United Kingdom: CFWIJ condemns the attempt to smear journalist Nadine White

January 30, 2021, London - Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, attempted to publicly rebuke journalist Nadine White for essentially doing her job. Nadine had approached her in January inquiring about her participation in the vaccine campaign of the United States. Badenoch published the correspondence on the social media campaign, resulting in abuse towards Nadine.

During the initial stages of the vaccination drive in the United Kingdom, Huffington Post journalist Nadine White approached Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, to get a response on the claim that she had “refused to” participate in a video encouraging vaccine take-up. The video was a cross-party effort targeting predominantly black communities in the country. Nadine followed up on her inquiry upon receiving no reply from the minister. On 29 January, however,  Badenoch took to Twitter, where she published a thread, publicizing the emails Nadine sent her. She accused Nadine of “looking to sow distrust” by generating rumors, and claimed that Nadine’s interest in her absence from the video was “creepy and bizarre”. This resulted in Badenoch’s supporters hurling online abuse and threats at Nadine. The trolling got so vicious, Nadine was forced to turn her account private on January 30, 2021, to “protect her mental health”.

The Huffington Post editor-in-chief, Jess Brammar, came to Nadine’s defense. He claimed that checking facts and approaching people in public offices was the standard procedure practiced by journalists before publishing a story, and the papers did not publish a story without the minister’s comment. HuffPost UK also filed a formal complaint with the Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Alex Chisholm, about Badenoch’s behavior. In response, the state issued a statement that while agreed with Nadine’s journalistic ethic, excused itself from any conclusive action citing that the Badenoch tweeted from her personal account, and would thus be best suited to respond.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns this attempt to target Nadine White. Political figures need to be mindful of the following and the consequences of them publicly singling out an individual. Kemi Badenoch’s behaviour suggests that she is ignorant of the power she holds at best, or ready to abuse it at worst. It is also disheartening to see the state take such a spineless stance over the issue. It is important for governments to ensure that their ministers are mindful of the safety of members of the civil society, to ensure a healthy political environment.