USA Today quietly removed a previously published op-ed opposing transgender athletes, written by a U.S. Senator, without informing its readers or the Senator, as per a report.
Currently, when attempting to access the original articles, USA Today’s network newspapers display an error message stating, “Content removed: did not meet editorial standards,” adding, “This content has been removed because it did not meet our editorial standards.”
This action suggests that the senator’s article did not align with certain editorial perspectives.
Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, speaks to media members as he departs the Senate Republican policy luncheon at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Kennedy criticized the Gannett-owned news network and told Fox News, “USA TODAY Network apparently does not like the way I express myself.”
“They think they are the speech police. Drunk on certainty and virtue, they think they are our moral teacher. This attitude is why so many Americans have lost confidence in the media. The media is not going to win that trust back until they return to neutrality instead of advocacy,” Kennedy added.
“Most people don’t support allowing biological men to participate in women’s sports because they think that will skew the results and harm women. Other people disagree,” he continued. “Gannett should simply report the two sides and not try to silence the position it disagrees with.”
Kennedy made several assertions in his now-deleted article and provided links to support his claims.
In another part of his piece, he wrote, “Allowing biological boys to compete as girls will harm women’s sports. Still, many activists believe their feelings and the feelings of transgender athletes are more important.”
“Men and women don’t compete for the same reasons. Yet transgender activists want athletic institutions to ignore these obvious physical differences so transgender athletes can feel included, even if it hurts biological girls in the process,” the Senator said.
Demonstrators listen to the speaking program during an “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Kennedy received no notification from Gannett regarding his op-ed’s removal. By May 14, he noticed that the links he provided on his senate website no longer directed to the article.
In subsequent communications, Castile alleged that Kennedy was using “loaded language” with terms like “biological male” and “biological female” and insisted that Kennedy revise the article to include more inclusive language.
