Ousting Moonves Didn’t Fix Everything at CBS

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Rep. Katie Hill speaks out, wedding websites ditch plantation photos, and cleaning house at CBS didn’t fix everything. Have a lovely Monday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

- Not a quick fix. The revelations about NBC in Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill—from details about Matt Lauer to how executives squashed reporting about Harvey Weinstein—have made the network's competitors look pretty good in comparison. CBS, when faced with the allegations of assault and harassment against its chief, Les Moonves, relatively quickly cleaned house and promoted women in its news division.

But a new LA Times investigation makes it clear that changes at the top didn't fix everything, The paper looked into an oft-ignored corner of CBS's business: the network-owned television stations. At KCBS and KCAL and stations in Chicago, Dallas, and Miami, women report experiencing sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and age discrimination that didn't end with Moonves's ouster.

One claim: Sports anchor Jill Arrington found she was being paid $60,000 less than her male predecessor working across both CBS LA stations. When she brought up that pay disparity to her bosses, CBS LA general manager Steve Mauldin reportedly said, "Oooh, isn’t she tough... This one talks more than my wife.”

Mauldin was friendly with Moonves, sources told the LA Times, and he was running the stations until his retirement last June. The LAT reports on several other discrimination claims throughout this division of CBS. CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn said: "I am very mindful that in a large company we have people who are unhappy at times. We respect all voices who express workplace concerns to us."

It's not surprising that a change in leadership didn't instantly fix all of CBS's problems. But it's worth noting that the investigation CBS hired law firms to complete after the allegations against Moonves found that "harassment and retaliation are not pervasive at CBS." In at least one corner of the company, it seems that wasn't true.

The Broadsheet is coming to you from Laguna Niguel, California, where we'll kick off Coins2Day 's Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit on Tuesday. Stay tuned for our coverage this week. Kristen, Claire, and I will all be there—if you're joining us, say hi!

Emma Hinchliffe
@_emmahinchliffe
[email protected]

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Hearing from Hill. Former Rep. Katie Hill wrote a long op-ed for the New York Times sharing her experience in Congress—on how she knew she was good at the job, the “nightmare” she lived both leaving an abusive relationship and after intimate photos of her were released, and her lowest points after announcing her resignation, including contemplating suicide. The piece is powerful, and I highly recommend you read the whole thing: New York Times

- Venue edit. Several wedding websites and platforms, including Shan-Lyn Ma's Zola, last week announced they would no longer feature content from plantation weddings or list plantations as possible venues. The advocacy group Color of Change has petitioned Zola, The Knot, and Pinterest to stop "glorify[ing] plantations as nostalgic sites of celebration." BuzzFeed

- Hijacking heritage? Nikki Haley made headlines this weekend for her comments about the Confederate flag. The former governor of South Carolina told Glenn Beck that Charleston shooter and white supremacist Dylan Roof "hijacked" the flag, which she said South Carolinians previously saw as representing "service and sacrifice and heritage." Many commentators responded to explain why that perception of the Confederate flag is incorrect. Time

- Ride safe. After Uber released the results of a study of sexual harassment and assault committed during Uber rides revealing 3,000 reports in 2018, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sat down for an interview. "Uber is at the size now where we are a reflection of society. And sexual assault, sexual misconduct is a societal problem," he said. Washington Post

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: London fire commissioner Dany Cotton, who oversaw the response to the Grenfell tower fire, resigned. The San Francisco Opera named Eun Sun Kim music director; she’s the first woman to hold the job.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Expense report. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma asked for taxpayer money, Politico reports, to reimburse $43,065 of jewelry stolen while she was traveling for work—including $5,900 for an Ivanka Trump pendant. The administrator, also in the news for a "feud" with her boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar—was ultimately paid back $2,852.40 by the federal health department. Verma is known for arguing that the government should cut funding for Medicaid.

- The woman who blew the whistle. An Uighur woman living in the Netherlands has come forward as the source of 24 pages of documents revealing how China runs detention camps for the Muslim ethnic minority. The whistleblower, Asiye Abdulaheb, says she is seeking publicity to stop Chinese authorities from retaliating against her or her family. New York Times

- Dangerous pregnancies. Women who are uninsured and become pregnant face dangerous circumstances. ProPublica and Vox investigate the health system in Texas that leaves uninsured mothers—mostly low-income women of color—vulnerable. The problem is both fear of costs—one woman died from an ectopic pregnancy after she didn't want to go to the emergency room when experiencing pain—and the unborn child's life often being prioritized over the mother's. ProPublica/Vox

- Tech-enabled abuse. Technology has transformed what financial abuse looks like. Abusive spouses use GPS trackers and hidden cameras, as well as keystroke-monitoring software to see if a partner tries to access accounts or seek help. This WSJ story examines how financial abuse works among affluent couples; one husband hid assets from his wife using cryptocurrency. Wall Street Journal