Amid all the news about — and relitigation of — the New York Times’ firing of former editorial-page editor James Bennet after he published an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton, it’s worth remembering the other James Bennet: David Mastio, USA Today’s former deputy editorial-page editor, whose story I’ve already told.

In August 2021, Mastio tweeted that “people who are pregnant are also women.” Shortly thereafter, opinion editor Kristen DelGuzzi and editor in chief Nicole Carroll sent Mastio a memo informing him that as a result of his tweet, in addition to previous “lapses in judgment,” he would be demoted to “opinion writer,” with a pay cut of $30,000 a year.

Incredibly, the other instances suddenly characterized as “lapses in judgment” by Carroll and DelGuzzi had never so much as warranted a word of warning to Mastio.