Breitbart Writer’s Twitter Tirade Costs Her Job

Rhonda AdamsIn the war for what is “real” and what is “fake” in news these days, pretty much everyone has an opinion on Breitbart. To many on the political right, Breitbart reporters are one of the last bastions of “truth” in American journalism. To many on the left, the site and its reporters are little more than propaganda mouthpieces with evil intentions. Given the extreme views, when one of those reporters makes a public mistake, you can be sure it will get headlines.Enter Katie McHugh. A veteran Breitbart content generator, McHugh launched a Twitter tirade after the London terror attack that eventually ended her employment with Breitbart.The problematic tweetstorm started off when McHugh tweeted something to the effect of: “there would be no deadly terror attacks in the UK if Muslims didn’t live there…”Actor Pej Vahdat immediately fired back, “You’re a real moron.”Okay, so let’s take a step back here and review a basic rule of Twitter flame wars: they never end well for anyone. So. Just. Stop. It. Can that be any clearer? Well, apparently not. McHugh was not content with broad brushing all British Muslims. She decided to launch on Vahdat, who, admittedly, could have been a bit more diplomatic in his own right.McHugh tweeted: “You’re an Indian.” That may not have gone anywhere since it really doesn’t make much sense in the context … however, Vahdat is Iranian. The exchange prompted many in the media, even several of McHugh’s Breitbart colleagues, to speak out, condemning her remarks as “stupid” or “appalling” or “dumb.”But, as in all these cases, it’s not Twitter that ends up having the last word. In almost every incidence of someone spouting off unnecessarily on Twitter, a person with authority in the “real world” has the final say. In this case, it was Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow, who terminated McHugh shortly after the tirade went viral.McHugh, clearly not learning a thing about the consequences of such ill-conceived communication, immediately set up a woe is me page asking for “support” online. Here’s the thing. My purpose in this is not to point out that having one opinion or another about an issue is right or wrong. That’s a conversation for another context. This is really about time, place and professional behavior. There is no reason for McHugh to be unemployed at this moment except for her incredibly tone-deaf behavior.Time and again, something like this happens and someone who could have been content … and employed … suffers immediate consequences. Their stock drops, their job disappears, or they lose support even from longtime fans. Every time this happens, I find myself wondering, when will they learn? What might be a momentary lapse of judgment in a conversation between friends becomes a “written in granite” mission statement when you click “send.” [author]About the Author: Rhonda Adams is a NY based entrepreneur. [/author]