NPR’s CEO and chief legal officer were aware of harassment complaints against its top newsroom editor Michael Oreskes for at least two years, but didn’t do anything about it until reports surfaced this week, a move that has frustrated NPR staff, according to new reports from CNN and The Washington Post.
Oreskes was asked to resign Wednesday after The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the editor had kissed two women and put his tongue in their mouths without their consent during business meetings while he was working at The New York Times in the 1990s. Those women both complained to NPR human resources in October, with one of them saying she felt compelled to speak out because of Oreskes’ position in coverage of the outbreak of allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
NPR itself reported that one of its current reporters had filed a complaint against Oreskes in 2015 for initiating a sexual conversation with her when they were discussing her career.
While CEO Jarl Mohn said in a memo to staff Wednesday that ousting Oreskes was not spurred on by the Post’s reports, employees aren’t buying it. Several female employees have signed a draft petition expressing their concerns over how the process was handled, according to the Post.
“The in-house mood is stunned, shocked, angry,” Susan Stamberg, one of NPR’s founding journalists, told the Post. “We’re trying to talk it through, and figure out effective responses.”
A union that represents NPR employees is considering making a statement on the organization’s handling of the situation and some staffers want the news outlet to hire a firm to conduct an external investigation into the conduct and the response to complaints, according to CNN’s sources.
During an interview with NPR’s “All Things Considered” Wednesday, Mohn said Oreskes was put “on notice” after the 2015 complaint and said executives would have had a “very different reaction” to the reports from the two women in October if the incident had happened at NPR.
Current and former employees told the Post that Oreskes’ inappropriate behavior was an open secret within the newsroom and management circles. In recent weeks, senior executives asked Mohn to take action against Oreskes, but he felt he had done his duty and said he asked people to come forward within the organization, but no one did, CNN reported, speaking to several NPR sources.
“There had been rumors circulating around the building here, about his behavior. Rumors and gossip. We can’t act on that. We have to act on facts,” Mohn said in the “All Things Considered” interview.
Oreskes is the latest prominent member of the media to be accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward women who either worked under them or were getting career advice.
There has been an uptick in victims, mostly women, making their allegations of sexual harassment and assault public ever since reports of decades worth of accusations against Weinstein were made public. More than 60 women have come forward with allegations against Weinstein, many of whom are prominent Hollywood actresses.
It took me until the end of the story to realize that the staff is unhappy that Oreskes was not canned earlier. Until that point, it could have been that they were upset that he was shown the door.
Old adage in the news business: Get the lead nice and high.
Writer must have edited it. See first paragraph.
I am still a little confused. Were they upset because of NPR’s handling of the news Oreskers had a history at the NY Times and did little or because he had the one referenced incident at NPR?
This response is bullshit. Eight years ago I was Chairman of the Board of a non-profit organization when we were informed, via anonymous communication, that the President was engaging in inappropriate behavior. We promptly hired an attorney to conduct an independent investigation. When the attorney’s report substantiated the allegations, the board voted to dismiss the President and I delivered the news to him and then worked to rebuild morale and trust with the staff.
Since the article states that the union is requesting an independent investigation, I have to assume that one hasn’t been conducted already. For Mohn to say, “We have to act on facts,” when they haven’t tried to establish what the facts are, is complete and utter bullshit.
I just want to add that this was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. I had known the President for 20+ years – I’d attended his son’s wedding. But, at the end of the day, I understood that my responsibility was to the organization, not to the individual. That didn’t make it any easier, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
A little OT at first, but read it until the end:
Full Rick Perry quote on fossil fuels/sexual assault (yes, he really linked the two) -