WaPo ordered to rehire Karen Attiah

An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah with full back pay after her September 2025 firing over Bluesky posts about Charlie Kirk. Attiah's Monday announcement post showed about 4.09 million views when checked; that figure is a snapshot, not a platform-wide ranking.123

Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa found no good and sufficient cause for the firing and said it violated the union contract. Supporters call the order a win for opinion journalism and press freedom. Critics say Attiah's posts mocked a murdered conservative activist and that reinstatement rewards that tone. The Post said it respects the process and declined further comment; whether Attiah returns to Post pages, and whether the paper appeals, remains open.

Reporting: AP · Guardian · NYT

The three quoted X posts are an illustrative sample, not a poll. Times shown in the images are UTC.