Fleet Street's dirty secret
Newspapers so quick to pounce on allegations of sexual harassment in other institutions are guilty of hypocrisy, says Tim Luckhurst
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Your support makes all the difference.If any allegation is capable of further lowering the reputation of journalists, it is the suggestion that they cover up on behalf of their own colleagues conduct that they gleefully expose in others. Hence the Labour MP Clive Soley's parliamentary fury about suggestions that News International paid £500,000 to silence allegations of serious sexual harassment against Stuart Higgins, editor of The Sun between 1994 and 1998. Soley says: "The press cannot and should not expose others while covering up its own problems."
If true, it does sound like hypocrisy. In recent months there have been high-profile newspaper reports of harassment allegations against bankers, vicars, military officers and surgeons. Claims that Arnold Schwarzenegger harassed women were given prominence in the Los Angeles Times in the final days of the race for the governorship of California. Arnie admitted "rowdy" conduct and things that he "thought were playful".
But is the other half of the equation true? Is the media industry plagued by concealed harassment and bullying? John Fray, the deputy general secretary of the NUJ, says: "There are serious problems. Our difficulty is that sexual harassment is not given much publicity. The victim does not want to come forward. When senior managers are involved, companies tend to want to protect the manager rather than the victim."
Joanna (not her real name) was an executive on a national broadsheet in the 1990s. "Newspapers that screech with righteous indignation about harassment in the workplace actually operate macho and intimidating cultures of their own. It is testosterone time, but they excuse it by saying that it is necessary to meet deadlines and maintain quality. When employers tolerate that from senior executives, they breed an attitude of entitlement. Guys who are allowed to think it is acceptable to scream at people can end up thinking they are entitled to anything."
Dianah Worman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says, "Intimidation and bullying increase under tight deadlines. If that sort of atmosphere is visible at the top, then it filters down - people think it is the way to get things done."
Julie Kirkbride MP, Conservative spokeswoman for culture, media and sport, worked as a journalist for The Daily and Sunday Telegraph before entering politics. She says: "In my time as a journalist, I have come up against occasional male chauvinistic prejudices. But I believe sexual harassment is a reflection not on any particular industry but on individuals. The actions of these people should be taken seriously."
So is journalism guilty of concealing a cancer within? Joan McAlpine, deputy editor of The Herald, says it is not. "Female newspaper people tend to be tough cookies. Perhaps when I started in my career, young women were patronised. But young women are patronised in every profession. I have not come across any harassment."
'I was afraid to challenge him...'
Sarah (not her real name), was working on a national newspaper when a senior executive turned his attention to her. "He began by sending me lewd e-mails, usually after a boozy lunch. They would comment on my clothes, such as the length of my skirt. He then began inappropriate touching, such asleaning over me and putting his hands on my shoulders. Sometimes he would call me into his office and comment on my private life. When I was working out of the office he would ring me up and make suggestive remarks.
"The harassment was constant and went on for a long time. I was new and afraid to challenge someone so senior. Some of my male colleagues knew, but felt I should ignore it or treat it as a joke. There was no complaints procedure, so I felt powerless. I tried to avoid him, which made him abusive and aggressive. I found out he had harassed at least two other women.
"The whole thing made me very depressed. Eventually, I left. I started seeing a counsellor, who made me realise that what had happened was unacceptable. I felt furious that this was allowed to go on and that he was able to get away with it."
The Independent knows the identity of the man involved. He still holds a senior position in the same organisation.
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