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VICE News Correspondent Gives Jill Abramson A Verbal Butchering For Alleged Book Errors

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Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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In 21 tweets, HBO VICE News Tonight correspondent Arielle Duhaime-Ross sliced up a graph in Jill Abramson’s new book for making a number of so-called serious errors. The color of her boots: wrong. The state of her hair: not so buzzed. She also said Abramson wrote that she wanted to study snakes and was essentially a diversity hire.

The perceived underlying meaning: She was unqualified for the job.

Abramson, the former executive editor of the New York Times, defended herself against the barrage of error accusations coming her way.

“The photos of pages circulating from my book are from uncorrected galleys, which have a clear disclaimer saying ‘Please do not quote for publication without checking the finished book,'” she tweeted late Tuesday afternoon. “Please do check out a finished copy of Merchants of Truth, available Feb. 5.”

Abramson called the journalist “transgender” in an early unpublished version of Merchants of Truth. The final copy actually calls her “gender nonconforming,” which Duhaime-Ross notes on her Twitter feed as the only mistake that Abramson fixed in her final copy.

Still, the VICE reporter isn’t happy about any of it. And that’s just for starters.

In her Twitter bio, Duhaime-Ross tells readers how she prefers to be addressed and presumably written about: “She/Her/Hers.”

On her Instagram feed, she identifies as QPOC (Queer People of Color) and GNC (Gender Non-Conforming).

According to an online dictionary, GNC means “denoting or relating to a person whose behavior or appearance does not conform to prevailing cultural and social expectations about what is appropriate to their gender.”

So here’s a sampling of what Duhaime-Ross said Abramson got wrong:

  • “I’m not trans. During our chat, I told her I’m a queer, gender non-conforming woman. She didn’t ask for an explanation. She didn’t ask for my pronouns. But they’re Google search away,” she wrote in one of her damning tweets.
  • “@JillAbramson says I ‘almost missed’ the story on the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord bc of my honeymoon I returned from my honeymoon on May 30. The administration’s announcement was on June 1st, 2 days later. I was back at work that day.”

Duhaime-Ross was unmoved. She continued to rage on Twitter about all of Abramson’s mistakes about her.

About those boots — they’re brown, not blue.

  • “@JillAbramson says I wore ‘blue desert boots.'” She explained, “This is a silly thing, but it speaks to the lack of attention to detail. So here’s the deal: I’ve never owned a pair of blue desert boots. I do, however, own a pair of brown desert boots.”

Abramson wrote that many of the new VICE hires had “scant experience” but had “the look.” She wrote, “They were diverse: just about every race and ethnicity, and straight, gay, queer and transgender.

Abramson wrote that Duhaime-Ross had no environmental policy background. The VICE reporter argues that she has a master’s degree in environmental reporting. Doesn’t that count?

  • “@JillAbramson says I had no environmental policy background Before VICE I mostly covered biology/health @verge. That background remains useful. But sticking to facts: I told her about my master’s in science, health & *environmental* reporting. She omitted it.

What about that snarky remark about snakes? Duhaime-Ross says it needs elaboration. But this one is actually true.

(On a side note before we continue, Abramson may know a little something about having your words being taken out of context. She recently accused Fox News’s media correspondent Howard Kurtz of doing just that. In her new book, she also accuses the NYT of being anti-Trump, a point that she disputed in a January 5 tweet: “Anyone who reads my book, Merchants of Truth, will find I revere @nytimes and praise its tough coverage of you,” she tweeted at Trump.)

  • “@JillAbramson writes that I planned to study snakes. Needs context. For most of my life, I wanted to be herpetologist. During my zoology BSc, I developed a love for science communication & switched to journalism–a field in which I have a masters & worked in since 2013.”

And in the banal category of mistakes: her hair.

“@JillAbramson claims my hair was ‘closely buzzed.’ This matters even less, but here’s a pic of my hair from that week. It was taken a day after my conversation with Abramson.”

In the photograph, the VICE reporter’s hair is short, but no, not technically a buzz cut.

Abramson is no stranger to petty details.

In 2014, she was forced out of the NYT after she lost the support of the newsroom. Dean Baquet took over. And there she was, stuck with a letter “T” tattoo on her back, as in Times. (RELATED: Will Jill Abramson Get Her New York Times Tattoo Removed?)