Why is the media trying to convince the world F1 is a haven for racists and bigots?

On Friday the mainstream media began running headlines like “Former Aston Martin F1 Employee Reveals Racist, Homophobic Abuse That Drove Him Out of the Sport”1 and “'They didn't call me by name, it was brownie or n*****' - Formula 1 worker reveals racist abuse.”2 The only problem with the stories were that they were filled with half-truths and gave readers the false impression that both Aston Martin and F1 were Racist and Homophobic.

First, the three individuals involved were actually short-term contract workers hired by a supplier of Aston Martin F1 - they did not work for or with Aston Martin. It has been alleged that the entire ordeal began after two of the individuals ended a short-lived and problematic romantic relationship. When the supplier fired one of the paramours for poor performance and failure to come to work he blamed his fellow coworkers claiming they routinely referred to him with racist and homophobic nicknames. Without investigation, the supplier, who has a zero-tolerance policy for workplace bigotry, fired his coworkers as well. After the accuser’s lawyer shopped the story to the media, Aston Martin, despite not being even slightly involved in the situation, tweeted their disappointment with their supplier’s contractors:

Far from being a story of systemic racism in F1, this is a story of three temp workers who were hired by a supplier to do the dirty and thankless job of applying epoxy and fiber to damaged parts. Two of the individuals were people of color and at least two of them were homosexual. Were they racists? Perhaps. Were they homophobic? Perhaps. The supplier didn’t waste any time firing all three - clearly, they weren’t the best fit for the job. But could there be more going on?

The accuser, Aiden Louw, is a 25-year-old journalist who writes about race and gender. For example, less than two weeks ago Aiden Louw published an article in MatieMedia discussing the “black consciousness movement” explaining how “many black people associate intelligence with whiteness” and sharing views that “black students, professionals, and intellectuals need to be united and liberate themselves.”3 Louw published another article in April which argued that the use of “heteronormative” bathroom signs on gender-neutral bathrooms “deter[ed] non-binary and gender non-conforming students from using the bathrooms, and also fathers the confusion the general campus population has towards the need, creation, and purpose behind the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms.”4

Despite some evidence that Louw might be a race and gender activist, the F1 forums on Reddit began censoring anyone who dared to challenge his story. In fact, the moderator of the F1 subreddit wrote:

The moderator, like the media, claims “His story is not in question". In response I asked the moderator the following question (which was immediately deleted by the moderator without answer):

At the end of the day, racism and homophobia are real. They are unacceptable. But it shouldn’t be unacceptable to discuss the particular details of a particular accusation. The idea that we should simply “believe all accusers” is a terrible idea as it leads to abuse. The irony is that Louw’s coworkers claim that HE was racist and homophobic towards them. Should we believe their accusations? Given my experience, I have no reason to doubt that the three coworkers harassed one another. Given the fact that at least two of the three individuals were people of color and homosexual, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they used racist and homophobic language when they harassed one another. There are only two things I’m certain of 1) Neither F1 nor Aston Martin did anything wrong and 2) Aston Martin will enter into a confidential six-figure settlement with Aiden Louw’s lawyer to put this matter to bed.

UPDATE: After I wrote this piece the r/formula1 subreddit banned me…