Daily Beast: Anonymous Politico Reporters Lament Young In-House ‘Woke Police’

In a bit of a surprise, the fiercely liberal Daily Beast published an article on the internal goings-on at Politico, especially the part about a “woke police” on staff – like we’ve seen at The New York TimesOther Old Media Outlets

Zachary Petrizzo, Lachlan Carwright and Lachlan Carterwright arrested the anonymous accusers of this “iconic” publication.

The Daily Beast interviewed seven Politico reporters currently in the newsroom. the newsroom now centers around younger, more politically “woke” staffers who wield large amounts of influence, especially when it comes to ensuring a more diverse set of voices are featured in the outlet’s reporting.

The new dynamic has ostensibly vexed some of Politico’s older guard, with several staffers perceiving a vigilant “woke police” force within the newsroom. There are “woke police around every corner,” lamented one veteran reporter.

This can lead to Politico staffers quitting the organization.

In particular, people with direct knowledge of the matter pointed to a previously unreported March incident that unfolded over an article penned by reporter Gabby Orr on the topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

According to three people familiar with the matter, two colleagues raised concern about what Orr had written, leading to a Zoom call between the reporter, who has since joined CNN, and Politico’s director of editorial diversity initiatives, Robin Turner, among others. In-house diversity champion agreed with the conclusion that the article did not include enough transgender voices.According to people who are familiar with the situation, they did. Orr refused to speak on the matter.

A look at the actual article suggests that the “in-house diversity champion” was upset that an article on Republicans largely quoted Republicans. But GOP strategist Rob Stutzman was criticizing the focus on trans athletes, and the leftist Kate Oakley of the Human Rights Campaign also gets some quotes. Orr argued “Republicans’ claim as defenders of women’s sports is a tenuous one, at best.” Orr didn’t quote any transgender/non-binary pundit.

The Daily Beast piece also suggests there are “social justice” feuds on the Politico Playbook team because Tara Palmieri pushing a scoops-and-gossips approach and Eugene Daniels crusading for social justice:

When it comes to editorial content for the influential newsletter, which once controlled the Beltway news cycle, Palmeri and Daniels often disagree. Multiple Politico insiders have told The Daily Beast the duo rarely agree about what content should be in the newsletter. According to sources, Playbook has had disagreements over specific topics. Daniels’ expressed desire for social justice issues to be at the forefront of coverage…

Daniels has, however, considered quitting. The Daily Beast was told by two sources with information about the situation. According to them, his attention has been on an MSNBC gig, where he often appears on-air as a political analyst. Three sources claim that Daniels signed a two year contract with Politico after they had spoken to him about the possibility of his joining as a full-time employee.

Daniels maintains that Politico’s staff is all well. Matt Kaminski was the Politico editor-in chief, according to a statement made by him to The Daily Beast. “No one on the team—not least Tara Palmeri or Eugene Daniels—is driven by ideology in their coverage.” Sure……..