taibbi.substack | Probably the most disturbing story involved Intercept writer
Lee Fang, one of a fast-shrinking number of young reporters actually
skilled in investigative journalism. Fang’s work in the area of campaign
finance especially has led to concrete impact, including a record fine to a conservative Super PAC: few young reporters have done more to combat corruption.
Yet Fang found himself denounced online as a racist, then hauled before H.R. His crime? During protests, he tweeted this interview
with an African-American man named Maximum Fr, who described having two
cousins murdered in the East Oakland neighborhood where he grew up.
Saying his aunt is still not over those killings, Max asked:
I always question, why does a Black life matter only when a white man takes it?... Like, if a white man takes my life tonight, it’s going to be national news, but if a Black man takes my life, it might not even be spoken of… It’s stuff just like that that I just want in the mix.
Shortly
after, a co-worker of Fang’s, Akela Lacy, wrote, “Tired of being made
to deal continually with my co-worker @lhfang continuing to push black
on black crime narratives after being repeatedly asked not to. This
isn’t about me and him, it’s about institutional racism and using free
speech to couch anti-blackness. I am so fucking tired.” She followed
with, “Stop being racist Lee.”
The tweet received tens of thousands of likes and responses along the lines of, “Lee Fang has been like this for years, but the current moment only makes his anti-Blackness more glaring,” and “Lee Fang spouting racist bullshit it must be a day ending in day.”
A significant number of Fang’s co-workers, nearly all white, as well as
reporters from other major news organizations like the New York Times and MSNBC and political activists (one former Elizabeth Warren staffer tweeted, “Get him!”),
issued likes and messages of support for the notion that Fang was a
racist. Though he had support within the organization, no one among his
co-workers was willing to say anything in his defense publicly.
Like
many reporters, Fang has always viewed it as part of his job to ask
questions in all directions. He’s written critically of political
figures on the center-left, the left, and “obviously on the right,” and
his reporting has inspired serious threats in the past. None of those
past experiences were as terrifying as this blitz by would-be
colleagues, which he described as “jarring,” “deeply isolating,” and
“unique in my professional experience.”
To save his career, Fang had to craft a public apology
for “insensitivity to the lived experience of others.” According to one
friend of his, it’s been communicated to Fang that his continued
employment at The Intercept is contingent upon avoiding comments that may upset colleagues. Lacy to her credit publicly thanked Fang for his statement and expressed willingness to have a conversation; unfortunately, the throng of Intercept co-workers who piled on her initial accusation did not join her in this.
