Newsweek has fired its editor-in-chief, his deputy and three reporters after they worked on stories about a probe into suspected financial fraud at the magazine’s parent company.
Johnathan Davis, the co-founder and chief executive of Newsweek Media Group, fired editor Bob Roe, deputy editor Ken Li and reporters Celeste Katz and Josh Saul, as well as Josh Keefe, a reporter for the International Business Times, on Monday.
Katz, Saul and Keefe had all been writing about the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into the fraud allegations. The stories were all edited by Row and Li.
Newsweek has fired editor Bob Roe (left) and deputy editor Ken Li (right) after they edited stories about a probe into suspected financial fraud at the magazine’s parent company
‘This whole entire staff feels it’s clearly retaliatory,’ a source told the LA Times.
Editors have told their staffers not to work until the company tells them exactly what is happening.
Another source told New York Daily News that staffers had been concerned about the impact of their stories and had directly asked Row and Li if they would lose their jobs over the coverage.
The editor and his deputy pledged to protect their staff and would quit if the reporters were fired. But it doesn’t look like anyone predicted that Newsweek would have cut the editors too.
Newsweek also fired reporters Celeste Katz (pictured) and Josh Saul, as well as Josh Keefe, a reporter for the International Business Times, on Monday
Staff at the International Business Times also report that they were not paid Monday.
‘The entire staff is angry, frustrated and confused,’ the source said.
A defiant Katz tweeted to thank her brave colleagues and editors who supported her work, adding that she’d ‘sleep well’, knowing she’d done the right thing.
‘My warmest thanks to the brave Newsweek editors and colleagues who supported and shared in my work — especially our recent, difficult stories about the magazine itself — before my dismissal today. I’ll sleep well tonight… and I’m looking for a job!’ she tweeted.
The investigation into allegations of fraud at the Newsweek Media Group, began around a year and a half ago.
It is focused on, what Katz, Saul and Keefe reported, was a possible ‘money trail’ between former Newsweek Media Group executives and Olivet University, a Christian college in California.
Last month, the Manhattan district attorney raided the Newsweek offices, removing 18 computer servers and examining the equipment inside the server room.
A defiant Katz tweeted to thank her brave colleagues and editors who supported her work, adding that she’d ‘sleep well’, knowing she’d done the right thing
The search was not focused on the editorial side of the company, but the Media Group’s finances, including loans the company took out to purchase the servers, sources told Newsweek.
Both Etienne Uzac and Johnathan Davis, the IBT founders who bought Newsweek in 2013, and reportedly have large debts, stood down earlier this month.
Uzac was formerly the treasurer at Olivet University, then the vice chairman in 2011. In recent years, the Newsweek Media Group has paid the school more than $2.8 million in licensing and research agreements, according to tax records.
The DA are now looking at any potential ties between the school and the media group.
The IRS also filed a $1.2 million lien against Uzac in December, and $800,000 lien against his cofounder in October.
Newsweek’s Chief Content Officer Dayan Candappa is also currently on leave following sexual harassment allegations.
Newsweek did not respond to reporters’ requests for comment.