As allegations of sexual misconduct pile up in the worlds of media, entertainment and politics, the Brooklyn-based company — a multimedia juggernaut eying an IPO — appears to be staring down an inevitable reckoning.
Last week may have offered a preview of what’s to come. A piece published by the Daily Beastexamined Vice’s “sexual-harassment culture,” and implicated a high-profile producer at the company.
That story led to a suspension for Jason Mojica, Vice’s lead filmmaker and former editor-in-chief, who was said to have dismissed complaints about sexual harassment and to have made inappropriate comments. Reached by CNNMoney, Mojica declined to comment.
The Daily Beast’s reporting only heightened the sense of dread consuming Vice’s journalists.
Conversations with 10 employees in the company’s television and digital departments — a mix of reporters, correspondents and editors — revealed a sinking sense of morale at Vice’s Williamsburg headquarters. There is an assumption that the claims in the Daily Beast story will not be the last. Many of those same Vice employees said the company’s leadership has exacerbated an already-tense situation. And some female staff members lamented how awkward it’s made the current news cycle.
“It feels stupid to be reporting on harassment and assault when we all feel embarrassed by how Vice is handling this,” one reporter said.
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