Anna Slatz
{{Short description|Canadian journalist}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}{{use Canadian English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Anna Slatz
|image =
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|birth_date =
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|known_for =
|alma_mater = University of New Brunswick
|occupation = Journalist
|years_active = 2018–present
}}
Anna Slatz is a Canadian journalist{{Cite web |last=Beiser |first=Elana |date=2020-06-03 |title=Canadian journalist Anna Slatz arrested in New York City, still in custody |url=https://cpj.org/2020/06/canadian-journalist-anna-slatz-arrested-in-new-york-city-still-in-custody/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}} and gender-critical activist.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-08 |title=Weinstock Defends Canadian Reporter Jailed in NYC |url=https://patch.com/new-york/greatneck/weinstock-defends-canadian-reporter-jailed-nyc |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Great Neck, NY Patch |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Juwan J. |date=2021-03-16 |title=J.K. Rowling superfan films himself stalking woman for blocks demanding she explain "gender ideology" |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/03/j-k-rowling-superfan-films-stalking-woman-blocks-demanding-explain-gender-ideology/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=LGBTQ Nation}} She is the co-founder and editor of the gender-critical website Reduxx{{Cite news |last=Bye |first=Clarissa |date=4 May 2023 |title=Sydney transwoman soccer player 'misgendered': warning from e-Safety cyber watchdog |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sydney-transwoman-soccer-player-misgendered-warning-from-esafety-cyber-watchdog/news-story/ac93a1a10c63724880857922ec66d5da?amp}} and was previously affiliated with far-right website Rebel News. Slatz served as editor of student newspaper The Baron until she was fired following the publication of an opinion piece by and an interview with the leader of a neo-Nazi group, which led to a wave of resignations.{{Cite web |last=Daro |first=Ishmael N. |date=2018-01-29 |title=This Student Newspaper Let A Nazi Sympathizer Write For Them |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/the-baron-nsclrp |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en-ca}}
Early life and career
Slatz has discussed living in poverty and being homeless in her early years in Canada.{{cite podcast |date=April 6, 2021 |title=Episode 2: Anna Slatz on Marxism, Radical Feminism and Doomerism |url=https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/redfem-pod-1826360/episodes/episode-2-anna-slatz-on-marxis-89820870 |work=RedFem Pod }} She has also mentioned being a former member of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC).
Slatz served as the editor-in-chief of The Baron, a student newspaper from the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus (UNBSJ). In 2018, Slatz published through the newspaper an op-ed written by and an uncritical interview with neo-Nazi and self-proclaimed president of the National Socialist Canadian Labour Revival Party (NSCLRP) Michael Thurlow, containing offensive and false tropes about Indigenous peoples and residential schools. Following criticism directed towards the newspaper, Slatz defended the publication on the principle of free speech, arguing that no opinion should be censored regardless of how controversial it may be.{{Cite web |last=Blackmore |first=Olivia |date=2018-01-31 |title=New Brunswick Student Paper Laughs Off Critics Of Nazi Op-Ed |url=https://www.canadaland.com/unb-baron-laughs-off-critics-of-nazi-op-ed/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Canadaland |language=en-US}} She was later fired from The Baron and the publication's board of directors published an apology for the incident.{{Cite web |last=Scheitel |first=Leah |date=2018-02-05 |title=OP-ED: UNB Student Newspaper's Big Whoopsie |url=http://www.capilanocourier.com/2018/02/05/unb-baron-student-newspaper/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Capilano Courier |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Editor of student newspaper out after publishing controversial articles |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3999987/editor-of-student-newspaper-out-after-publishing-controversial-articles/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bissett |first=Kevin |date=2018-02-01 |title=Editor of student newspaper out after publishing controversial articles |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/editor-of-student-newspaper-out-after-publishing-controversial-articles-1.3785190 |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}
In 2020, Slatz was affiliated with Canadian far-right website Rebel News,{{cite web |title=Save Anna Slatz |url=https://www.rebelnews.com/save_anna_slatz |publisher=Rebel News}}{{cite news |last=Warnica |first=Richard |title=Rebel without applause: How Ezra Levant built an extreme media juggernaut — and watched it all begin to unravel |url=https://nationalpost.com/features/inside-ezra-levants-rebel-media |work=National Post |access-date=7 September 2020 |date=19 August 2017}}{{Cite news|last=Whyte|first=Lara|date=28 September 2019|title=The women flying the flag for Generation Identity and far-right politics|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/the-women-flying-the-flag-for-generation-identity-and-far-right-politics-7dbp6c9kv|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0140-0460|quote=The Rebel Media has more than one million subscribers on YouTube, and is often described as the home of an anti-Muslim ideology it calls "counter-jihad".|archive-date=24 February 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200224145211/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-women-flying-the-flag-for-generation-identity-and-far-right-politics-7dbp6c9kv|url-status=live}} later co-founding her own publication, Reduxx. After an article by Reduxx was shared by author J. K. Rowling, The Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse wrote of Reduxx, "what kind of 'feminist news' site has zero articles on fair pay or reproductive rights, and only articles about transgender people who have allegedly committed crimes?"{{cite news |last1=Hesse |first1=Monica|author-link=Monica Hesse |title=Listening to 'The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling' is exhausting work |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/03/06/witch-trials-jk-rowling-podcast-hesse-column/ |access-date=10 May 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} The Southern Poverty Law Center called the Reduxx "nothing but rabid transphobia", and argued that "like many white nationalist websites that list endless pages of 'Black crime' meant to suggest that Black people are inherently prone to criminality, Reduxx is an endless scroll of alleged trans sex offenders and pedophiles."{{Cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/04/18/male-supremacy-core-hard-rights-agenda|title=Male Supremacy Is at the Core of the Hard Right's Agenda|author=Cassie Miller|date=April 18, 2023|accessdate=August 4, 2024|website=Southern Poverty Law Center}} Ayaan Hirsi Ali has called the site "a ground-breaking publication and database which keeps track of the exploding cases of men invading women’s spaces and exhibiting paraphilic behavior."{{Cite web|url=https://www.restorationbulletin.com/p/misogyny-on-the-left|title=Misogyny on the Left - Restoration, with Ayaan Hirsi Ali|author=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|date=June 4, 2024|accessdate=August 4, 2024|website=Restoration}}
In June 2020, Slatz traveled to New York on behalf of Rebel News to cover the Manhattan protests related to the killing of George Floyd, where she was arrested under suspicion of having violated a curfew. She faced multiple charges including disorderly conduct, and spent two days in custody. The Committee to Protect Journalists demanded her release, stating: "We call on New York authorities to quickly release Anna Slatz without charges. It is unacceptable to arrest journalists who are doing their jobs and reporting on matters of public interest, including protests." The charges against Slatz were later dismissed at the request of the Manhattan District Attorney's office.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-04 |title=Journalist released after waiting two nights in custody for arraignment |url=https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-released-after-waiting-two-nights-custody-arraignment/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=U.S. Press Freedom Tracker |language=en}}
Following the publication of a video showing anti-transgender activist Chris Elston following a woman in the street and asking her about "gender ideology", Slatz criticized Elston's actions, stating they were not "activism" but "theater". In September 2023, Slatz responded to a video produced by ThePrint in which Indian men stated that women who dress provocatively are "inviting" rape, saying "I can't think of a single valid reason for any woman to visit India".{{Cite web |last=Sohal |first=Balraj |date=23 September 2023 |title=Indian Men blame Women for Rape in Shocking Interview |url=https://www.desiblitz.com/content/indian-men-blame-women-for-rape-in-shocking-interview |access-date=2 November 2023 |website=DESIblitz |language=en}}
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slatz, Anna}}
Category:Canadian women journalists
Category:Canadian women activists
Category:University of New Brunswick alumni
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Canadian feminist writers
Category:Conservative media in Canada
Category:2020s anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States