海角大神

Hit with tear gas and rubber bullets, the CNN photo editor was already having a rough week. In late July, Mohammed Elshamy was covering protests against the Puerto Rican governor on San Juan鈥檚 streets. Then his phone erupted with alerts.

Anti-Semitic tweets Mr. Elshamy had posted in 2011 as a 16-year-old in revolution-rapt Egypt were resurfacing on right-wing accounts. Reactions poured in.聽

The next day, he apologized to the Jewish community and beyond on Twitter. 鈥淚 will continue to hold myself accountable for my actions, and work to correct any harm I have caused,鈥� he wrote, noting he no longer relates to the hateful comments made as an uninformed minor. The death threats kept coming. Some reached him by phone. Anti-Muslim slurs mounted against him as the online shaming spread.

鈥淚 think that it was very unfair, because I should not be punished as an adult for things that I said as a child,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 just think it was very easy for those who were attacking me to target someone called Mohammed.鈥�

Mr. Elshamy鈥檚 youthful anti-Semitic comments didn鈥檛 just reappear by happenstance. A pro-Trump network of conservatives 鈥� loosely organized, its funding sources unknown 鈥� appears to have found and posted them as part of an effort to undermine individual journalists at mainstream media organizations deemed antagonistic to the president, according to The New York Times, Axios, and tweets from some involved in the effort.

Such public airing of past off-color statements points to a new reality聽that has already felled politicians and kicked students out of university. Now journalists increasingly find their pasts politicized under similar scrutiny, at a time when the media faces rampant distrust.

For some media watchers, this is fair turnabout for an industry that runs on scrutinizing the moves of others. The question remains how newsrooms will deal with reporters whose muddy digital footprints track in potential liabilities. For Mr. Elshamy, the Twitter blowup cost him a job.聽

鈥淎s a free speech advocate ... I agree with the people who say that journalists shouldn鈥檛 be thin-skinned,鈥� says J. Alex Tarquinio, president of the Society of Professional Journalists.聽

鈥淥n the other hand, it鈥檚 equally absurd to chastise them for remarks they may have made on social media years ago, possibly before they were professional journalists.鈥�

A politicized press聽

Marvin Kalb knows press intimidation well. As a CBS correspondent, the veteran journalist earned a spot on Richard Nixon鈥檚 鈥渆nemies list.鈥� Later the founding director of Harvard University鈥檚 Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Dr. Kalb says the conservative discrediting campaign speaks to a larger concern: Journalists 鈥渉ave become part of the political warfare of this country.鈥澛�

Along with the Times, CNN and The Washington Post are reportedly the main targets; Mr. Trump has called them out for liberal bias. Besides Mr. Elshamy, another casualty of the campaign so far is Tom Wright-Piersanti, a Times editor who was slammed following the discovery of old posts disparaging Jews and Native Americans, for which he has apologized.

Ms. Tarquinio says politics has always been full of partisans digging up negative information about opponents. It鈥檚 turning those same tricks against journalists that鈥檚 new.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to say how much of that is the political moment since the last election, and the hyperpolarization鈥� versus 鈥渉ow much is simply the culture growing up on social media, which is this desperate competition for attention,鈥� she says.

Axios Tuesday that a 鈥渓oose network鈥� involving GOP consultant Arthur Schwartz, a self-described internet 鈥渢roll,鈥� hopes to raise $2 million to investigate employees at outlets they accuse of 鈥渂ias and misinformation,鈥� according to a fundraising pitch.

The project will track reporters and editors at not just CNN, the Times, and the Post; it will also pull MSNBC, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and broadcast networks into the crosshairs. Discovered dirt will get passed to 鈥渇riendly media outlets鈥� like Breitbart for airing. Ironically, the group is capitalizing on exposure from to get information, Axios reports.

The White House has reportedly denied involvement or awareness of the campaign. But PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel and other media advocates charge Mr. Trump with setting a tone that implicitly encourages such an effort.

鈥淭he president should call for an immediate end to all such schemes, and insist that his supporters and all associated with his administration and campaign refrain from any interference whatsoever with the role of the press,鈥� she said in a statement.聽

Mr. Trump鈥檚 labeling the press 鈥渢he enemy of the people鈥� has become a hallmark of his presidency. His loyalists鈥� latest operation signals that even lesser-known newsmakers are easy prey. Allies like Mr. Schwartz echo Mr. Trump鈥檚 attitude toward what he calls 鈥渕ainstream media.鈥�

A conservative consultant and friend of Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Schwartz has a history of online hate-baiting. Besides shaming some of the journalists targeted by the conservative campaign, Mr. Schwartz spread a false personal rumor about former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, for which Mr. Schwartz later apologized. He鈥檚 also close to Steve Bannon, Mr. Trump鈥檚 ex-chief strategist, and Breitbart, the online 鈥渁lt-right鈥� platform that has published takedowns of journalists like Mr. Wright-Piersanti.

鈥淚f the @nytimes thinks this settles the matter we can expose a few of their other bigots. Lots more where this came from,鈥� Mr. Schwartz, who also resurfaced Mr. Elshamy鈥檚 tweets.

The takedowns appear aimed at those who produce critical coverage of the White House. This week Mr. Schwartz attempted to crowdsource dirt on Phillip Rucker and Josh Dawsey, two Washington Post journalists who he claims have behaved unethically on the job. On Twitter Mr. Schwartz called for screenshots of texts and photos of the reporters 鈥渢hat will embarrass them.鈥� He promised senders, 鈥淵our identity will be protected.鈥�

鈥淪hocked and floored鈥�

In July Mr. Schwartz resurfaced Mr. Elshamy鈥檚 old tweets that referenced victims of a 2011 Jerusalem bombing as Jewish 鈥減igs.鈥�

鈥淚 was shocked and floored at the decision by CNN to force a resignation onto me at this point in my life,鈥� says Mr. Elshamy, who believes his minority status as an Arab and Muslim held him to a higher standard on the job and played a role in his exit. He says the success of the Trump allies鈥� campaign 鈥渄epends on how the [media] outlets react.鈥�

Asked about Mr. Elshamy鈥檚 departure, Matt Dornic, CNN World鈥檚 vice president of communication, told the Monitor the company doesn鈥檛 publicly discuss individuals鈥� employment details.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite possible to oppose the retaliatory tactics being employed by this administration and its allies while maintaining an expectation of accountability among your staff,鈥� Mr. Dornic said in an email.

Michelle Ferrier, dean of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University鈥檚 journalism school, has seen a sharp rise in right-wing and white supremacist online networks over the past two years that attempt to derail stories by contradicting facts and attacking individual journalists. Their ultimate goal is eroding public trust in the media, she says.

鈥淯nfortunately we also see some significant retaliation by media organizations [against] people who are experiencing this kind of harm online,鈥� says Dr. Ferrier, who founded a website offering support for targets of online abuse.聽

Dr. Ferrier argues that using journalists as the face of media organizations for brand development and visibility puts them at significant risk of harassment. Dealing with trolling diverts their attention from their actual reporting.聽

Dr. Ferrier says women and people of color take considerable heat based on their identities. As an African American, she received racist hate mail as a columnist for the Daytona Beach News-Journal in the 2000s. A decade later as dean of FAMU鈥檚 School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, she encourages young journalists to consider using a pen name in order to separate their online clips from their private life.聽

Echoing other media advocates, Dr. Ferrier highlights the need for news organizations to take social media policies seriously and 鈥渞eally monitor their own talent.鈥� It鈥檚 all about preempting the next digital storm.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a matter of if it happens, but when it happens,鈥� she says.

Fair scrutiny?

In a to staff, Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger thanked 鈥渢he journalists at The Times and elsewhere who brave this type of pressure daily to bring essential information to the public.鈥� He also underscored that the Times isn鈥檛 above scrutiny.

鈥淚f anyone 鈥� even those acting in bad faith 鈥撀燽rings legitimate problems to our attention, we鈥檒l look into them and respond appropriately,鈥� Mr. Sulzberger wrote.

Conservative media have called out the Times and other mainstream news organizations for hypocrisy on this issue.

Old social media posts have 鈥渂een an invaluable resource for showing how histrionic, partisan, arrogant, uneducated, and ignorant far too many in our political media are. Their work product shows the results of these traits. And as we all can see, it鈥檚 not pretty,鈥� tweeted Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway on Aug. 25.

Media writer Jack Shafer also tells the Times and its fellows to toughen up.

鈥淛ournalists don鈥檛 deserve a get-out-of-bigotry-jail free card just because they鈥檙e journalists,鈥� Mr. Shafer writes in Politico Magazine. 鈥淚f their past tweets, however ancient, undercut their current journalistic work or make them sound hypocritical, they can鈥檛 blame their diminished prestige on Trump鈥檚 allies.鈥�

Mr. Shafer argues that deep scrutiny of the media 鈥� and embarrassing discoveries that ensue 鈥� help uphold professional standards that newsrooms say they esteem.

鈥淚nstead of damning its critics for going through its staffs鈥� social media history with tweezers, the Times and A.G. Sulzberger should send them a thank you card.鈥�

Dr. Kalb has heard this argument countless times over his 60-year career.

鈥淚 totally agree 鈥� go ahead and examine us. But don鈥檛 examine the reporter as if the reporter is part of political warfare,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f we lose the power of the press, we鈥檙e going to lose it all.鈥�