The Washington Post was roundly criticized Wednesday for classifying news about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's return to coaching girls basketball as a "public safety" story, according to The Hill.
That's right: Public safety. The implication, whether The Washington Post would admit it or not, appeared to be that the public needed to be aware of this accused sexual offender's association with girls basketball, for their safety.
Conservative readers obviously took offense to this classification.
"The gutter journalism that still surrounds reports about Brett Kavanaugh make me want to tear my hair out," wrote Ashe Schow of The Daily Wire.
The gutter journalism that still surrounds reports about Brett Kavanaugh make me want to tear my hair out: https://t.co/EHli4IwPsY— Ashe Schow (@Ashe Schow) 1543373640.0
"What a joke, media bias is real," wrote former Florida congressional candidate Chuck Callesto.
What a JOKE... Media BIAS is REAL... Washington Post TAGS story about Kavanaugh coaching GIRLS basketball under… https://t.co/ddOQHOTxNA— Chuck Callesto (@Chuck Callesto) 1543369575.0
Here's what The Washington Post said about it
According to a Post spokesperson, the story populated in the "public safety" section because that's what always happens to articles written by the particular author who wrote the piece. The spokesperson also said the story should have gone in the local section, and should never have been in public safety.
Apparently the story stayed under the public safety section for some time even after the newspaper's statement, before finally being recategorized under the local section.
Under public safety, the news of Kavanaugh's return to coaching was placed next to stories about murders, sex offenders, and fatal accidents.
Kavanaugh, while he was going through his confirmation process and defending himself against allegations of sexual assault, expressed concern that the allegations would prevent him from being able to coach again.
“I love coaching more than anything I’ve ever done in my whole life,” Kavanaugh said during a Senate hearing. “But thanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed, I may never be able to coach again.”