Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 7 december 2017
APNewsBreak: Accusers take on toxic culture in TV newsrooms

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and at all levels are not afraid
YVONNE LEE to report wrongdoing by a
Associated Press top anchor or producer.
Women who say they were “We stayed silent because
sexually harassed or mis- we thought we were the
treated by powerful men only ones,” said McManus.
in television news have “We didn’t think that this
banded together to form happened to others, and
a support network aimed that’s why we stayed silent
at changing a newsroom so long. The cult of silence is
culture they say has given finally broken.”
men a free pass to misbe- Emily Miller tweeted that
have for decades. Halperin sexually assaulted
The women behind the her while she was a re-
Press Forward initiative tell searcher at ABC News. Hal-
The Associated Press they perin has denied assaulting
want a zero-tolerance poli- Miller.
cy for sexual misconduct at Lara Setrakian was 24 when
networks, better awareness she says Halperin kissed
of legal rights for women In this Dec. 4, 2017, image made from a video, Eleanor McManus works at her desk at Trident and touched her while they
coming into the industry DMG, the Washington public relations firm she co-founded. talked politics in his office.
and better accountabil- Associated Press Both women said they
ity for executives to ensure and more network women workplace.” “There are many reasons to learned later that some
safety and improvements. have come forward. The group’s first mission: have an industry-wide con- people at the network had
“Women should not have At first, McManus and a figuring out what’s need- versation about how we’re been aware of Halperin’s
to go to work and worry small group shared stories ed to make the television doing and how we’re living behavior, but that it didn’t
that something like this is and hugs over drinks. They news business more equi- up to our norms,” said Mc- stop. Setrakian said Hal-
going to happen to them,” kept in touch via text mes- table and effective. The Manus, a co-founder of the perin’s treatment of young
said Eleanor McManus, sages and private Face- women say they’ll spend Washington, D.C. public women was considered
who said she was a 21-year- book groups, including one the next six months talking relations firm Trident DMG an “open secret” in some
old job seeker when then- called “The Silver Lining.” with everyone from interns . “This is, perhaps, the most circles. “There’s clearly a
ABC News political reporter Now they have reached to executives and design- pressing because this is problem here,” said Setra-
Mark Halperin tried to kiss out to other women with ing best practices that tear about the shameful power kian, now the chief execu-
her during a meeting in his shared experiences to build down the status quo. imbalance that has been tive of the digital media
office. “Women should not a growing coalition. After Lauer’s firing, NBC ini- in place too long.” outlet News Deeply . “They
worry that mentors may “Nobody here is wallowing tiated a review of its han- They already have plenty should be launching rigor-
act in an aggressive man- in their pain and anger,” dling of the matter and of ideas. ous investigations on how
ner toward them. That’s not said Dianna Goldberg implemented in-person May, now a lawyer, wants to fix the problem.”
fair.” May, a former ABC News training on sexual harass- Congress to consider Changing the culture of
Press Forward evolved over researcher who said Hal- ment awareness and ap- changing federal law so television news so that men
the last two months after perin demanded she close propriate behavior in the that sexual harassment and women are on equal
McManus and other wom- the door and sit on his lap workplace. victims have more time to footing — with the same
en went public with allega- in his office in the mid-1990s McManus said some of the file a complaint. Currently, opportunities for advance-
tions against Halperin, CBS when she was 23. “We are networks have already ex- they have up to 300 days. ment — is vital to ensuring its
and PBS host Charlie Rose doing something to ef- pressed an interest in work- McManus wants news- future, Setrakian said. That
and NBC’s “Today” show fect positive change in the ing with Press Forward. rooms to evolve so women means not only eliminat-
host Matt Lauer, and oth- ing the sexual misconduct
ers. that has caused scores of
Halperin has said that he women to leave the indus-
is “profoundly sorry for the try, she said, but getting rid
pain and anguish” he has of double standards that
caused and, in reading the judge women on their ap-
women’s accounts, recog- pearance.
nized “conduct for which I “The current culture is mud-
feel profound guilt and re- dling the meritocracy,”
sponsibility.” Rose and Lau- Setrakian said. “It’s push-
er have also offered apolo- ing talented people out.
gies, while saying some the It’s allowing toxic behavior
allegations are untrue. All to affect the performance
have been fired. and contribution of certain
This was the second wave colleagues. That’s bad for
of an industry-wide reckon- business.”
ing that began at Fox News Marcy McGinnis, who
with the removal last year of worked her way from sec-
Fox News chief Roger Ailes retary to senior vice presi-
and the dismissal in April dent at CBS News, said as
of the network’s star host much as women should
Bill O’Reilly. But the most be told what resources are
recent revelations came available to them if there
as many Hollywood and is an incident, men need
other media executives This Nov. 8, 2017 photo released by NBC shows Matt Lauer on the set of the “Today” show in New to know how to act in the
have faced allegations, York. Associated Press workplace.q