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| WNYC Chief Pushed Growth at the Cost of Station’s Culture | WNYC Chief Pushed Growth at the Cost of Station’s Culture |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| When Laura R. Walker, the president and chief executive of New York Public Radio, addressed the crowd at an open WNYC board meeting last week, she said she was “profoundly pained and sorry” about management’s handling of alleged inappropriate conduct by several on-air stars. | When Laura R. Walker, the president and chief executive of New York Public Radio, addressed the crowd at an open WNYC board meeting last week, she said she was “profoundly pained and sorry” about management’s handling of alleged inappropriate conduct by several on-air stars. |
| “For the last several years, I think we’ve prioritized growth, and content and programming, over investment in some of the processes and people,” she said. | “For the last several years, I think we’ve prioritized growth, and content and programming, over investment in some of the processes and people,” she said. |
| To the many employees in the room, the “we” was clear: Ms. Walker, who for more than 20 years has been the public face of the station, and Dean Cappello, her little-known deputy and WNYC’s chief content officer. | To the many employees in the room, the “we” was clear: Ms. Walker, who for more than 20 years has been the public face of the station, and Dean Cappello, her little-known deputy and WNYC’s chief content officer. |
| “The two of them are like Siamese twins — they have been doing this, united, for a long time,” said Bob Hennelly, a former WNYC reporter, who recently wrote about his frustrations with the station’s management. “If you got Laura alone, she’d say, what does Dean think? And if you got Dean alone, he’d say, what did Laura say?” | “The two of them are like Siamese twins — they have been doing this, united, for a long time,” said Bob Hennelly, a former WNYC reporter, who recently wrote about his frustrations with the station’s management. “If you got Laura alone, she’d say, what does Dean think? And if you got Dean alone, he’d say, what did Laura say?” |
| Together, they have transformed a beloved local treasure into a national radio and podcasting colossus. But in recent weeks, accusations of harassment and bullying were leveled at three of the station’s stars, including John Hockenberry, who retired in August as the host of “The Takeaway.” Longtime hosts Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz were fired on Thursday after an investigation found they had violated standards of workplace conduct. The station has hired a law firm and a consultant to review hiring and diversity practices, while numerous employees have aired grievances at recent meetings, and are speculating that either Ms. Walker or Mr. Cappello, or both, could also lose their jobs. | Together, they have transformed a beloved local treasure into a national radio and podcasting colossus. But in recent weeks, accusations of harassment and bullying were leveled at three of the station’s stars, including John Hockenberry, who retired in August as the host of “The Takeaway.” Longtime hosts Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz were fired on Thursday after an investigation found they had violated standards of workplace conduct. The station has hired a law firm and a consultant to review hiring and diversity practices, while numerous employees have aired grievances at recent meetings, and are speculating that either Ms. Walker or Mr. Cappello, or both, could also lose their jobs. |
| Under their leadership, the station has grown in reach and funding. In 1995, shortly before the two started, WNYC, with its city-owned AM and FM stations, had a weekly audience of 1 million and a budget of $8 million, with $11.8 million in annual fund-raising. Today, New York Public Radio, an independent nonprofit that owns WNYC, WQXR and other entities, boasts a monthly audience of 26 million, including streaming and downloads, and a $100 million budget, with $52 million in annual fund-raising. | Under their leadership, the station has grown in reach and funding. In 1995, shortly before the two started, WNYC, with its city-owned AM and FM stations, had a weekly audience of 1 million and a budget of $8 million, with $11.8 million in annual fund-raising. Today, New York Public Radio, an independent nonprofit that owns WNYC, WQXR and other entities, boasts a monthly audience of 26 million, including streaming and downloads, and a $100 million budget, with $52 million in annual fund-raising. |
| Ms. Walker is compensated like a media mogul, too. She earned $768,000, excluding benefits or deferred compensation, in the fiscal year ending in June 2016, a drop of about $100,000 from the previous year. As a board member of the Tribune Media Company, she makes another $200,000 annually, according to securities disclosures. | Ms. Walker is compensated like a media mogul, too. She earned $768,000, excluding benefits or deferred compensation, in the fiscal year ending in June 2016, a drop of about $100,000 from the previous year. As a board member of the Tribune Media Company, she makes another $200,000 annually, according to securities disclosures. |
| Today, there are more than 600 employees at the station including part-timers, up from 84 in 1998, including almost 200 added in 2009, when the station acquired WQXR, the classical music station that was once owned by The New York Times, according to tax filings. The newsroom, which had only three journalists in 1995, now has 70, the station said, and has broken major stories on everything from the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal to Hurricane Sandy and Paul Manafort. | Today, there are more than 600 employees at the station including part-timers, up from 84 in 1998, including almost 200 added in 2009, when the station acquired WQXR, the classical music station that was once owned by The New York Times, according to tax filings. The newsroom, which had only three journalists in 1995, now has 70, the station said, and has broken major stories on everything from the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal to Hurricane Sandy and Paul Manafort. |
| Interviews with more than two dozen employees past and present, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, suggest that in its drive to elevate the station’s profile, management developed a blind spot at the nexus of gender, race, power and personnel. | |
| The station’s human resources practices had not kept pace with its growth, employees said. One person noted that there was so much turnover that “we literally didn’t know who we could go to for benefits.” | The station’s human resources practices had not kept pace with its growth, employees said. One person noted that there was so much turnover that “we literally didn’t know who we could go to for benefits.” |
| Nor does it help, several people said, that the head of human resources occupies a glass office adjacent to Mr. Cappello’s. “It feels like you’re in the principal’s office and everybody can see you,” said one current employee. | Nor does it help, several people said, that the head of human resources occupies a glass office adjacent to Mr. Cappello’s. “It feels like you’re in the principal’s office and everybody can see you,” said one current employee. |
| Mr. Cappello is also closely associated with “The Takeaway,” which he said in an internal staff memo announcing Mr. Hockenberry’s sudden retirement in July was “a show that’s even more necessary today than it was when we launched.” The news release announcing the retirement noted that Mr. Cappello “observed John’s work up close every day.” | Mr. Cappello is also closely associated with “The Takeaway,” which he said in an internal staff memo announcing Mr. Hockenberry’s sudden retirement in July was “a show that’s even more necessary today than it was when we launched.” The news release announcing the retirement noted that Mr. Cappello “observed John’s work up close every day.” |
| That show has become emblematic of one of the biggest complaints about the station’s management — that even as audio journalism has diversified, the station’s broadcast lineup remained overwhelmingly white and male. Kristen Meinzer, a former producer of “The Takeaway,” said that the dichotomy was obvious: men got the shows, women got the podcasts. “If you want to be on air, you’re a white man,” she said. | That show has become emblematic of one of the biggest complaints about the station’s management — that even as audio journalism has diversified, the station’s broadcast lineup remained overwhelmingly white and male. Kristen Meinzer, a former producer of “The Takeaway,” said that the dichotomy was obvious: men got the shows, women got the podcasts. “If you want to be on air, you’re a white man,” she said. |
| Ms. Walker declined to be interviewed or address specifics, but in a statement, she said: “As a woman leader of a public media organization, I know what’s at stake. We need to take a deep look inward at our organizational structure and our culture, to ensure that we will live up to the values of respect, equity and inclusion that we espouse in our work every day.” | Ms. Walker declined to be interviewed or address specifics, but in a statement, she said: “As a woman leader of a public media organization, I know what’s at stake. We need to take a deep look inward at our organizational structure and our culture, to ensure that we will live up to the values of respect, equity and inclusion that we espouse in our work every day.” |
| No matter what ultimately happens, Ms. Walker, 60, has left an indelible mark on public radio and the arts. A former broadcast journalist and executive at the Sesame Workshop, she helped WNYC win its independence in 1997 from New York City. In 2008, the station moved out of its drab quarters in the Municipal Building into a former printing building on Varick Street that now includes WNYC Studios, which produces popular audio series like “Radiolab” and “Death, Sex and Money,” and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, which hosts live events. A perennial contender to lead major nonprofit or news organizations in the city, Ms. Walker signed a contract earlier this year to become the president of Pratt Institute, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke anonymously to preserve the confidentiality of the process. But she did not ultimately take the job. | No matter what ultimately happens, Ms. Walker, 60, has left an indelible mark on public radio and the arts. A former broadcast journalist and executive at the Sesame Workshop, she helped WNYC win its independence in 1997 from New York City. In 2008, the station moved out of its drab quarters in the Municipal Building into a former printing building on Varick Street that now includes WNYC Studios, which produces popular audio series like “Radiolab” and “Death, Sex and Money,” and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, which hosts live events. A perennial contender to lead major nonprofit or news organizations in the city, Ms. Walker signed a contract earlier this year to become the president of Pratt Institute, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke anonymously to preserve the confidentiality of the process. But she did not ultimately take the job. |
| All programming decisions are funneled through Mr. Cappello, employees say, and he is frequently described as the creative force behind innovative shows like “Radiolab.” An early adopter of podcasting to avoid the fate of “the newspaper business,” as he told Columbia Journalism Review last year, Mr. Cappello, 56, is often seen running in and out of the building getting coffee and bringing it back to an office overflowing with papers, folders and unfinished cups of coffee. | All programming decisions are funneled through Mr. Cappello, employees say, and he is frequently described as the creative force behind innovative shows like “Radiolab.” An early adopter of podcasting to avoid the fate of “the newspaper business,” as he told Columbia Journalism Review last year, Mr. Cappello, 56, is often seen running in and out of the building getting coffee and bringing it back to an office overflowing with papers, folders and unfinished cups of coffee. |
| “This is the classic founder problem,” said one veteran WNYC employee who was more sympathetic than most. “Brilliant guy with way too many people reporting to him.” | “This is the classic founder problem,” said one veteran WNYC employee who was more sympathetic than most. “Brilliant guy with way too many people reporting to him.” |
| But as podcasting and audio companies began to flourish and poach people from the station, Mr. Cappello was often slow to respond because the station was so accustomed to being “the only game in town,” said Ms. Meinzer, who is now director of nonfiction programming at Panoply Media. “WNYC was like that horrible boyfriend who won’t pay attention to you until another man is interested.” | But as podcasting and audio companies began to flourish and poach people from the station, Mr. Cappello was often slow to respond because the station was so accustomed to being “the only game in town,” said Ms. Meinzer, who is now director of nonfiction programming at Panoply Media. “WNYC was like that horrible boyfriend who won’t pay attention to you until another man is interested.” |
| Asked about the station’s management, Mr. Cappello said in a statement that he was proud of WNYC’s creative accomplishments, but he acknowledged that “as I get pulled in more directions, I have more meetings that are on the go, often with coffee involved.” He added: “The organization has had a hand-built quality for a long time; that’s obviously not who we are today and change is necessary. And welcome.” | Asked about the station’s management, Mr. Cappello said in a statement that he was proud of WNYC’s creative accomplishments, but he acknowledged that “as I get pulled in more directions, I have more meetings that are on the go, often with coffee involved.” He added: “The organization has had a hand-built quality for a long time; that’s obviously not who we are today and change is necessary. And welcome.” |
| What upended the station was a New York magazine account by the writer Suki Kim, who said that she was harassed by Mr. Hockenberry after appearing as a guest. A detailed investigation conducted by the newsroom revealed additional cases, as well as management’s awareness of myriad problems with “The Takeaway.” | What upended the station was a New York magazine account by the writer Suki Kim, who said that she was harassed by Mr. Hockenberry after appearing as a guest. A detailed investigation conducted by the newsroom revealed additional cases, as well as management’s awareness of myriad problems with “The Takeaway.” |
| Among the revelations was the station’s use of separation agreements with confidentiality provisions with departing employees who felt they had been abused or mistreated. In interviews, current and former staff members pointed to at least four such agreements — with three women and one man — including one with Adaora Udoji, a former co-host of “The Takeaway,” who broke her agreement in a first-person account for The Guardian. | Among the revelations was the station’s use of separation agreements with confidentiality provisions with departing employees who felt they had been abused or mistreated. In interviews, current and former staff members pointed to at least four such agreements — with three women and one man — including one with Adaora Udoji, a former co-host of “The Takeaway,” who broke her agreement in a first-person account for The Guardian. |
| “The message was you don’t speak up and complain, because if you do, you disappear,” said Ms. Meinzer, whose story was included in Ms. Kim’s New York magazine account. | “The message was you don’t speak up and complain, because if you do, you disappear,” said Ms. Meinzer, whose story was included in Ms. Kim’s New York magazine account. |
| The harassment, if unknown to the station’s management, was an open secret in the radio world, according to Ann Heppermann, an independent radio producer who has previously worked for WNYC and who spoke at the board meeting. “You knew which shows not to work for, and I knew where not to send interns because I wanted them to succeed,” said Ms. Heppermann, who teaches at Sarah Lawrence. | The harassment, if unknown to the station’s management, was an open secret in the radio world, according to Ann Heppermann, an independent radio producer who has previously worked for WNYC and who spoke at the board meeting. “You knew which shows not to work for, and I knew where not to send interns because I wanted them to succeed,” said Ms. Heppermann, who teaches at Sarah Lawrence. |
| At that meeting, Ms. Walker pledged to “evolve our culture” in response to the cascading revelations. | At that meeting, Ms. Walker pledged to “evolve our culture” in response to the cascading revelations. |
| That didn’t fly with Naomi Tarantal, an artist who said she had been a WNYC listener since 1985. “When I hear jargon like that, I know that something is wrong,” she said. She urged board members to ignore “all of the jargon and all of the B.S.” and “clean house.” | That didn’t fly with Naomi Tarantal, an artist who said she had been a WNYC listener since 1985. “When I hear jargon like that, I know that something is wrong,” she said. She urged board members to ignore “all of the jargon and all of the B.S.” and “clean house.” |