Observer reporter who covers Panthers apologizes for tweets
Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue must go - Q City Metro
Curious to see how this develops
That article left me feeling ... problematic.
I thought she should get probably get dinged. Week suspension, awkward meeting, etc. But this basically says, what you do at 20 speaks in a real way to what you are five years later. Maybe we should hold 20-year-olds to a higher standard. I dunno. But if we're holding 20-year-olds to a certain standard, how soon until that leaks beyond just a journalist? (Apologies if this goes too political) We've seen a lot of spots where a person of color's indiscretions as a minor, or at age 19-22 are held against them in a big way ("that kid was a criminal, so got what's coming"). Would the author say at 25, Cam should be harshly punished for stealing a laptop, probably worth at least $1,000? I doubt it.
I know this reads like whataboutism, but I guess I think dumb kids tend to be dumb. I know I was. And if something I once did was discovered, I'd explain 25-year-old me isn't 20-year-old me. Lots of maturing in that stretch. There's of course arguments about whether laughing at your dad being un-PC is highly bad, what role her privilege plays in this, et. al., but the standard, you were a dipshirt at 20, you are highly disqualified for things, seems bad.