Podcast about racism at Bon Appétit: publisher has a guilty conscience too
The podcast Reply All takes an in-depth look at the racism scandal at culinary magazine Bon Appétit, which came to light last summer. But what turns out? The podcast’s publisher has a guilty conscience too, and the reporter immediately stepped down from her role. What’s going on?
Adam Rapoport, the editor-in-chief of culinary magazine Bon Appétit, abruptly left publisher Condé Nast last summer. The reason was a photo on Twitter showing him dressed as a Puerto Rican alongside his girlfriend. Blackface—not funny. But that photo turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. Former employees and freelancers opened up about the working atmosphere at the magazine. It was downright racist: people of color were paid less for the same work as their white colleagues and had fewer opportunities to write articles, develop recipe ideas or advance their careers.
Podcast takes a closer look
Podcast Reply All decided to take a deeper look at the problems at the magazine. Reply All is an investigative journalism podcast; they previously produced reports on the storming of the Capitol, QAnon, privacy and the protection of personal data. Reporter Sruthi Pinnamaneni thoroughly investigated the company, speaking with former employees and other people involved. And what did she find? Racism and inequality ran deep at Bon Appétit.
One of the interviewees compares the working atmosphere to the schoolyard at elementary school, with different cliques. Who you know matters more than who you are; if you want to advance your career, you had to get on editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport and his “clique’s” good side. He would scroll boredly through his phone when an editor of color presented ideas for articles, and generally those ideas were shot down. White colleagues, on the other hand, were given permission to develop the strangest subjects.
Not all sunshine and roses
Pinnamaneni examined the problems at Bon Appétit in a broader context. What about institutional racism at publisher Condé Nast? And in the media in general? At the end of the second episode, she announced that things weren’t all sunshine and roses at the publisher she works for either, Gimlet Media.
Former employees of Gimlet Media responded to that announcement. According to them, the publisher also has a poor working atmosphere, in which editors of color are neither seen nor heard. The podcast’s host responded by announcing that she was leaving the company. Years ago, she says, she did not respond appropriately to a protest by employees who felt disadvantaged.
Complex problem
And now what? We can probably forget about the third episode of this fascinating podcast series; it won’t be made without investigative journalist Pinnamaneni. A shame, because her report could have been an eye-opener for people in the media who genuinely want to make a difference. She offered valuable insight into how subtle and complex racism in the workplace is, and how media organizations that want to change can still completely miss the mark. In any case, you can listen to the first two episodes—perhaps the only episodes—via Spotify, the podcast app on your phone or on the publisher’s website.
