Three journalists who broke recent sexual harassment stories shared their reporting experience and insight Tuesday during a discussion at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The discussion was the first of four in a new series entitled “Women, the Media and the Workplace.” The Cronkite School launched the series after reporting revealed sexual assault allegations against several prominent media figures including Mark Halperin, Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose.
The sexual assault allegations against Charlie Rose caused the Cronkite School to revoke his 2015 Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism last November.
“We all need to have this conversation with men and women,” said Julia Wallace, moderator and Frank Russell Chair at the Cronkite School. “In our careers, we all talk about doing work that makes a difference.”
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The three panelists shared their experiences developing news stories about sexual abuse, including high-profile stories featuring Harvey Weinstein, Roy Moore and the Texas legislature.
“We might be at an inflection moment on harassment,” said Rebecca Corbett, managing editor at The New York Times who edited the story which detailed initial allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. “It seemed like there was a shift happening in the culture that made this a very fertile subject for us.”
Olivia Messer, a reporter for the Daily Beast revealed sexual harassment at the Texas Legislature, discussed the implications of reporting on sexual harassment as a woman.
“As a woman reporter, I was not immune from the things I was writing about,” Messer said. “That was a hard lesson to learn.”
Stephanie McCrummen, a reporter for The Washington Post, said the biggest stories aren’t always the most obvious ones. Recounting her discovery of the Roy Moore story, McCrummen said she was first tipped off to allegations against Roy Moore by a citizen who had heard rumors of the allegations against Moore.
“It wasn’t a story that originated from Washington, it’s a story that emerged because I was having long conversations with people in the place that happened to be a mirror of Roy Moore’s hometown,” McCrummen said. “We just began chasing all kinds of leads.”
The panelists also offered young journalists advice based on their experiences with investigative reporting.
“I think that building trust is really the key component,” Corbett said. “It really involves a lot of time and patience and explaining how their story would fit into this larger story.”
Students who attended the panel said they appreciated the insights offered by the more experienced journalists on the panel.
“I liked what Olivia [Messer] said about how they saw the male audience as just another part of the audience,” said Cronkite freshmen Caroline Livingston. “It wasn’t about catering to their point of view, that it mattered because it was a human story.”
Corbett said the full impact of the current cultural moment has yet to be seen.
“The test of whether this really is a transforming moment will be in the months and years to come,” Corbett said. “Do women feel more able to report problems, and how does their situation respond? And I hope we get answers about that.”
Future discussions will explore other topics related to sexual harassment including what to do when encountering sexual harassment, how to change workplace culture and other forms of discrimination women face.
Contact the reporter at Vandana.Ravikumar@asu.edu.
