Washington Post Edits 'Prisoner' Anecdote From Kamala Harris Profile

The Washington Post received criticism this week for omitting a controversial anecdote from an updated and republished version of a 2019 profile story featuring then-Sen. Kamala Harris and her sister, Maya Harris. Critics noted that the Jan. 11 updated version omitted an anecdote in which Harris compared the challenges of her presidential primary campaign to a that of a prisoner begging for water. After receiving backlash, the Washington Post added a link at the top of the new story, redirecting readers to the original article. "We should have kept both versions of the story on the Post's site (the original and updated one), rather than redirecting to the updated version," Kris Coratti, the Washington Post's vice president for communications, told Reason Magazine in a statement on Friday. The Washington Post received criticism on social media from right voices for omitting the anecdote from the updated article; Harris received criticism from across the political spectrum for her comments in the original article. The story received no coverage from center- and left- rated outlets, though it was analyzed by Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple.