sensitivity readers’ – that is, people who could make sure Orr was not causing offense – before the publication of future stories on transgender issues,” even though Orr had recently written a 5,000-word Politico magazine cover on the same topic without controversy.
She left Politico soon after to join CNN.
A seminar followed with three transgender people to help the newsroom learn 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 and cisgender men” and should not be trusted.
“Gendered words, they said, can be rooted in ‘exclusion’ and can actually cause ‘trauma’ to transgender and gender-neutral people,” writes Athey, who obtained an email sent by editors from Politico summarizing the seminar.
“A former Politico reporter who attended the seminar said panelists complained that the word ‘mother’ could be offensive when used by reporters and mocked reporters who had trouble understanding the grammatical implications of refer to singular individuals as “they/them.”
The ideas quickly made their way. A source told Athey that they overheard an editor arguing with colleagues over the fact that ‘people giving birth’ should be used instead of ‘mums giving birth’, which could be considered offensive and exclusive.
A standards editor was appointed following the controversy to oversee “accuracy, fairness, clarity and impartiality”.
A style guide followed in January 2022. It cautioned against using the term “pregnant women”.
“Generally, avoid references to a transgender person born male or female and opt for wording such as ‘identified at birth as male/female.’ A person’s biology does not trump their gender identity, and such oversimplifications can invalidate the current, authentic gender of the person,” reads one entry.
Another said: ‘Consider using gender neutral language like ‘pregnant people’ or ‘people using birth control’, rather than ‘pregnant women’ as there are non-feminine people who can become pregnant , who need reproductive health care, etc.”
Politico isn’t alone in trying to chart a new course through emerging trends and issues. Newsrooms have had to develop a new language to consider people who reject traditional labels, pronouns and adjectives in a highly political context.
Politico isn’t the only news agency to have run into trouble around transgender issues. The New York Times has been accused by some of its own writers and contributors of ‘bias’ in its reporting on the trans rights debate
Athey traces Politico’s internal malaise to early 2021 when Politico let Daily Wire founder and conservative radio host Ben Shapiro take the reins of Playbook, the website’s influential morning newsletter.
This caused a wave of anger. More than 100 staffers signed a letter to the website editor demanding an apology and increased newsroom diversity.
Athey says this was the start of the emboldening of staff members and that several reporters besides Orr had been tipped off about their coverage of transgender issues,
“Thanks to constant complaints from woke employees, Politico’s transgender coverage now reads like pure propaganda on well-informed and reasoned reporting,” she concludes.
Politico denied updating its style book or hosting a seminar in response to Orr’s article.
“Athey’s conclusion is inaccurate and completely misinformed,” a spokesperson said. “The article she referred to was published two years ago (March 2021) and had absolutely no impact on POLITICO’s standards and practices.”
“For context, Politico – like other media organizations – regularly updates its stylebook, which aims to keep Politico non-partisan, accurate and fair. The stylebook covers a wide variety of topics and is a living document that constantly changes weekly, sometimes daily.
The spokesperson added that most entries align with the AP stylebook.
