‘The New York Post’ Is Requiring Its Employees ‘Mask Up’ After Spending Much Of The Pandemic Ripping Mask Mandates, Because Of Course They Are

Like most conservative Rupert Murdoch-owned media outlets, The New York Post has spent much of the pandemic railing against mask mandates and generally downplaying COVID’s severity. But like former president Trump, they’re not stupid. So this shouldn’t be surprising: Despite their hostility towards places of business requiring people wear masks, that’s exactly what they demand their employees do when/if they’re in the office.

CNN obtained an internal memo sent on August 12 instructing staff to do the very thing they demonize in their newspaper, sometimes on the front page. “Masks are required while walking the floor/not at your desk,” publisher and chief executive Sean Giancola instructed. The formal guidance attached to the memo told employees to “mask up” and “cover [their] face when away from [their] desk or chatting with colleagues.”

This comes after months of slamming mask mandates, to say nothing of a year-and-a-half of slamming and undermining public health officials. CNN lays out some examples:

When the CDC said in July that it was recommending vaccinated people wear masks in areas with “substantial” and “high” community transmission of Covid-19, the Post called it “madness.”

“This is nonsense — and pernicious, too,” the Post’s editorial board wrote at the time.

The Post has also called for other agencies to lift their mask mandates.

In a July 7 article, the editorial board said it’s “time to scrap the mandate for masks on trains and buses.” That editorial said wearing a mask on public transit is “pointless and performative.”

“It’s time to lift the mask mandate,” the Post editorial board declared.

There’s also their July 30 cover, which featured the word “INSANITY” writ large over suggestions that vaccinated people wear masks.

Today's cover: Severe COVID-19 breakthrough infections extremely low among vaccinated, data shows https://t.co/LVFUlDCLKx pic.twitter.com/3SDa7DXVJR

— New York Post (@nypost) July 30, 2021

The news comes days after CNN reported that the same mask requirements are in place at Fox News. That network is also owned by Murdoch, and it’s where hosts like Tucker Carlson tell their viewers to, among other things, harass people wearing masks. But look at it this way: At least the Post and Fox News want to keep their employees safe, even if the same doesn’t apply to their base.

(Via CNN)