BBG Commentary
We are receiving more and more complaints from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) employees about nepotism at the U.S. taxpayer-funded organization. These complaints follow criticism of RFE/RL’s senior management by some of the award-winning journalists who have recently left the outlet and by former participants in the prestigious Vaclav Havel Fellowship. Nepotism is usually one of the first signs of a mismanaged organization in crisis.
SEE: Message for Speaker Ryan from Dissident RFE/RL Journalists, BBG Watch, March 24, 2018
Here is the latest message:
It is incredible how far the nepotism has gone at RFE/RL. This is just the latest instance of nepotism in the newsroom, where a relatively new editor and his son now both work for RFE/RL. Insulting the intelligence of her own subordinates, the new newsroom head said in the announcement to the staff that there is no conflict of interests because there is no direct subordination between the two! Unbelievable, but this is happening in an organization which ostensibly fights against corruption in the broadcast region it covers. All this, after numerous other cases of nepotism, extending even to the Russian-language program “Current Time.”
One regional director saw his own son-in-law hired to work at RFE/RL. An administrative RFE/RL employee saw her son hired for a period of time in the newsroom. How could anyone then trust her impartiality in treating the employees fairly in their relations with the newsroom management?
ALSO SEE: #ReformBBG — BBG, VOA, RFE/RL Employees Ask for Immediate Reforms, BBG Watch, March 12, 2018