Over 100 Politico staffers upset over Shapiro's Playbook turn pen outrage letter to publisher

More than 100 employees at Politico signed a letter sent to publisher Robert Allbritton expressing disapproval with the decision to allow conservative commentator Ben Shapiro serve as the guest-author for the liberal-leaning news outlet's signature publication Playbook.

Shapiro's guest writing gig at Playbook (a daily, morning newsletter focusing on all things Beltway politics) sparked massive backlash on the Politico slack channel following its publication, which continued through an all-staff editorial meeting. 

Now, the dissatisfaction continues as employees remain upset with the response from the publication's bosses defending their decision to publish Shapiro. The letter reportedly criticizes the handling of the incident by top Politico editor Matt Kaminski, who staffers believe was not appropriately apologetic following the publication of Shapiro's Playbook edition. 

The letter accuses Shapiro of maintaining a long history of bigoted opinions that should be considered neither "vibrant" nor "vital" to the readership of Politico. The note additionally calls for increased clarity for the editorial standards of the outlet, as well as an increase in newsroom diversity, an editor's note attached to the top of the Shapiro playbook, and an internal apology for the decision to publish him in the first place.