Glenn Greenwald defended himself after a study accused him and Tucker Carlson of causing a NYT journalist to be targeted by online hate.
On Wednesday, journalist Glenn Greenwald shared an email he had received from an NBC producer citing a study that showed he and Tucker Carlson’s comments on former New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz were linked to her receiving hate online. Greenwald responded, defending himself and arguing that high-profile journalists are not off-limits for criticism.
“We’re covering a recent study that found a segment on Fox News’ ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ and a Tweet send by you resulted in a ‘sharp increases in harmful speech’ directed toward [Lorenz],” the email from NBC producer Aaron Franco read.
The study in question was conducted by NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics and the International Women’s Media Foundation. They claimed that “large-scale quantitative data … showed sharp increases in harmful speech after [Lorenz was] targeted by Carlson and Greenwald.”
Upon receiving the email, Greenwald penned a scathing response, lambasting the notion that journalists should be off-limits for criticism, and pointing out that he has been the victim of such attacks in the past.
“Every day,” Greenwald began, “employees of large media corporations such as NBC post insults and attacks which ‘target’ me and my journalism and me personally, often resulting in vile and bigoted attacks against me based on homophobia, anti-semitism, and the nature of my inter-racial marriage and family.”
“But I don’t whine about it or try to claim that nobody can criticize me or my work,” he continued, “because I understand that those who seek out a large and influential journalistic platform that affects people’s lives are fair game for criticisms, and that my critics aren’t responsible for the bigoted and hateful bile I receive daily as a result of the hatred they stimulate.”
He then took aim at Franco and other men shielding journalists like Lorenz, who he argues are actually enforcing the stereotypes that women and minorities are fragile and can’t defend themselves.
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