NPR host grills NPR CEO in uncomfortable interview about sexual harassment claims against an ousted top editor
- Just a day after National Public Radio news chief Michael Oreskes resigned following accusations of sexual harassment and assault, an NPR host grilled NPR CEO Jarl Mohn about the organization's handling of the allegations.
- Other NPR hosts reported on "increasing tensions" at the news outlet as a result of some employees' belief that the situation was mishandled.
Just a day after National Public Radio news chief Michael Oreskes resigned following accusations of sexual harassment and assault, NPR host Mary Louise Kelly grilled NPR CEO Jarl Mohn about the organization's handling of the allegations.
In an eight-minute interview that aired shortly after Oreskes resigned on Wednesday, Kelly pushed Mohn to explain why he did not force Oreskes out after three separate incidents of misconduct were reported to him in 2015 and 2016, which were first reported on Tuesday by The Washington Post.
"If you knew of these multiple allegations, did it cross your mind that leaving Mike in his job might put other women, might put our colleagues, at risk?" Kelly asked.
Kelly questioned why she and other NPR employees were notified of Oreskes' resignation by an Associated Press story, rather than by their employer.
"There's a few hundred reporters out there. Why are we getting scooped by The Washington Post on this?" she said, referring to NPR's news team, and added, "I learned that Mike Oreskes had resigned when I checked my phone in the line in the NPR canteen today. And the way I learned about it was via an AP news alert - Associated Press. Why did they know and we didn't?"
On Thursday morning, NPR hosts David Folkenflik and David Greene discussed "increasing tensions" within the media organization, speaking frankly about how upset employees were at the organization's handling of the situation.
"There are a lot of people in our newsroom, not just women, who are deeply upset," Folkenflik said. "They feel that NPR knew about troubling indicators early on [and] should have acted more quickly to protect their colleagues."
As The Washington Post reported this week, NPR covered its own internal scandal very differently from how Fox News covered the numerous sexual harassment allegations against multiple employees, including the network's powerful chief, Roger Ailes.
Fox did not mention the allegations or the reason for Ailes' departure in their official statement, the network's opinion shows largely ignored the issue, and the news programs did not report on the extent of the allegations.