An arbitrator ruled the Washington Post broke its union contract when it fired opinion columnist Karen Attiah over social media posts about political violence, a win for her and for press job protections.

• Attiah was fired after posting on Bluesky in the days around Charlie Kirk's assassination, criticizing how America treats political violence and white men who spread hate.
• The Post called the posts gross misconduct and said they endangered colleagues' safety — a claim that looks like a stretch.
• The arbitrator sided with her: an opinion columnist cannot be fired for giving opinions when a labor contract protects that.
• She gets her job back plus back pay after 11 years at the paper's opinion section, where she shared a Polk Award for coverage of the Jamal Khashoggi killing.
• The bigger point cuts both ways: free speech only means something when it protects speech people hate.

Outlook: Expect more newsroom firings over political posts to end up in arbitration, with union contracts deciding who wins.