- The editor of US magazine The Atlantic is being criticised after suggesting that only "almost exclusively white male" journalists can write in-depth articles.
The editor of US magazine The Atlantic is being criticised after suggesting that only “almost exclusively white male” journalists can write in-depth articles.
Jeffrey Goldberg made the comments in an interview with Nieman Lab about The Atlantic’s diversity policies.
Numerous female journalists on social media have since accused Mr Goldberg of racism and sexism.
He has apologised on Twitter for his comments.
Jeffrey Goldberg
✔@JeffreyGoldberg
Re: That @NiemanReports interview: I was trying to explain (and obviously failed to explain) that white males dominate cover-story writing because they’ve had all the opportunities. We’re trying to change that at @TheAtlantic. 1/2
End of Twitter post by @JeffreyGoldberg
The Atlantic, which was founded in 1857, increased the percentage of women in management from 17% in 2016 to 63% currently.
When asked by Nieman Lab about areas in which the outlet had not made progress in diversifying its staff, Mr Goldberg explained that the magazine has a “problem” with cover features.
“It’s really, really hard to write a 10,000-word cover story. There are not a lot of journalists in America who can do it.
“The journalists in America who do it are almost exclusively white males,” he said.
The comments were swiftly condemned on Twitter.
“This is toxic, racist and sexist,” wrote the director of the Lawyers’ Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law, Kristen Clarke.
One former journalist at The Atlantic claimed that she left the magazine after being denied the opportunity to write a feature.
AlanaSemuels
✔@AlanaSemuels
1/ I have been a journalist for 15+ years and was a Loeb finalist three times, for work including longform Atlantic pieces. But when I asked if I could work with an editor to write a feature piece for the magazine in the next year, I was told that was not possible. So I left.
End of Twitter post by @AlanaSemuels
Several journalists pointed out that the comments were inaccurate and highlighted that many women journalists write long-form features.
Magazine editor Lisa Goldman tweeted a list of female feature writers, claiming that Mr Goldberg’s comments were an “insult”.
British journalist Libby Watson suggested his comments were patronising.
She tweeted a section of the interview in which Mr Goldberg explained that The Atlantic tries to recognise potential and help women to write 10,000-word stories, with mixed results.
“This part is key to understanding what Goldberg meant. He has tried to help some silly young women get to the most Important Journalism of doing 10,000-word cover stories – but a lot of the time they just couldn’t do it,” Ms Watson wrote.
andi zeisler
✔@andizeisler
So has anyone told Jeffrey Goldberg about women who write books yet
End of Twitter post by @andizeisler
Prison Culture@prisoncultureIt’ll certainly come as a shock to all of the women and gender non-conforming people who have written 70,000 word books that Goldberg thinks that only white men can write 10,000 word long form journalistic pieces.
End of Twitter post by @prisonculture
Mr Goldberg initially responded to criticism by explaining that he had been misquoted and that he had requested a correction to the piece.
The article’s author Laura Hazard Owen replied that he had not been misquoted.
However she tweeted she believes his comments were being misconstrued on social media.
“I enjoyed talking with Jeff and think that The Atlantic is doing an admirable job of hiring women. This is why I did the piece. It sucks if a stray comment distracts from what the team there is accomplishing,” Ms Owen wrote.
