Jodi Kantor: This is what She Said
Published in The Australian Jewish News
October 26, 2020
In the early afternoon of October 5, 2017, New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and four of their editors huddled around one desk at their midtown Manhattan office.
The enduring buzz of limitless hushed phone calls, late night meetings and long e-mail chains of the past six months ground to a silent halt. Together they took the final opportunity to read the story that Jodi and Megan had laboured over, the result of meticulous investigation and immeasurable trust earned from sources.
There, distilled into just 3300 words before them, were the painful stories of women – Hollywood actresses and former Weinstein Company employees – who claimed sexual abuse perpetrated by mega producer Harvey Weinstein, and the legal cover-ups and non-disclosure agreements that followed.
At 2.05pm, with no further edits made, the button was pushed and the article finally met the gaze of the world.
“Harvey Weinstein paid off sexual harassment accusers for decades”.