More than 15 students at WOUB were fired or suspended for objectifying and demeaning women in newsroom's sports operation, according to a report.
Update Thursday morning:
Ohio University responded to The Post about a university investigation into sexism and harassment at WOUB Public Media.
"The matter is under review by the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance. The university doesn't comment on matters under review involving students," Bethany Venable, a university spokeswoman, said in an email.
On Wednesday, The Post contacted the equity office, but a request for comment was not returned. That office received a report from WOUB on Friday, March 11, that detailed alleged allegations of sexism and harrassment among the organization's student sports staff.
Officials at the Scripps College of Communications and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism have not responded to requests for comment.
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At WOUB Public Media, female sports reporters endured “sexism and harassment,” where men promoted women based on appearance and women were discussed as “sexual objects,” according to a report obtained by The Post.
That report was sent by WOUB’s leadership on Friday, March 11 to Ohio University’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance. The document states student journalists in WOUB’s sports department perpetuated a culture that created “a hostile and/or threatening environment for women.”
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The Equity office did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
The report was sent to OU’s Title IX coordinator by Tom Hodson, director and general manager of WOUB, and Mark Brewer, chief operating officer of WOUB. The same day, the report says, WOUB permanently fired 11 male student journalists. Another six were suspended and seven were “put on notice to improve their professionalism.”
One unpaid Post staff member was fired from WOUB. After learning about the staffer's involvement prior to his firing from WOUB, Post executive editors decided against taking action.
Also last Friday, the organization announced “changes in its student-run sports department.” The Bobcat Sports Showcase, a television show, and FaceOff, a radio program, were canceled.
The report frames alleged sexism and sexual harassment at WOUB as institutionalized problems. Women who complained were ignored by "male student leaders" and public conversations about sex with colleagues occurred often, the report stated.
In the report, WOUB listed the names of all male students fired, suspended or warned. No specific reasoning is detailed for why each student was disciplined. The Post has chosen not to name the individuals.
It is unclear how WOUB determined how individual students acted inappropriately. At a meeting last Wednesday, 75 student sports staff members were required to email Brewer and detail who “should not be considered for future leadership positions.” A list of complaints was established “after reading the emails and talking with several students face-to-face," according to the report.
The Post contacted each student the report listed as fired or suspended. Several of them did not return requests for comment. Others would only speak on the condition of anonymity. The Post does not offer anonymity to sources unless in a situation where they may lose their job or due to personal reasons.
Hodson declined to comment in person to The Post. While it is unclear if students violated university rules, Hodson stated in the report that student actions may have violated the sexual misconduct policy.
How problems came to light
About a month ago, a group of students took a van to Nashville, Tennessee to attend a sports journalism conference, with travel paid for by the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. After the trip, Justice Hill, a Scripps faculty member and advisor to an organization many of the students were in, was told about a conversation in the van, the report states.
The conversation had a “sexual demeaning nature” and was directed toward female colleagues.
“To be candid here, your conduct fell to unforgivable lows, and it could not be explained away no matter how hard some of you have tried,” Hill wrote in an email to the students who went on the trip. “You were irresponsible and detestable for taking part in such a ratchet conversation, and for those who did not stop it, you were all cowards.”
In that email, which Hill provided to The Post, he resigned as the advisor to the OU chapter of the Associated Press Sports Editors. The organization has been disbanded, according to the report submitted to the Title IX coordinator.
Hill notified WOUB of what happened. As details of the Nashville trip spread, students complained “of sexism and harassment by male student sports staffers against female sports staffers.”
The report says their complaints were centered around:
A culture where men in leadership promoted the women they believed were most attractive.
Excluding women from FaceOff.
- Rating women based on attractiveness and "bangability."
A group text among only male student sports employees to discuss women as “sexual objects.”
“Foul, vile and egregious” sexual talk that women found so uncomfortable they chose to avoid the newsroom or “not to participate in sports journalism.”
WOUB operates radio and TV stations with more than 200 student staffers. It is a non-academic part of the Scripps College of Communication and receives financial support from the university. WOUB’s annual budget is about $5 million.
Scott Titsworth, dean of the college, did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Bob Stewart, director of the journalism school, also did not respond to a request for comment.
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