➤ For readers who may have missed the story, can you explain the situation briefly?
Tricia: The Free Press, an outlet run by conservative journalist Bari Weiss, ran an article yesterday about the gender-affirming care a teen received at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital—mostly from the point of view from the teen's mother, who is against her child medically transitioning as a minor.
The teen, named Alex, tweeted that the article got some facts about their life wrong and that the Free Press reporter, Emily Yoffe, didn't consider Alex's concerns about how they were portrayed in the article before publishing it.
➤ Tell us a little bit about the reporting process. How did the story come about?
Tricia: This story seemed to converge on me from all corners of the Daily Dot. First, my editor (IRL editor Kris Seavers) send me Alex's tweet.
Then, David Covucci (the politics and tech editor) sent me Alex's tweet. And then, Claire Goforth (politics and tech reporter) sent me screenshots of her messages with Alex in which she reached out about interviewing them, and they said they were already chatting with me.
Point being, this was definitely something everyone felt the Dot should cover.
Alex tweeted about the Free Press article around 4:15pm ET, and the Dot story, which includes an interview with them, published around 8pm ET. It all moved super fast.
➤ What are some of your biggest takeaways from this?
Tricia: My biggest takeaway was the importance of treating these vital stories with care and compassion.
Trans youth have been burned by journalists in the past year, particularly by the New York Times' transphobic coverage about gender affirming care, parental rights, and puberty blockers.
Fortunately, many members, trans and cis, of the journalism community came together to write an open letter to the Times about its harmful coverage and the harm that has ensued from the coverage.
We, as journalists, have a duty to report the stories of those who are marginalized. While we should always investigate topics, we should not pile on and further ostracize those marginalized communities, like trans youth, that are experiencing state-sanctioned neglect.
➤ Anything else you want to share with web_crawlr readers?
Tricia: Protect trans kids and protect trans people. Hire more trans reporters and editors. And report out stories about trans joy just as often as you report stories about transphobia.
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Keep a civil tongue.