We Have To Do Better

Without meaning to be unintentionally vague, I’m doing so.

 

I had an experience over the weekend where I was able to talk about some past inappropriate things that had happened to me, and to many other girls/women — things that at that point in time had been commonplace, frequent, accepted.

 

And as I spoke, others joined me, relating the same things. And then still others, who had been there at the time, simply listened and made space for the conversation to happen. And then said that they had not known about this, and that they were sorry — and angry, and saddened, and disillusioned — that it had happened. It hit them hard. For quite some time, we had a really impactful discussion about power, and roles, and gender, and that period in time, and having a voice. And also what needs to change in the future. 

 

Today, I (and many, many others) were hit hard by the news that Marianne Coombs, one of the best, award-winning investigative journalists I know, had abruptly left MPR after 23 years. The reason? A piece she had been working on for months, about the sexual abuse perpetrated by a DJ at The Current, was being buried.

 

She says it far better than I could ever:

I have spent the past two and a half months investigating allegations made about the conduct of a DJ at our sister station, 89.3 The Current. In that time, I gathered testimony from eight women who say that he sexually manipulated and psychologically abused them. Their experiences span fifteen years and describe a man who preyed on younger, sexually inexperienced women. These women encountered him while he was working at other local radio stations; they are concerned that he is now using his status as a DJ at The Current to attract and further torment young women.

I also interviewed the directors of a summer church camp who told this DJ he was no longer welcome to volunteer there because of his inappropriate behavior with teenage girls. I found out that in June he was fired from another job where he worked with children; that organization is now conducting an investigation into his time there.

I wrote a story draft and my editors presented it to our legal counsel for review. The lawyer judged the story to be compelling and well-sourced, with strong supporting documentation. She saw no legal threat to MPR News for airing the story.

Despite this, my editors have failed to move forward on the story. They have countered that the DJ’s actions were, for the most part, legal, and therefore don’t rise to the level of warranting news coverage. They described him as “a real creep,” but worried that airing a story about his behavior would invite a lawsuit. While the editors have not gone so far as to cancel the story, they have shown such a complete lack of leadership that I no longer have any confidence they will handle the story appropriately. It took two weeks to get them to even look at a second draft. All this while the DJ remains employed at The Current.

This is not the first time in the past year that our newsroom has gathered, and then neglected, women’s stories of abuse. For many of these women it took more than a decade to find the courage to speak up; when they eventually did, they put their trust in MPR News and me. In my mind, by dragging our feet and sending the implicit message that their cause is not an urgent one, we are as good as silencing them. I cannot accept this course of action.

I’m resigning to show my continued support for these women. Their stories matter, their trauma is real, and the issues their experiences raise are relevant to all women, as well as all parents.

MPR hosts – whether they are news anchors or music DJs – are public figures and communicate what our organization stands for. They must be held to a higher standard than simply obeying the law. And our newsroom must not flinch at turning a critical eye on our own company and staff.

I cherish my more than 23 years with MPR News, and I continue to feel deep admiration for the many amazing people who work here. However, I am saddened that our newsroom has become so beleaguered -- both by staff cuts and an historically adversarial relationship with senior management --that it has been reduced to making editorial decisions from a place of fear. These times call for leadership, a moral compass and courage.

I sincerely hope that my resignation can serve as a catalyst for positive change and push the newsroom to do right by victims of abuse in the future.

 

We experience again, and again, and again, and again, that apparently women must be controlled, held back, silenced. 

 

And I’ve had enough.