Mike Rosenberg, the Seattle Times real estate reporter who was suspended last month after sending unsolicited sexually explicit messages to a New York-based writer named Talia Jane, has resigned, The C Is for Crank has learned. (Update at 11:20am: The Times has confirmed Rosenberg’s resignation; statement below). The news went out to Times staffers in an email yesterday, which reportedly included no additional details such as whether Rosenberg had been asked to leave or information about an investigation the Times said it was undertaking back in May.
On May 5, Jane posted a thread about Rosenberg’s messages, which began as banal encouragement and career advice and escalated into a series of increasingly inappropriate come-ons (3:10am: “Anyway you’re so beautiful”; 3:13am: “Anyway you are hilarious”), culminating in a message at 3:55am that read, “there is so much cum on your face.” (Jane apparently stopped responding around 2:56 am, with a message about the media environment in New York.) After Jane said she was going to take the messages public, Rosenberg responded, further screen shots show, by claiming that the DMs weren’t intended for Jane, then offering to donate to the National Organization for Women in exchange for her silence.
“Being a woman is totally normal and very cool,” Jane wrote.
Contacted for comment on Rosenberg’s resignation, Jane said, “Every freelancer, new voice and marginalized body has experienced instances where power imbalances are abused [t]o the extent that someone saying ‘This isn’t appropriate or acceptable’ comes as a shock. Calling out inappropriate behavior shouldn’t be shocking. It should be standard. As the dust settles, I hope what is remembered of this situation is the importance of identifying inappropriate behavior and not laughing it off or pretending you didn’t see it, but rejecting it point blank. I hope Mike’s decision to resign leads him toward a happier, healthier future, however that may manifest.”
The Times has been very tight-lipped about the Rosenberg situation, limiting its comments to a brief statement: “The Seattle Times has been made aware of allegations of sexual harassment earlier today against a newsroom employee. We take these kinds of allegations very seriously and have suspended the employee pending an investigation by our human resources group.” In a break with the longstanding newspaper tradition of the media reporting on its own scandals, the Times did not assign anyone to report on the Rosenberg story.
Lindsay Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Times, confirmed that Rosenberg has resigned. ” As referenced in our previous comment, we did initiate and complete an investigation into this matter. We are not disclosing details of those findings as it is a personnel matter handled directly by our human resources group,” Taylor said. “As to our efforts regarding sexual harassment in the workplace, we are, as we have always been, committed to fostering a respectful workplace. The behavior of one individual among our more than 600 employees is not reflective of our culture. We have continued to invest in training and elevate awareness of our employee assistance program for counseling consultations as needed. We will continue to be responsive to employee needs around this issue.”