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Black Top-Ranking Editor at N.Y. Daily News Investigated in Harassment Claim

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NPR Prompts Questions About Robert Moore

Dorothy Bland Stepping Down as Mayborn Dean

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Robert Moore of the Daily News in New York, right, with Sarah Ryley formerly of the News, and Eric Umansky of ProPublica, accept the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service from Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, at left. The award was for uncovering, primarily through Ryley’s work widespread abuse of eviction rules by the police to oust hundreds of people, most of them poor people of color. The News and ProPublica jointly published the story. (Credit: pulitzer.org)

NPR Prompts Questions About Robert Moore

Robert (Rob) Moore, who as head of news is the highest-ranking African American at the Daily News in New York, “has been accused of sexual harassment and is now under investigation by the paper’s parent company after inquiries by NPR,” David Folkenflik reported Monday night for NPR.

“Moore has been accused of creating a sexualized atmosphere, pressuring women for attention and punishing those who objected,” Folkenflik reported. Tronc, formerly the Tribune Co. and the Daily News’ new owner, “would not say whether he remains on the job or has been suspended or placed on leave.” Moore was in the Daily News newsroom on Monday, however, Journal-isms was told.

“NPR called Tronc Monday to inquire about the status of a complaint against Moore that was filed in late December, Folkenflik’s story continued. “Tronc confirmed its investigation was launched in response to NPR’s inquiries. Two sources who have worked under Moore at the Daily News told NPR of the complaint. Three other journalists who have worked for him at the paper said they observed similar misconduct by Moore. . . .”

In September 2016, Moore received the annual Trailblazer Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.

“This award is important to me personally because I try to be a mentor to young journalists I work with and compete against every day,” Moore told the crowd, according to a report from Leonard Greene and Denis Slattery in the News.

“I stand here on the shoulders of strong men and women.”

Moore joined the News as a staff writer in 2004 and became the tabloid’s first African American managing editor in 2011.

“He was promoted in 2015 to his current position as Head of News,” the Trailblazer Award story continued.

“ ‘Rob Moore is one of the most talented and tireless journalists with whom I’ve ever worked,’ said Daily News Editor-in-Chief Jim Rich. ‘His passion for truth and fairness is a beacon in our newsroom. I can think of no one more deserving of this award.’ . . .”

Folkenflik also reported, “Tronc acquired the Daily News in September. . . .

“[Moore] has run the newsroom since the end of December when former editor-in-chief Arthur Browne left the paper. Jim Kirk, a Tronc news executive, is serving as interim editor-in-chief, starting this week. . . .”

Moore did not respond Monday night to emailed requests for comment.

Keith J. Kelly and Joe Tacopino reported shortly after midnight for the New York Post, “When asked about the News probe, a Tronc spokesperson said,  ‘We do not comment on personnel matters.’

Dorothy Bland Stepping Down as Mayborn Dean

Dorothy Bland

Dorothy Bland, dean of the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, plans to step down this summer but remain on the faculty, she told Journal-isms.

“Bland joined the faculty in 2013 after serving as the director of the Division of Journalism at Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. She replaced M. Jean Keller, who had served as the Mayborn’s acting dean since 2012,” the North Texas Daily reported on Friday.

“The Mayborn, which is now one of only 111 programs within the United States and outside the country accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, saw its enrollment rise more than 25 percent from 2013 to 2016 under Bland. . . . ”

Bland said she plans to remain at UNT as a professor after stepping down at the end of the semester.

Bland told Journal-isms Sunday by email, “It is both an honor and privilege to have served as dean for the Mayborn since June 2013. During my tenure, we have grown student enrollment more than 20 percent and semester credit hours more than 40 percent. We also have grown our faculty, staff, alumni engagement and industry collaborations. We also have improved the curriculum, raised the school’s research profile and more than $2 million in gifts.

“We hosted a successful ACEJMC re-accreditation visit in 2016, and our undergraduate and graduate programs are re-accredited [until] 2022. Our team earned the 2016 national AEJMC Equity & Diversity Award. We helped improve resources by relocating most of the Mayborn team to this newly renovated space in Sycamore Hall in the summer of 2017. We also have added classes at UNT in Frisco, online and launched the M.S. in Digital Communication Analytics in the fall 2017.”

Bland, a former publisher with the Gannett Co., became the focus of news stories in November 2015 when she wrote a column for the Dallas Morning News about being stopped by Corinth, Texas, police as she power-walked through her neighborhood.

“ ‘Walking while black,’ she styled the confrontation,” Jeffrey Weiss reported then for the Dallas Morning News.

“Bland says now that she never intended to become a national focus in the argument about race in America. But her column, along with a response from the Corinth police chief and a police dash-cam video, turned her into a trending topic on social media. It made her a talking point on national radio and TV shows.

“Conservative bloggers accused her of race-baiting. Some attacked her employer, the University of North Texas. An online petition called for her to be fired.

“She also has her defenders. An Internet meme attack on her even made the premier debunking website, Snopes.com, which came down mostly in support of Bland. . . .”

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