Politico has terminated its contract with magazine writer Julia Ioffe after she sent a tweet that referenced a possible incestuous relationship between President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka.
In a note to Politico staff Wednesday, Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Editor Carrie Budoff Brown said Ioffe violated guidelines against displaying “gratuitous opinion” on social media.
“Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about. Julia had previously announced she is taking her work to the Atlantic. We have accelerated the close of her POLITICO contributor contract, effective immediately.”
Earlier in the day, Ioffe sent out the following tweets:
https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/809137740432506883
https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/809156720027205634
Brown and Harris concluded the note by thanking “the vast majority of you who are providing positive examples of the responsible way to engage on social media.”
Ioffe recently joined The Atlantic from Politico.
She sent the following tweets later in the evening:
In Russia, the Kremlin rarely has to make the call to media organizations. The media bosses anticipate and do the censoring themselves.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
All that said, I do regret my phrasing and apologize for it. It was a crass joke that I genuinely regret.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
It was a tasteless, offensive tweet that I regret and have deleted. I am truly and deeply sorry. It won't happen again.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
Here’s the full note:
Hi all —
You will remember the note from John and me a few days ago in which we emphasized that POLITICO journalists are representing the publication at all times and on all platforms, and must present themselves accordingly. We also emphasized that the power of POLITICO comes from our independent reporting and analysis. Gratuitous opinion has no place, anywhere, at any time – not on your Facebook feed, your Twitter feed or any place else. It has absolutely zero value for our readers and should have zero place in our work
Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about.
Julia had previously announced she is taking her work to the Atlantic. We have accelerated the close of her POLITICO contributor contract, effective immediately.
We understand how absolutely infuriating it is to have incidents like this tarnish POLITICO and the great work being done across the company. We feel the same, and as such there will be little tolerance for this type of behavior.
Thanks to the vast majority of you who are providing positive examples of the responsible way to engage on social media.
Carrie and John
