(Christopher F. Rufo, City Journal) Zac Kriegman had the ideal rƩsumƩ for the professional-managerial class: a bachelors in economics from Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard and years of experience with high-tech startups, a white-shoe law firm, and an econometrics research consultancy.
He then spent six years at Thomson Reuters Corporation, the international media conglomerate, spearheading the companyās efforts on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced software engineering. By the beginning of 2020, Kriegman had assumed the title of Director of Data Science and was leading a team tasked with implementing deep learning throughout the organization.
But within a few months, this would all collapse. A chain of eventsābeginning with the death of George Floyd and culminating with a statistical analysis of Black Lives Matterās claimsāwould turn the 44-year-old data scientistās life upside-down.
By June 2021, Kriegman would be locked out of Reutersās servers, denounced by his colleagues, and fired by email. Kriegman had committed an unpardonable offense: he directly criticized the Black Lives Matter movement in the companyās internal communications forum, debunked Reutersās own biased reporting, and violated a corporate taboo.
Driven by what he called a āmoral obligationā to speak out, Kriegman refused to celebrate unquestioningly the BLM narrative and his companyās ādiversity and inclusionā programming; to the contrary, he argued that Reuters was exhibiting significant left-wing bias in the newsroom and that the ongoing BLM protests, riots, and calls to ādefund the policeā would wreak havoc on minority communities.
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āMore than 93% of recent demonstrations connected to Black Lives Matter were peaceful,ā Reuters insisted, even as rioters caused up to $2 billion in property damage across the country.
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In a āfact checkā of a social media post that claimed whites are more likely to be killed by blacks than blacks are to be killed by whites, ReutersĀ concedesĀ that this is factually accurate but labels the post āmisleadingā…
Still, Kriegman is genuine in his concern and sees a broader lesson in his experience. āIām extremely disturbed by whatās happening in our country,ā he says. āItās absolutely clear that in our major news organizations, people are not discussing these issues openly. They canāt afford to. Theyāll be fired.ā