NPR Executive Resigns Following Harassment Allegations

UPDATE 1:00PM 11/1/17:  The top newsroom executive at NPR resigned on Wednesday, a day after he was placed on leave by the broadcast news organization following reports that he had harassed at least three women.

Michael Oreskes quit as senior vice president and editorial director at Washington-based NPR, the organization announced. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that two women had complained to NPR last month that Oreskes had abruptly kissed them while they were speaking with him about their job prospects almost two decades ago. At the time, Oreskes was the Washington bureau chief at the New York Times.

Earlier Posting...

NPR is investigating allegations by two women who said the head of its news department made unwanted physical contact with them while he was employed by another news organization nearly two decades ago.

According to The Washington Post, the women, both journalists at the time of the alleged incidents, made the accusations in recent weeks against Michael Oreskes, senior vice president of news and editorial director at the Washington-based public broadcasting organization.

Michael Oreskes

In separate complaints, the women said Oreskes — at the time, the Washington bureau chief of the New York Times — abruptly kissed them while they were speaking with him about working at the newspaper. Both of them told similar stories: After meeting Oreskes and discussing their job prospects, they said he unexpectedly kissed them on the lips and stuck his tongue in their mouths.

Both of the women spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity so as not to damage their employment prospects.

The alleged incidents occurred in the late 1990s, the women said. Oreskes joined NPR in March 2015 after working at the Times and the Associated Press in senior editing roles.

Oreskes didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

The veteran editor is the latest media figure whose conduct has been called into question by women who worked for him or who sought employment when he was in a position to wield power over hiring and firing. Allegations against former New Republic editor Leon Wieseltier and political journalist Mark Halperin have also come to light in the past month.

Both complainants say Oreskes’s alleged behavior had a lasting impact.