An MSNBC reporter is being accused of sparking “months of abuse” stemming from an interview that aired on the network.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Taylor Lorenz, a technology columnist for The Washington Post, shredded MSNBC reporter Morgan Radford over a viral interview in which she broke down in tears.
“No bigger regret in my career than making the mistake of thinking [Morgan Radford] knew how to accurately report on abuse/ harassment,” Lorenz wrote. “Her complete mishandling of the story has led to immense fallout and months of abuse. I cannot warn women loudly enough to stay away from her/MSNBC.”
She went on, “Never did I think a fellow woman journalist would throw a colleague under the bus, especially one that purports to advocate for marginalized communities. It’s a reminder that cable news will always, above all else, exploit people for cheap views. They fundamentally do not care.”
Never did I think a fellow woman journalist would throw a colleague under the bus, especially one that purports to advocate for marginalized communities. It’s a reminder that cable news will always, above all else, exploit people for cheap views. They fundamentally do not care.
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) September 13, 2022
The columnist shared that she argued that no one should trust “anyone in the media to tell your story or report on harassment accurately, especially TV news people. They do not care about [you] or getting it right.”
“I’m so grateful to the [organizations] I’ve been able to work w/ to educate people on issues of online harassment [and] abuse. We need to change how the media tells these stories and force newsrooms to take this stuff seriously. It’s been almost a decade since gamergate, we can do better,” she added.
I’m so grateful to the orgs I’ve been able to work w/ to educate people on issues of online harassment & abuse. We need to change how the media tells these stories and force newsrooms to take this stuff seriously. It’s been almost a decade since gamergate, we can do better
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) September 13, 2022
When one user asked for clarification about what Lorenz was writing about, she responded, “[Radford] produced an insane garbage segment months ago that misgendered a colleague (then refused to immediately correct it) lied about my harassment campaign, completely misrepresented what I said and how I’ve handled 2 straight years of relentless abuse. Never apologized or fixed it.”
Lorenz, who previously wrote for The New York Times, has faced criticism and mockery starting in 2021 after she tweeted that Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen used the word “retard” during a private discussion on the members-only app Clubhouse. Several members of that discussion revealed that her claim was wrong.
During an April interview on MSNBC, Lorenz spoke about online harassment she had received in recent years.
“They’ll threaten children — they’ll threaten my parents. I’ve had to remove every single social tie. I have severe PTSD from this,” she said. “I contemplated suicide, and it got really bad. You feel like any little piece of information that gets out on you will be used by the worst people on the internet to destroy your life, and it’s so isolating.”
During the segment, Lorenz broke down in tears.
She later criticized Radford as she tweeted, “If your segment or story on ‘online harassment’ leads to even worse online harassment for your subjects, you f****** up royally and should learn how to cover these things properly before ever talking about them again.”
“I could teach an entire class on this stuff, but the simple fact is that very few people in power in newsrooms actually understand how the modern internet and online landscape works, and so they continually give ammo to bad actors,” she added.
