美国国家公共电台 NPR Report Detailing Harassment At NPR Cites 'High Level Of Distrust' Of Management

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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

We're going to take the next few minutes to talk about our own organization. NPR's board of directors has released an outside report that looks at a sexual harassment¹ scandal involving NPR's former top news executive Mike Oreskes. He was senior vice² president for news, and the report details how questions about his conduct were raised repeatedly, even before he joined the network. The review also found a perception of a culture at NPR that favors men. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik is covering this story and joins us from our studios in New York. Hi, David.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE³: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: What did the report find Oreskes did?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, it sort of fleshed out some of the details of what had been alleged⁴ previously⁵. He had made multiple - there are multiple instances of him reaching out to women inside NPR, some of our journalists, and steering⁶ conversations into a deeply, profoundly and upsettingly personal level, in one instance at least a complaint where he explicitly⁷ talked about sexual matters. He was rebuked⁸ about that formally by NPR's chief lawyer Jonathan Hart back in October of 2015. And from that point, management thought, hey, that issue hasn't recurred⁹. But there were other instances in which he was reproached.

He was reproached for using NPR expense filings to try to be compensated¹⁰ for meals and drinks that they thought were social, nonbusiness in nature. And it turned out a number of cases involved women outside NPR. And they didn't sort of put those two halves together that, in fact, he might be continuing his behavior, leveraging¹¹ his position at the head of NPR for women who might be seeking career advancement¹². This is an oversight¹³ that has really rankled¹⁴ a number of people inside the network.

SHAPIRO: NPR's leaders have been criticized for the way that they handled complaints about Oreskes. What does the report say about that?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, they said that they didn't make the connections. In fact, NPR CEO Jarl Mohn had said previously after forcing the resignation of Michael Oreskes back on November 1 that he failed to connect the dots. And they showed all the dots that were there. In fact, one dot occurred when questions were raised about his behavior during the hiring process in which he had behaved toward women at a conference.

And there were a number of data points, points from almost 20 years ago involving a time when he was at The New York Times to more recently that one could create a more complete picture and say, why is this guy still helping¹⁵ to lead our newsroom?

SHAPIRO: That's what NPR CEO Jarl Mohn said before. What did he say today now that the report has come out?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, he's apologized before, he reiterated¹⁶ that. He said, you know, I can't undo¹⁷ what's passed. But in a note to staff early this evening, he said that he will do everything he can to not repeat the mistakes of the past, to make a - forge a better culture and to be very transparent¹⁸ in how he does it. And indeed, NPR has taken a number of steps in recent weeks, the last couple of months, to really change the way in which things are done here and in which things are perceived here.

SHAPIRO: NPR's board is meeting tonight. What has the reaction been from them and what do you expect is in store?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, they certainly say that they're disappointed, that indeed they acknowledge that this was not a successful effort to rein¹⁹ in the misconduct by the former head news chief. And at the same time, they say they have faith in Jarl Mohn and in his leadership. They say that they can see constructive²⁰ steps taken to move forward, that they are poised²¹ tonight to vote on a series of policies and initiatives. And they also see, on Mohn's part and on the part of others, effort to keep faith and acknowledge that mistakes were made, to own it. In the words of NPR's board chairman.

And that they think that this will be an opportunity to forge a better culture. One of the things that the board members stressed to me in talking - I spoke²² with Wonya Lucas, who was the head of a special committee for the board in looking at issues of harassment and culture - was the question of the culture, the question of how women perceive their station is and their status is here at the network even beyond the question of sexual harassment.

The board members feel there's a real opportunity to reverse that sensibility.

SHAPIRO: NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik - thank you, David.

FOLKENFLIK: You bet.