Latest news with #SewellChan
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sewell Chan Named Senior Fellow at USC Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership & Policy
Sewell Chan, the veteran editor and journalist who most recently served as executive editor for the Columbia Journalism Review, has been named senior fellow for the USC Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership & Policy, where he will focus on press freedom in the U.S. and abroad, TheWrap has learned. Chan said earlier this month that he was fired from CJR after staffers complained about several recent 'pointed interactions' over stories and journalism ethics issues. Chan's exit from CJR came only eight months after he was hired, with previous editiorships at the Texas Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Washington Post. 'Throughout his career, Sewell Chan has been a champion of high-impact, truthful reporting and opinion,' said Geoffrey Cowan, director of CCLP at USC Annenberg. 'We look forward to working with him on issues related to journalistic integrity, media and democracy, and new models for local news.' Chan has been deeply involved in organizations supporting press freedom. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and PEN America, and serves on the boards of the Pulitzer Prizes, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and several other notable institutions. No stranger to USC Annenberg, Chan has participated in panels and served as a judge for the Selden Ring Awards in recent years. He expressed enthusiasm for joining the distinguished community at CCLP, emphasizing the importance of leadership in an era of disruptive transformation in media. 'I'm thrilled to join the distinguished community of scholars and practitioners at CCLP,' Chan said. 'I look forward to engaging with the rich network of scholars, practitioners, and students at USC Annenberg.' The post Sewell Chan Named Senior Fellow at USC Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership & Policy | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Columbia Journalism Review editor defends behavior as 'normal workplace interactions' after 'baffling' firing
The former editor of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) defended his reputation and interactions with staff following internal complaints that reportedly led to his firing last week. Sewell Chan, the former executive editor for the Ivy League magazine published by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, announced on Friday that he had been dismissed by Columbia University after just eight months on the job. The veteran journalist previously worked as editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune and held senior roles at The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. "This was the first time in a 25-year career that I've ever been subjected to discipline in a job — much less terminated from one," he wrote in a statement posted to X. "I have immense respect for [Dean] Jelani Cobb as a journalist and educator, but the decision to let me go was hasty, ill-considered and quite frankly baffling." Columbia Journalism Review Worries Usaid Freeze Will Hurt Independent Journalism Abroad In his statement, Chan touted his work at the magazine before giving his account of what happened in these staff interactions in the weeks before his dismissal. Read On The Fox News App Chan said he had been brought on to "revive" CJR after it had gone without a permanent editor for nearly a year. He defended his tenure as "brief but eventful", citing how his team's reporting had garnered them recognition in the journalism industry. He shared how he was fired just a few days after learning of staff complaints "following pointed interactions in which I provided fair and critical feedback rooted in editorial rigor." In one of these "pointed" interactions, he explained he had raised concerns about a "significant ethical problem" with "a fellow who is passionately devoted to the cause of the Gaza protests at Columbia and had covered the recent detention of a Palestinian graduate for an online publication he had just written about, positively, for CJR." In another interaction, he said he pressed a reporter on a deadline for a story; and the final interaction involved a staff member who refused to work in the office, despite university guidelines, or meet story quotas, he said. Washington Post Columnist Trashes Colleagues, Says Editor Robbed Him Of His Humanity In Memoir: Report Chan defended his comments during these conversations as "normal workplace interactions" in which he provided "rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight," which was no different from what he had done at other media outlets he had worked at. "The norms at Columbia are apparently very different," Chan said. Cobb, the dean of Columbia Journalism School, did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for article source: Columbia Journalism Review editor defends behavior as 'normal workplace interactions' after 'baffling' firing
Fox News
22-04-2025
- Fox News
Columbia Journalism Review editor defends behavior as 'normal workplace interactions' after 'baffling' firing
The former editor of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) defended his reputation and interactions with staff following internal complaints that reportedly led to his firing last week. Sewell Chan, the former executive editor for the Ivy League magazine published by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, announced on Friday that he had been dismissed by Columbia University after just eight months on the job. The veteran journalist previously worked as editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune and held senior roles at The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. "This was the first time in a 25-year career that I've ever been subjected to discipline in a job — much less terminated from one," he wrote in a statement posted to X. "I have immense respect for [Dean] Jelani Cobb as a journalist and educator, but the decision to let me go was hasty, ill-considered and quite frankly baffling." In his statement, Chan touted his work at the magazine before giving his account of what happened in these staff interactions in the weeks before his dismissal. Chan said he had been brought on to "revive" CJR after it had gone without a permanent editor for nearly a year. He defended his tenure as "brief but eventful", citing how his team's reporting had garnered them recognition in the journalism industry. He shared how he was fired just a few days after learning of staff complaints "following pointed interactions in which I provided fair and critical feedback rooted in editorial rigor." In one of these "pointed" interactions, he explained he had raised concerns about a "significant ethical problem" with "a fellow who is passionately devoted to the cause of the Gaza protests at Columbia and had covered the recent detention of a Palestinian graduate for an online publication he had just written about, positively, for CJR." In another interaction, he said he pressed a reporter on a deadline for a story; and the final interaction involved a staff member who refused to work in the office, despite university guidelines, or meet story quotas, he said. Chan defended his comments during these conversations as "normal workplace interactions" in which he provided "rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight," which was no different from what he had done at other media outlets he had worked at. "The norms at Columbia are apparently very different," Chan said. Cobb, the dean of Columbia Journalism School, did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Columbia Journalism Review Editor Defends 'Pointed Interactions' With Staff After Firing
The former top editor of the Columbia Journalism Review is defending his interactions with staff after subordinates' complaints allegedly prompted his ousting from the magazine. Not long after news broke that Sewell Chan was no longer leading the magazine known for its scrutiny of the press, the journalist posted a lengthy statement on social media platforms calling the decision 'hasty, ill-considered and quite frankly baffling.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Columbia University Cancels Main Commencement After Weeks of Pro-Palestinian Protests Renowned Columbia Film Professor on Israel-Gaza Campus Unrest: "The Media Has Blown the Situation Out of Proportion" (Guest Column) This West Hollywood Hotel Continues to Put Art at the Forefront Chan says his firing came just a few days after he learned of staff complaints stemming from 'pointed interactions in which I provided fair and critical feedback rooted in editorial rigor.' He responded by suggesting that he meet with the unhappy employees and asking for a coach to assist him with working in 'a charged higher education environment,' but says he was fired instead. Chan summarized three conversations that he said prompted the complaints, having to do with one potential conflict of interest, a deadline for a reporter on a sensitive story and one employee dismissal over in-office attendance and a story quota. Chan called all of these cases 'normal workplace interaction' where he fulfilled his role responsibilities 'to provide rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight and raise the metabolism and impact of a publication that's supposed to monitor the media.' News broke that Chan, a veteran reporter who once led the Texas Tribune and oversaw the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times, was no longer at the magazine earlier on Friday. Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr reported that in a note to staff, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism dean Jelani Cobb said the magazine would run 'without interruption' under new interim editor Betsy Morais. 'We are most grateful to the CJR staff for their resilience and dedication,' Cobb, who is also a New Yorker staff writer, said. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which publishes the magazine, for comment. The news sparked some of Chan's former colleagues to weigh in on their experiences with him on Friday. On the one hand, former CJR editor Ravi Somaiya published a critical look at his leadership in a Breaker Media Substack piece ('He seemed to have two modes: rage, at anyone he felt inferior to him, and obsequiousness towards anyone he considered a superior,' Somaiya wrote). On the other, one former Texas Tribune colleague called him 'caring and thoughtful,' while another described office exchanges with Chan that were 'kind, and made me a better journalist.' After the White House's recent skirmish with Columbia University, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also seized on the news on Friday, calling it a potential 'example' of why the vast university, which recently acceded to various administration demands as its federal funding was threatened, was 'so deeply off-track.' He asked on X (formerly Twitter), 'Are there more facts or another side here?' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sewell Chan Says He Was Fired From CJR After ‘Pointed' Interaction With Writer ‘Devoted' to Gaza
Sewell Chan on Friday said he was fired as the executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review after staffers complained about several recent 'pointed interactions.' One of those interactions, Chan said in a statement shared with TheWrap and posted on X, was with a writer who was 'passionately devoted to the cause of the Gaza protests' who had covered the 'recent detention of a Palestinian graduate for an online publication he had just written about, positively' for CJR. 'I told him there was a significant ethical problem with writing for an outlet he had just covered,' Chan said. The other recent interactions that spurred his firing, Chan said, included a conversation with a reporter working on a 'sensitive #MeToo investigation' against a 'prominent investigative reporter.' Chan said he reluctantly gave her more time to work on the story, which remains unpublished, after urging her to 'move expeditiously' towards publishing it. The third 'pointed' interaction was with a staffer who refused to come into the office or write at least one story per week, Chan said; that writer received several months' paid leave to look for a new job from Columbia, he said. Chan said Jelani Cobb, the dean of Columbia's journalism school, confronted him about recent staff complaints about those interactions on Monday. 'While I disagreed with these complaints, I offered to meet with the staff members involved and requested a coach who could help me navigate a charged higher education environment. Instead I was fired,' Chan said. 'These are normal workplace interactions and I did exactly what I was hired to do, which was to provide rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight and raise the metabolism and impact of a publication that's supposed to monitor the media,' the former editor maintained. CJR declined to comment to TheWrap earlier on Friday. Chan's exit from CJR comes only eight months after he started as the outlet's executive editor. He joined CJR after being the editor in chief of the Texas Tribune from 2021 to 2024; prior to that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post. A report from Breaker Media on Friday afternoon painted Chan as an ineffective and divisive boss. The report, based on interviews with more than a dozen people, said he was an 'absentee editor' who did not provide clear leadership. Chan pushed back on the claims he was a bad boss, saying in his statement this was the 'first time in a 25-year career that I've ever been subjected to discipline in a job — much less terminated from one.' He added: 'I am speaking up because the accusations made against me cut against my long track record of mentoring, nurturing and empowering early-career journalists. In a precarious and declining news industry that has lost economic, political, social and even moral capital, the only thing I have as a journalist is my reputation. I intend to defend it.' The post Sewell Chan Says He Was Fired From CJR After 'Pointed' Interaction With Writer 'Devoted' to Gaza appeared first on TheWrap.
