Several women of color have alleged repeated instances of harassment by the former host of The Takeaway, John Hockenberry. It's an issue some say reflects a pervasive culture at WNYC, as well as other news outlets where sexism and racism are allowed to fester.

Rebecca Carroll, WNYC’s editor of special projects, described her first meeting with Hockenberry, where he made a racially offensive comment. "Inside 30 seconds he said to me in front of the staff, 'if it feels like a slave plantation mentality here, that's because it is.'" She was a guest on The Takeaway Monday.  

Carroll, who also worked as a producer for disgraced television host Charlie Rose, said there are broader implications for the culture of an organization "to just directly connect the dots, to the ways in which an environment that allows for sexual harassment, also allows for racial denigration and racism."

Jorteh Senah is a former WNYC journalist, who left the company to be a contractor at Google. 

He said part of the problem is the lack of people of color in senior management positions. Senah said a person of color may have had a much different read on Hockenberry's inability to work with three African American women co-hosts.

"They would say, 'no this isn't just like him being difficult, this is him having an issue with black women,' and would have addressed it from that standpoint," Senah told WNYC.

In an appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show on Tuesday, WNYC’s president and CEO Laura Walker said the organization must, “do better.”

“We must start here. How we live each day off the air we need to have a conversation about systemic racism about, what equity and inclusion means, how we treat each other. We have to each look at our own blindspots our prejudices,” Walker said.

She also said WNYC would be reviewing the station's editorial power structure. 

While organizations evaluate their leadership and policies, some people are forming their own support networks.

There is a private Facebook group that connects people of color in public media. There is also a new virtual support network for victims of sexual harassment organized through LADIO, a network of women who work at different audio companies.

Julia Furlan, senior producer for podcasts at Buzzfeed News and a former WNYC employee, said it's about giving people a place to be heard — and believed.

"Unfortunately, that might be one of the best ways to address these kinds of things," Furlan said about people informally gathering outside of the structures of power, adding, "because if the structures of power aren't working, it seems like our only option."

This story was updated on Thursday, December 07, 2017 at 4:20 p.m. to include comments from WNYC’s president and CEO Laura Walker from her appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show.