Layoffs, Breaches of Editorial Firewall and a Criminal Probe at Newsweek
Once a household standard alongside the likes of Time and The Atlantic, legacy media company Newsweek has fallen far from grace since it was founded in the 1930s, cycling through multiple owners, and coping with financial difficulties and periodic layoffs.
But the issues there took an even darker turn this January, when Newsweek headquarters in Lower Manhattan was raided by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. The editorial staff did what journalists do and reported on the story. As they began to suss out why the district attorney was probing the ownership of their publication, they faced increasing pressures to back down.
In an investigation published Tuesday, Newsweek reporters explained that the criminal probe had to do with potential financial fraud regarding the purchase of several computer servers, as well as the financial ties of Newsweek Media Group, which owns Newsweek, and Olivet University, a Bible college based in California. This came after Newsweek Media Group laid off a reporter and two senior editors who were working closely on the story.
Politics editor at Newsweek Mike Mishak, who helped oversee the reporters working on the investigation, told WNYC he and many others saw the layoffs as a direct retaliation for the reporting they were doing.
"We all believe so. The owners have acknowledged that the coverage of the company played into the dismissals," he said. "The folks that were targeted were directly most involved with this story."
Beyond the dismissals, in a note above their investigation, editors describe, "egregious breaches of confidentiality and journalism ethics."
"A company official asked us to unmask our confidential sources which is one of those journalistic crimes, you know we can't do that," Mishak said on WNYC's All Things Considered.
Newsweek Media Group did not return WNYC's request for comment.
Olivet University referred to a January statement denying any financial ties between itself and Newsweek Media Group beyond a licensing and research agreement. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office declined to comment.
