Progressive online culture columnist Taylor Lorenz is leaving her position at the Washington Post to launch a publication on Substack after she drew fresh controversy for claiming President Joe Biden is a “war criminal” during a reporting assignment.
Lorenz launched her new publication, User Magazine, Tuesday with an introductory post explaining her mission and pitching readers on why they should become paid subscribers. The Hollywood Reporter first reported Lorenz’s departure. At first, she will be the only contributor to User Magazine but eventually she hopes to expand the project.
“I will be reporting on the people and movements that are steering tech and internet culture, from weird online phenomena, to under-the-radar trends, to content creators, platform developments, policy initiatives, and the powerful forces that shape our online world. It’s about who has power on the internet and how that power is being wielded,” Lorenz wrote.
“Legacy media tried desperately to position itself as a credible source for news about online culture. But, many of these institutions, for all their power and prestige, have proven themselves fundamentally unprepared to navigate today’s chaotic, contentious, fast-paced, and highly nuanced online media landscape,” Lorenz added, seemingly taking a shot at two of her old employers, the Washington Post and New York Times.
In August, Lorenz appeared to post on her private Instagram story about Biden being a “war criminal” while she was attending a White House event for progressive social-media influencers.
Initially, Lorenz claimed the post was digitally altered when New York Post reporter Jon Levine posted it on X. NPR subsequently authenticated her Instagram story and reported that Washington Post senior editors were reviewing the situation. Lorenz later claimed that her post was an “obvious meme” and said she did not deny it was authentic.
Anti-Israel progressives often claim that Israel and its advocates are “war criminals” for pushing forward with its full-scale military campaign against Hamas prompted by Hamas’s mass slaughter on October 7.
The Instagram story was the latest controversy for Lorenz – whose progressive opinions and sloppy journalism have made her a target for online pile-ons, especially from the conservatives she criticizes.
Lorenz hinted that her desire to share her opinions on social media partially motivated her departure from the Post.
“I like to have a really interactive relationship with my audience. I like to be very vocal online, obviously. And I just think all of that is really hard to do in the roles that are available at these legacy institutions,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
Lorenz infamously revealed the identity of conservative influencer LibsofTikTok as Chaya Raichik, and included a hyperlink in her reporting that revealed Raichik’s real-estate license with her personal address. The two online influencers sat down earlier this year for an interview and Raichik sported a t-shirt with a picture of Lorenz tearing up during an MSNBC segment where she complained about the online harassment she receives.
Lorenz also drew backlash for reporting during the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial when she falsely claimed that two online commentators covering the trial did not respond to requests for comment on a story casting doubt on the commentators’s motives.
To this day, Lorenz is an advocate for harsh Covid-19 prevention measures and continues to wear masks outdoors. She previously defended China’s dracionian “zero-covid” lockdown policy and disputed the phenomenon of natural immunity to Covid-19.
Amidst the controversies, Lorenz remains a prominent media figure in the online culture beat and her book on the topic, Extremely Online, came out last year.