As it turns out, the New York Times isn’t the only national media outlet dealing with an icky bug problem in their newsroom.

The Washingtonian reports that the Washington Post is dealing with one of their own (h/t: Twitchy):

“We have a growing pest problem,” Post director of newsroom operations Jillian S. Jarrett wrote in memo to newsroom employees August 14. “We’ve gotten several reports of cockroaches in the newsroom.” Lest you think this is a building-wide issue, Jarrett writes, “Facilities says that this is a newsroom problem and not happening on other floors.”

The Post‘s building sprays the premises regularly, the memo reads, “but we have to do more to keep the bugs at bay.” Among the anti-pest measures Jarrett recommends newsroom employees take: Make sure all food and dirty dishes are put away—and leave nothing “on or inside your desk,” Jarrett writes. Clean up after “cakings”—the Post term for someone’s leaving party—which means disposing of crumbs and leftovers properly, as well as cleaning up utensils. “There are Clorox wipes in the copy aide station,” Jarrett says. “We have on-call cleaning services, if you need a vacuum or mop, please let me know.”

The problem is apparently so bad that some journalists at the paper are having to come up with creative ways to combat them:

a reply to this email, which went also went out to the whole newsroom, cited the roach-killing prowess of @taylormtelford, including a photo of her capturing one and then a video of her flushing it. It would make a great TikTok, hint hint

— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) August 28, 2019

The Washingtonian didn’t provide photo or video evidence but Washington Post reporter Tracy Jan sent out some tweets earlier this month that included photos and video of Telford’s skills at cockroach removal:

When you slide in early to claim a corner “office” in the @washingtonpost kitchen to get some serious revisioning done and see a COCKROACH skittering by your foot! pic.twitter.com/zlX7Y4Sihm

— Tracy Jan (@TracyJan) August 2, 2019

Lucky for me, @taylormtelford is on the morning GA shift and responded to my screams. Calm, cool and collected, this girl’s my hero! pic.twitter.com/qYwukjHmPX

— Tracy Jan (@TracyJan) August 2, 2019

How do we ensure that it dies? 🤔@taylormtelford: “The other option is I could attempt to chop it in half.” pic.twitter.com/yClSipbHjb

— Tracy Jan (@TracyJan) August 2, 2019

Or… we could get a thick book, like this one, and attempt to escort it to the bathroom. pic.twitter.com/fLDZfgzwhn

— Tracy Jan (@TracyJan) August 2, 2019

Where @taylormtelford flushed it down the toilet. Three times.
Please don’t tell me that cockroaches can swim out.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 My hero!!!!! 🦸‍♀️
The end. pic.twitter.com/kSDxnCrkGA

— Tracy Jan (@TracyJan) August 2, 2019

On Monday after the story about the New York Times’ bedbug problem started circulating on social media, journalists from the Washington Post tweeted out that they were thankful their problems were confined to roaches:

me sashaying around the newsroom, giving a boastful tour: 'and i'm happy to say that here at The Post, we *only* have cockroaches' https://t.co/wH1uTgOwFn

— Kate Rabinowitz (@dataKateR) August 26, 2019

I never thought I'd say this, but I guess I'm glad the Post just has roaches. https://t.co/aFwdw3MNa7

— Marissa J. Lang (@Marissa_Jae) August 26, 2019

There are oh so many metaphors that can be explored here. I’ll leave you to them. 😉

Related –>> #BedbugBret Stephens’ Week Goes From Bad To Worse As Trump Unloads On “Lightweight Journalist”

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –