UK News Issues A Staff Apology For S*xual Harassment

US media stated that UK publisher; Guardian News & Media has expressed regret to women who have accused a veteran former journalist at The Observer newspaper of s*xually assaulting or harassing them.

According to a report from the New York Times on Monday, GNM Chief Executive Anna Bateson and Guardian Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner have written to many women who have accused Nick Cohen of groping them or making unwanted s*xual attempts.

According to an email cited by the US newspaper, “We want to apologize for your experience of s*xual harassment by an Observer staff member, and for the way your complaint was handled.”

The news organization acknowledged to AFP that Bateson and Viner had expressed regret to the women and had promised to enhance the processes for handling s*xual misconduct claims.

Cohen resigned from the group in November 2022, it added.

“We… can confirm our editor-in-chief and CEO have written to all those who have spoken out publicly on this matter or been in touch with GNM,” a spokesman said.

The company has hired Howlett Brown, a consultancy specializing in workplace culture and independent investigations, who found systems and policies to be “strong” but outlined two key changes to implement.

All future s*xual harassment allegations will be investigated by independent and external third parties, instead of senior managers.
And related disciplinary hearings will only be heard by independent and external third parties.

Journalist Lucy Siegle tweeted that she had received the GNM apology and was “hugely relieved”.

The New York Times reported that Siegle said Cohen had grabbed her bottom many years earlier when she had a junior role — and accused the UK group of failing to act.

Writer Jean Hannah Edelstein tweeted she was “glad” to receive an apology over her treatment and that GNM realized that “harassment requires external investigation”.

Cohen told the media industry publication Press Gazette that he resigned from the Observer on health grounds.

“I am afraid to say that in the early 2000s, I was an alcoholic. After three years of trying, I went clean in 2016,” he was quoted as saying.

“Today, I look back on my addicted life with deep shame and enormous regret.”

Several prominent British organizations are facing a series of s*xual assault and harassment allegations.

The Guardian News itself has been at the forefront of media revelations over such claims at Britain’s main UK business lobby group the CBI.

Meanwhile, high-profile hedge fund boss Crispin Odey on Saturday quit the firm he founded after the Financial Times reported s*xual assault claims by eight women.