How Media Diversity Led To Conviction of Harvey Weinstein

When it comes to media diversity how much is enough?

The answer might be a lot fewer than you think but with a lot more power than some people might want.

This week the trial of Harvey Weinstein concluded as the former Hollywood executive was convicted of criminal sexual assault in the first degree and rape in the third degree.

In many ways the trial was the culmination of two amazing pieces of investigative journalism by the New York Times and New Yorker which succeeded in bringing down one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry and arguably launched the #MeToo movement.

It also beautifully illustrates the need for diversity in the media and an idea that is all too often overlooked - critical mass.

NOT ABOUT ONE BIG NUMBER

Often when people talk about diversity in a media organisation they look at the overall statistics of the number of BAME people, women or some other under-represented group in an organisation. If they want to go further they might look at the diversity of specific groups in leadership roles. And there have been calls for broadcasters, like the BBC, to publish the diversity in specific roles; editorial roles versus non-editorial roles.

However these kinds of numbers, although important, miss a very important way of looking at the statistics, and that is using critical mass theory.

Critical mass theory, when it comes to diversity in an organisation, is usually defined as the critical number of personnel needed to make a change in that organisation. In media that invariable means which stories are commissioned and how they are executed.

Critical mass changes the culture of an organisation. Changing the culture of an organisation is something that even the most powerful gatekeepers can't do by themselves.

Crucial to the effectiveness of critical mass theory, and this is where so much diversity policy gets it wrong, is where the critical mass is concentrated.

Talk to any HR person and they will tell you that certain parts of a company drive the culture of an organisation more than others.

THE HARVEY WEINSTEIN INVESTIGATION AND CRITICAL MASS

This is where the example of the New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein is so important. The misogyny and sexist behaviour of Harvey Weinstein was well known throughout the entertainment industry long before the New York Times published their seminal investigation. In fact before the New York Times published their investigation another journalist, Ronan Farrow, looked into the story while working at NBC but dropped it before taking it to the New Yorker.

So why did NBC drop the investigation and the New York Times and New Yorker publish the story.

In the words of Ronan Farrow it was all about culture.

According to Farrow at  NBC there was “just (a) baseline casual misogyny. And misogyny is a very damning word, but actually it looks quite banal a lot of the time: it’s not believing that it’s an issue that matters."

The New Yorker and the New York Times obviously had a different culture.

A newsroom's culture decides which investigations are pursued and supported and which are not.

Culture is often messy and hard to pin down.

Both the New York Times and the New Yorker had a critical mass of diversity in the journalism surrounding their respective investigations into Weinstein.

The New Yorker had a gay male lead journalist (Ronan Farrow), he wrote many of his stories with a female journalist (Jane Mayer) and both were supported by a strong female editor (Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn).

The New York Times had a critical mass of women behind the investigation in crucial roles. The two lead journalists were both women, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the researcher was Grace Ashford and the three women were all in the investigations unit headed up by another woman Rebecca Corbett.

I have no doubt that it was having this critical mass of women at the New Yorker and having a high level of diversity at the New Yorker led to one of the most important pieces of journalism in the last twenty years.

And this is where critical mass theory is so important.

DIVERSITY CHANGES CULTURE AND THAT CHANGES JOURNALISM

Too often when we measure diversity in an organisation we look at trying to achieve a certain precentage of women, BAME, LGBTQ+ or any other under-represented group.

While these numbers matter what we should be trying to achieve is a change in the culture.

Creating a culture that allows people from different backgrounds to thrive in these organisations and create a culture in which different ideas are valued.

In 2017 when the New York Times first published its Harvey Weinstein piece it was the actual number of women - four - which was important for media diversity not an abstract percentage.

Similarly when the New Yorker published Ronan Farrow piece it was the culture created by diversity in key positions that led to the piece being published.

The specific jobs they were doing, with real editorial power, were crucial. 

The lesson of this whole affair is that trying to boil diversity success to a single statistic - whether we have 15% BAME representation in the UK or 50% gender representation, could mean we miss the point unless we achieve critical mass in certain areas.

No journalist, producer, writer or director can achieve success all by themselves - just look at Ronan Farrow at NBC. If we want to produce great pieces of work then the critical mass of diversity in a team is crucial.

POLICIES MATTER

There is also one interesting side note to the New York Times investigation.

This critical mass of four women did not happen by chance. The New York Times, in contrast to many U.S. companies, has strong maternity leave policies and Megan Twohey was placed on the investigation just after returning from maternity leave. It is arguable that this investigation was only possible because of the New York Times maternity policies.


(This piece was re-edited following a brief Twitter exchange with Viola Smart @violasmart4 and
Nick Pollard @NickPollard2 to properly reflect the importance of Ronan Farrow and LGBTQ+ diversity)