Katie Mettler
@kemettler
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@washingtonpost reporter covering police, courts & incarceration in Prince George’s County & Maryland. @PostGuild always. Hoosier in my heart.
Washington, DC
Joined January 2011
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As co-chair of the
@washingtonpost
's forever enabling union, I'm proud of the work we did and are doing to make our newsroom a more safe, fair and inclusive place to do important journalism.
Titles don't make leaders. Actions do.
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Yesterday I went shopping for a new winter coat that would fit over a bulletproof vest so I can safely (and warmly) cover the inauguration of the next president of the United States.
What an absolutely absurd sentence to write.
This at the kickoff of a week in which militarized groups have planned armed demonstrations in all 50 state capitols starting Jan. 16 and running through at least Jan. 20, aka inauguration day. 👇🏽
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Just witnessed an alarming scene with
@mjcontrera
outside the US Capitol. A group of TV reporters were swarmed and chased away from their cameras, which a mob of President Trump’s supporters trashed.
Here’s the aftermath:
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Just cried while looking at a picture of my mom, an incredibly hard-working nurse in Indiana, getting the coronavirus vaccine today.
She has been caring for covid patients for many months now. What an incredible feeling to finally replace worry with relief.
🖤🖤🖤
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"These are the words and actions of an attempted coup, according to historians and other experts."
Clear, chilling, extraordinary story from
@PhilipRucker
,
@AmyEGardner
and
@jdawsey1
.
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Supposed to be writing today, so naturally my home is cleaner than it has been in six months.
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Today, the U.S. death toll from covid-19 surpassed 50,000.
50,000 human beings that weeks ago were living vibrantly in every corner of our country. 50,000 of your neighbors and teachers, doctors and grocers, moms and dads.
Here, we tell their stories.
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The Washington Post has started laying off my friends and colleagues. It's wrong and unnecessary and did not need to happen. I'm sad and mad and so disappointed in this institution that I care about so deeply. We're better than this.
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In 1996, a teen girl told police she was raped, submitted to a rape kit and identified the two men she said drugged her. But police never tested her rape kit.
23 yrs later, they've made an arrest.
The suspect? One of the men she named decades ago.
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@hannahreed13
YES!!!
You need to read
@byleahjohnson
’s book You Should See Me In A Crown — which features cornfields and a Steak n’ Shake — and then join my passive aggressive Midwestern crusade to get it on the big screen.
It
@Netflix
doesn’t adapt this brilliant
@byleahjohnson
book, I quit it all.
Liz Lighty is the witty, thoughtful, quietly-confident-yet-relatably-self-doubting Midwestern heroine my soul needed right now. I love her love story and the way Leah tells it.
👑⭐️👑⭐️👑
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The hundreds of journalists at the
@washingtonpost
have been asking our publisher basic questions about the future of the newspaper — including why we laid off 31 people — for 2 months. He has never answered.
But he talked to
@NewYorker
.
Interesting.
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We have a verdict in the sanity trial of the man who shot and killed five people at the Capital Gazette newsroom on June 28, 2018.
Jarrod Ramos is criminally responsible — meaning he faces life in prison.
The jury deliberated for less than 2 hours.
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I just interviewed a dad who cried as he hugged his 10-year-old daughter, who is Black, and told her that being elected to one of the highest political office’s in the land is no longer a “hypothetical.”
“You can have anything, you can do anything,” he told her.
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Newsrooms can be magical places. There's nothing like election night, or big breaking news, or an irl brainstorm full of smart people, sparks flying.
But they can also be toxic. And discriminatory. And exhausting.
Two things can be true at once.
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Feeling sick and teary-eyed reading this raw story from
@OliviaMesser
. Every sentence punched.
About a month ago, after a year submersed in trauma and tension, my brain finally broke. My whole body went numb. I couldn't eat or sleep or feel.
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I've wanted to work on The Post's Metro desk for years. I can't wait to join the best team in the room as a criminal justice reporter — especially in this crucial moment.
Live in Prince George's and have thoughts about police, jails or prisons? I'm at katie.mettler
@washpost
.com
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Two D.C. police officers were convicted Wednesday in connection with the fatal police chase in 2020 that left 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown dead and inflamed community tensions.
From
@dugganwapo
:
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Read this. Now.
Then wear your mask to the grocery store.
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Hours after
@washingtonpost
laid off
@SarahLKaufman
, she went to the theater. She had an assignment, and she didn't want to disappoint the dancers and the readers. That's the kind of quality human and journalist we just let go.
Read Sarah's final review:
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces latest coronavirus numbers in the state:
- 1,218 deaths (up 253 since yesterday)
- 66,496 confirmed cases
- 9,517 currently hospitalized
- 4,204 discharged
He says there's "no doubt the rate has slowed," but daily intubation is "way up."
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Yasmeen and India have been friends since 7th grade.
They had baby boys months apart.
Last week, they drove to the Mall to splash around in the fountains. But before they could exit the car, Secret Service officers swarmed them with guns, they said.
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It
@Netflix
doesn’t adapt this brilliant
@byleahjohnson
book, I quit it all.
Liz Lighty is the witty, thoughtful, quietly-confident-yet-relatably-self-doubting Midwestern heroine my soul needed right now. I love her love story and the way Leah tells it.
👑⭐️👑⭐️👑
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Self care is taking yourself on a solo Saturday night date to the movie theater to silently weep alone through the spiritual experience that is Little Women. I wore pajamas and no makeup. I’m prepared to be wrecked.
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NEWS:
14 Prince George’s County police officers were indicted by a grand jury today. They are accused of moonlighting as private security guards while on the clock for the department and participating in a double-dipping scheme.
Story coming soon.
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The atmosphere has remained fairly calm at Black Lives Matter Plaza today, where about a hundred anti-Trump activists have verbally clashed with Trump supporters as they march to Freedom Plaza.
A week ago, hundreds of Biden supporters sang and danced in the street here.
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On today’s front page, a story about two formerly incarcerated women who’ve built a courtwatching empire during the pandemic to hold the criminal legal system accountable 👇
@courtwatchpg
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Chilling.
"I do want to make one thing clear: If you think that by stocking up your pantries you have absolved yourself from the responsibility of preparing for this virus, you are mistaken. This is a crisis like none before."
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"His life was a revolution. A revelation. A master class. A miracle. A road map. But a relay man always relies on someone else to finish the work. That billy club that became a baton is now in our hands. The work is now ours to do. The race is ours to win"
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Something incredible just happened at the
@CWAUnion
convention.
Three Constitutional amendments, proposed by
@newsguild
members, were overwhelmingly approved by the delegation.
They address harassment and discrimination — and our fight to eradicate both from our union.
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Proud. 🖤
🚨 The Washington Post Guild has reached a tentative agreement with The Washington Post after 18 months of contract negotiations.
This deal is the best contract Washington Post employees have seen in 50 years.
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How in the hell are people supposed to stay safe and informed in this global health crisis if their local newspapers disappear one by one?
Tomorrow, 18 of 32 reporters at The Plain Dealer will be laid off. Amid incredible stress & sorrow & a global pandemic my colleagues have worked long hours to the end to serve readers. The gutting of a newsroom is beyond sad but my colleagues are inspiring. I love & respect them.
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Hm.
At bargaining two weeks ago, the company flatly rejected all ideas
@PostGuild
offered to make The Post's remote work policies more transparent and flexible – even after dozens of members gave hours of testimony on the topic.
Fred Ryan did not attend.
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Chilling account from a young man I spoke to who witnessed the shootings at the Potomac Ave. metro station this morning.
The shooter passed him on the escalator and said:
“You be safe today. I’m the killmonger today."
w/
@justingeorge
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We launched this in April, when 50,000 Americans had been killed by covid-19.
One month later, and now 50,000 more people are gone.
Who among us today will be dead by next month?
Your cashier at the grocery store? Your best friend? Your child?
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The scene as one group of Trump supporters walked by the White House:
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Read
@Marissa_Jae
with the best story I've read so far on who is taking to the streets this week and why.
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Time for my annual
@washingtonpost
internship PSA:
Apply! Apply! Apply!
Even (and especially) if you're not an Ivy Leaguer. Even if you're scared or nervous. Even if you think you may not be "good enough."
The worst thing you can do is not try.
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What a great day for
@PostGuild
and
@washingtonpost
.
Feeling so many feelings, but mostly overwhelming gratitude to my colleagues of color — current and former — who have fought for this kind of substantive, tangible change for years. Thank you for leading the way.
This is a historic day for The Washington Post and
@PostGuild
.
Publisher Fred Ryan has announced sweeping changes to The Post. Many of them seemed to come directly from this union’s action plan, which was signed by more than 500 Post employees.
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I wrote about Jennifer Arnold, 67, a fabulously eccentric and adventurous woman who worked as a costume dresser on Broadway's Phantom of the Opera for more than 30 years.
“Everything in Jen’s world had glitter on it. Everything had a little flair.”
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Resident animal reporter extraordinaire
@postmetrogirl
writes that all you zebra fans shouldn't fret.
Our new striped friends are likely living their best lives in the Maryland wilderness — and outsmarting those trying to catch them.
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First day on the new beat covering criminal justice in Maryland.
Longtime criminal justice reporters: What are your best tips and tricks for staying organized, tracking court cases, managing records requests and balancing daily news with enterprise and accountability work?
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This story is wild.
A former Maryland police chief is accused of committing 12 arsons over a decade that targeted law enforcement colleagues, his chiropractors, his stepson and a neighbor.
In six of the fires, families were asleep inside their homes.
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This week has made me realize how many people — including many media reporters — don’t fully understand the function of a union and the fundamental job protections it provides. Weingarten rights. Grievances. Progressive discipline.
That’s on us. We have to keep educating.👇
The right to fight for your job is fundamental to a union — and why having a union is so important for workers everywhere.
We want to explain what we do for our members, particularly the rights a Guild-covered worker is entitled to when facing discipline.
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New career goal:
"In a reporting and Newspaper Guild career spanning nearly 40 years, Ms. Levy was wholly unimpressed by power and wholly unintimidated by those who wielded it."
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For the first time in our 144-year history, the
@washingtonpost
will have a woman as the paper's executive editor — a woman who seems to lead with compassion and humility.
Eager for
@PostGuild
to be her partner in making our newsroom the best it can be.
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A very sad update to the zebra saga:
One of the zebras that escaped from the Maryland farm has died, officials said.
And, the county said, earlier reports that five zebras had broken free are incorrect. Just three escaped — and now two remain loose.
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Remember last fall, when our former publisher — after announcing layoffs — said he believed The Post staff would be *even bigger* in a year?
Now this: One year later, 240 more people losing their jobs because of bad business decisions from the top.
I'm so tired of this.
We cannot comprehend how The Post, owned by one of the richest people in the world, has decided to foist the consequences of its incoherent business plan and irresponsibly rapid expansion onto the hardworking people who make this company run.
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I'm proud to be a
@washingtonpost
reporter covering the community I love. I'm just as proud to be
@PostGuild
co-chair alongside the colleagues I love.
But today felt like a threat to undermine both. We responded journalistically & were met with contempt.
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Nothing makes me happier than when readers sign their emails to me: “A subscriber.”
It just feels like a subtle way of saying, I’m proud to be an extension of the mission and work of
@washingtonpost
— a sort of “we’re in this together” nod. I love it.
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I learned how to be a reporter in this newsroom. It employees some of the best journalists in the country, who work tirelessly every day to inform and protect the Tampa Bay region.
It’s a damn shame this is happening.
Please subscribe:
They won a Pulitzer last year for investigative reporting. This year they’re all getting pay cuts by 10%
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📢🗞️🚨
The
@washingtonpost
pay wall has been dropped through 4/22, so I'd love if you checked out some stories from my beat that are worth your time.
They prove, I think, my working theory that Prince George's County is one of the most interesting places on planet earth:
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SCOOPLET!
My story on the launch of a new National Courtwatch Network, a collaboration between local volunteers, national advocates for transparency and everyone's favorite court watching rockstar, Fiona Apple.
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Even in the middle of a pandemic, my hometown newspaper's Police Notebook does not disappoint.
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Impressed by these journalists, their commitment to being trauma-informed in their reporting on a hurting community, and their willingness to acknowledge they are a part of that community, too. They are leaders. I admire them.
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All I can think about is how many people I’m going to hug when this is all over. YOU get a hug! And YOU get a hug! We’re all going to need hugs.
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Get you a friend like
@sophanho
, who asked if she could send an early birthday dinner from her cousin’s Vietnamese restaurant — then meticulously crafted a meal that will feed me for 3 days.
You’re a treasure, Sophie Ho!!!!!!!
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NEWS:
Patrick Wojahn, the mayor of College Park, Md., home of the University of Maryland, has resigned amid his arrest on 56 counts of child porn charges
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Our convos about the future of newsrooms must acknowledge that. This issue is not black and white.
The question we should be asking is not whether working in person in a newsroom has value — of course it does! — but whether it has value for everyone, every day, all the time.
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yes, always yes, to weirdos, free pizza, eavesdropping on colleagues' source calls, networking coffees, story compliments in the hallway
maybe not to sexism & racism, breast-pumping in closets, taking therapy from the office, missing your kid's soccer game bc of traffic
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New info from Maryland DNR:
The zebra was found dead Sept. 16 in a snare trap on a private property that officials said is owned by the Girl Scouts.
Officials have been saying for weeks they were close to capturing the zebras safely.
w/
@postmetrogirl
@MauraJudkis
A very sad update to the zebra saga:
One of the zebras that escaped from the Maryland farm has died, officials said.
And, the county said, earlier reports that five zebras had broken free are incorrect. Just three escaped — and now two remain loose.
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I can't stop thinking about all the little people watching (and marching) right now.
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In a statement accompanying the lawsuit, Sonmez said: "Their actions do a disservice to Washington Post readers and send a chilling message to all female journalists: Stay silent about your assault, or your career is on the line.”
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I got home last night after 12 long, chaotic hours feeling in awe of the way my colleagues navigated threats, violence and a pandemic to fairly report the news.
More than that, I felt overwhelming gratitude for
@semelm
and
@mnorton
— who kept us all safe.
Read our story here:
Our complete account of the day that was in the nation’s capital, with reporting from
@Marissa_Jae
@ELaserDavies
@MikeMillerDC
@PeteJamison
@kemettler
@ByMoriah
@JulieZauzmer
@Rachel_Chason
@TheArtist_MBS
@justinwmmoyer
@phscoop
@nu1wcf
@KunkleFredrick
:
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Proud to have been a part of this comprehensive
@washingtonpost
coverage of a defining, disturbing moment in history.
More proud to have witnessed that day as a staffer of
@postlocal
— a team of journalists who care deeply about local news, service journalism and each other.
The staff of The Washington Post won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize public service medal for its coverage of the causes, costs and aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, showing how the forces behind the siege are shaking the underpinnings of democracy.
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Two years ago, a dazzle of three zebras (yes, a dazzle) escaped from a herd of 39 that were living on a secluded estate in Prince George’s County, Md.
The region and the nation fell in love.
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April Dunn, 33, was a disability rights advocate in Louisiana who worked with the governor.
In her last Facebook post, she wrote: “Only the vulnerable will be at risk. Your ‘only’ is my everything.”
via
@D_Hawk
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"Writing this from Italy, I am also writing to you from your own future. From our state of emergency, we have been watching the crisis unfold in the United States with a terrible sense of foreboding. Please stop waiting for others to tell you what to do."
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At a coffee stop listening to a husband and wife argue about looking at real estate. He just said she sucks at finance. She called him sexist.
This is the kind of quality eavesdropping the pandemic robbed me of.
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NEWS: The DOJ has launched a pattern and practice probe into the Maryland State Police.
Feds will investigate whether the agency has discriminated against Black troopers in its hiring and promotional practices.
w/
@OvettaWashPost
@DavidNakamura
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What's missing from this discourse?
An acknowledgment that
@CAKitchener
's work covering abortion access, through the lens of the people most directly impacted by this monumental shift in American healthcare, was worthy of the win on its own merit.
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Terral Ellis, 26, got sick in an Okla. county jail. He begged for help. He was denied repeatedly.
“I’m sick and tired of f---ing dealing with your ass!” nurse Theresa Horn yelled. “Ain’t a damn thing nothing wrong with you!”
Hours later, Ellis was dead.
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Always a good day when
@washingtonpost
puts Prince George’s county on the front page.
Pick up today’s paper for an in-depth story about sisterhood, mentorship and the specific challenges Black women in power face — internally and externally.
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Nightmare.
"... the measures designed to prevent new infections in the United States created the exact conditions that facilitate the spread of the highly contagious virus, with throngs of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder in hours-long bottlenecks."
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Was bopping around downtown this morning near the
@washingtonpost
office feeling all those morning commute vibes I've missed so much and really leaned in and drank not one, BUT TWO,
@CompassCoffeeDC
nitro cold brews. Now in hour four of heart palpitations. SOS.
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For the first time in my life, my family didn’t spend Christmas together. We are scattered across the country. Some of us had to work, including my nurse mom who just logged a 14-hour day. But thanks to five-way call, we got to share laughs and our love. I am thankful 🖤
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I was working the February day the U.S reported its first known death in Washington state.
I sobbed when 300 people died in one day in Italy — unable then to comprehend so much loss so fast.
Now we hardly flinch at the 1,000+/day toll here at home.
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Last fall, hundreds of women learned the FBI had arrested their trusted OBGYN on charges that shocked them.
A year later, the doctor's former patients told
@schmidtsam7
and I they still feel confused, ashamed and angry about their care:
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My mom would like everyone to know that she thinks you're very kind.
(Except for the one person who responded that she must be disappointed in me for being a journalist.)
(She isn't).
Just cried while looking at a picture of my mom, an incredibly hard-working nurse in Indiana, getting the coronavirus vaccine today.
She has been caring for covid patients for many months now. What an incredible feeling to finally replace worry with relief.
🖤🖤🖤
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🔥 TODAY IS THE DAY!
My brilliant and kind
@PostGuild
colleagues have spent YEARS building trust and pushing for change that has made
@washingtonpost
a better place to work and do journalism.
Now we're taking our ideas to the bargaining table.
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For the second year,
@mjcontrera
is a Livingston finalist.
She reports and writes with profound empathy. She absorbs the problems and pain of others, then squeezes it onto the page so we can try to understand. She is so worthy of this honor.
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This is my neighborhood and my metro stop. I stumbled upon the scene while walking to a coffee shop to work for the day. Spent the morning talking to commuters and neighbors who are feeling pretty unsettled.
One told me: "It’s just endless. It’s a shame.”
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Please take some time to read about the life and love and legacy of Mayor Kevin Ward, whose people spoke about him with such adoration that
@Rachel_Chason
and I struggled to cram all that was magical about him into this one story.
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This year, our newsroom leaders articulated a new standard for our journalism.
We are supposed to tell stories that empower people and hold power to account.
This report, by
@PostGuild
members, does just that. 🧵
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This profile of Frank Gabrin, the first ER doctor to die of the virus, is gutting. He felt sure he had contracted the disease from re-wearing a mask four days in a row. He died in his husband's arms.
via
@marisa_iati
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This is an extraordinary story from
@GregJaffe
, chronicling one union election at a Dollar General.
It reveals so plainly the lopsidedness of union drives, how powerful, rich corporations use intimidation to silence low-wage workers who want a voice.
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Prince George's has settled with the Black & Latino officers who sued their own police department for discrimination.
The county will pay the group $2.3 million.
It spent much, much more defending itself — at least $17.6 million.
w/
@Rachel_Chason
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Marylou Armer, 43, was detective for the Santa Rosa PD’s sexual assault and domestic violence unit.
She was denied a test three times, her sister said, inspiring a movement to protect and screen first responders.
via
@MerylKornfield
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Talking about this is scary and hard, because we're taught to be tough and hardened and to compartmentalize. I'm grateful for a new generation of journalists who are brave enough to stop pretending we are unaffected by the work, or that feeling deeply makes us weak.
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Can’t watch videos like this without crying. There is so much that is bad right now — but this is so good.
Each night the cheers for our health care workers who are braving the frontlines get louder & louder across New York City.
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Advocates say the National Courtwatch Network could be the next frontier of criminal justice accountability, a move to build upon the fight for police accountability by scrutinizing the “assembly line of injustice” playing out in America’s courtrooms.
Injustice happens in empty courtrooms. But in a growing number of places, people are holding the system accountable by showing up in court. Volunteering to court watch. Documenting what they see.
We’re watching. This powerful short film (scored by Fiona Apple!) tells our story:
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The question we should be asking is how we can use all the tools at our disposal, both our in-person spaces and the incredible power of technology, to build newsroom communities that are inclusive and empowering and nourishing and fun and weird for everyone.
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Who says the weekend shift isn't fun?
An extremely-D.C. tale of Barbie dolls, a kidnapping and a strange neighbor reconciliation, with
@stephaniealai
.
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