The Daily Mail Has Fired A Reporter For Calling A ‘Bachelor’ Contestant A “Vapid C*nt”
What a way to go.
The Daily Mail has fired a young reporter who accidentally published an article describing reality TV stars as “vapid cunts”.
The article, about Bachelor In Paradise star Florence Alexandra promoting a cosmetics procedure, was published on Sunday and remained online for several hours before editors stepped in.
“Florence initially rose to fame on Matty J’s season of The Bachelor, before unsuccessfully trying her luck at love again in Paradise,” read the offending paragraph. “But most people who were educated at a high-school level know these vapid cunts only go on the shows to find mediocre Instagram fame and make a living promoting teeth whiteners and unnecessary cosmetic procedures.”
Apparently the line was meant for the reporter’s eyes only, but was accidentally cut and pasted into the final story.
A spokesperson for The Daily Mail told The Guardian that “after an internal investigation, Daily Mail Australia has now terminated the employment of the journalist responsible for the offending words”.
But many people have come to the reporter’s defence, arguing that the slip-up should not have cost her her job.
This is awful – Daily Mail throws reporter under the bus for what was probably the best paragraph the Mail has ever published.
What about the editors who created the appalling lack of editorial controls?https://t.co/mhcHBk9twD
— Paul Farrell (@FarrellPF) April 16, 2018
Journalist who accidentally wrote “vapid cunts” on the Daily Mail has been sacked. Dumb mistake, but clearly just absolutely that – a mistake, made in a high-pressure, high-turnout newsroom without much senior editorial support. Very harsh IMO https://t.co/9UdMei0Xa2
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 16, 2018
the daily mail sacked the journalist who did the “vapid cunts” line. what the hell. literally every single person working in online journalism has made a dumb mistake like this. between stupid high content demands and very few checks before publishing, it’s basically inevitable.
— Alex Bruce-Smith (@alexbrucesmith) April 16, 2018
Daily Mail fired the person who accidentally published ‘vapid cunts’ but maintains the shitty system that allows reporters to publish with zero oversight? pic.twitter.com/8TPisItK6M
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) April 16, 2018
how good is it that the Daily Mail makes their money from writing news stories that are intentionally factually misleading but will instantly sack you for making an error
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) April 17, 2018
Others expressed their support for what the reporter wrote in the first place.
literally that’s the best thing I’ve ever read on the website
— Sinead Stubbins (@SineadStubbins) April 16, 2018
Refreshing honesty from the Daily Mail this morning https://t.co/izxC2xpveE pic.twitter.com/OI1ZNEewHR
— Emily Baker (@emlybkr) April 15, 2018
Today we are all vapid cunts.
— Stilgherrian (@stilgherrian) April 16, 2018
tag yourself, I’m the vapid cunt https://t.co/0JQCRKtTm2
— Tahlia Pritchard (@Tahls) April 15, 2018
Alexandra, for her part, told News Corp that she was “shocked” and “disgusted” by the article. “I’m not shallow, or materialistic, which is what the journalist is suggesting,” she insisted.
“I didn’t even know what vapid meant.”
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Feature image via Florence Alexandra/Instagram