美国国家公共电台 NPR When The 'Whisper Network' Goes Public: The 'S****y Media Men' List, 2 Years On

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

It's been two years since allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein started the #MeToo movement. Around that time, writer and activist¹ Moira Donegan created a Google spreadsheet with the names of men who worked in media who were accused of harassment², groping and rape³. All of those accusations⁴ were made anonymously⁵, and Donegan took the spreadsheet down within about 12 hours, but copies had already been downloaded and shared. Writer Stephen Elliott was one of the men on the list, and now he's suing Donegan for defamation⁷. Elizabeth Blair has the story. And just a quick warning - this may not be appropriate for younger listeners.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE⁸: Stephen Elliott has written extensively about his own destructive behavior. His books have received gushing⁹ reviews. The New York Times wrote that Elliott's novel "Happy Baby" is the most intelligent and beautiful book ever written about juvenile¹⁰ detention¹¹ centers, sadomasochism and drugs. Kirkus called "The Adderall Diaries" an endlessly fascinating memoir¹² by a profoundly courageous¹³ writer. In a movie inspired by "The Adderall Diaries," James Franco plays Elliott; Cynthia Nixon plays his agent.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ADDERALL DIARIES")

CYNTHIA NIXON: (As Jen Davis) So you wrote all that in two days.

JAMES FRANCO: (As Stephen Elliott) Yeah. I mean, I put it down on paper in two days, but, I mean, this is the book that I've been wanting to write. I just didn't know that until now.

BLAIR: Stephen Elliott was one of the men named on Moira Donegan's "Media Men" list.

STEPHEN ELLIOTT: I kind of stopped introducing myself as a writer, actually.

BLAIR: Elliott says when he first saw that he was accused of rape, he thought it was ludicrous.

ELLIOTT: I knew that was false. Like, I knew not only that I had not ever raped¹⁴ anybody but also that there was nobody out there that thought I raped them.

BLAIR: Elliott says the literary community turned on him. He says he was uninvited from book events. Media coverage¹⁵ planned for a new book he had coming out was canceled. And he claims his agents dropped him. Sources close to his agents deny he was dropped because of the list.

ELLIOTT: I just realized that, yeah, like, my community was not going to engage with me on this in good faith, you know. Like, you're accused of rape. You're on the "[expletive] Media Men" list. You're canceled. You cannot - you know, you cannot be in this community anymore. So then I realized that, like, well, I guess the only way to clear my name is to file a lawsuit¹⁶.

BLAIR: Elliott filed a defamation lawsuit against Moira Donegan and the Jane Doe's who contributed to the list. Donegan declined to be interviewed. Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, says the goal of the list was to protect women from sexual predators¹⁷ in their industry.

ROBERTA KAPLAN: So that if a certain guy who you worked for was on the list, you would know not to go out to drinks with him or not to be alone in a room that you might be compromised with him in. And it was really meant as a kind of a warning and as a protection mechanism¹⁸.

BLAIR: At the top of the spreadsheet, Donegan included a disclaimer that reads (reading) this document is only a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors¹⁹. Take everything with a grain of salt. If you see a man you're friends with, don't freak out.

KAPLAN: What Moira was doing in this list was a very good faith effort, not to try to get men in trouble but to protect women from not being in these situations going forward. And under the First Amendment²⁰, given the fact that she did it in good faith and given the fact that that was her motive²¹, she can't be sued for doing it.

BLAIR: Kaplan has filed a motion to dismiss Elliott's defamation suit. A date for oral arguments on that motion has not been set. Remember, the list circulated just as the #MeToo movement was reaching its peak. For women fired up by the #MeToo movement, the "Media Men" list was seen as a necessary agitator²².

DEIRDRE COYLE: I was really happy that it existed.

BLAIR: Deirdre Coyle is a writer who says she did not contribute to the "Media Men" list, but she did see it and was glad the name of the man she alleges²³ raped her, and other women she knows, was on it. He was a freelance journalist.

COYLE: A few editors reached out to me who had worked with him in the past to say that they would not work with him again and in some cases that they were warning other editors they knew not to work with him, which I appreciated.

BLAIR: Some of the men on the list lost their jobs; some are still working; some disappeared from public life.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: It's breached²⁴ every corner of my life.

BLAIR: I reached out to several men on the list. Only one other agreed to record an interview on the condition that his name not be used. He denies the allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Being accused of sexual assault is a really difficult thing to deal with. It makes you call into questions every potential or actualized romantic or sexual relationship, every interaction that I've had. You know, I've spent months just thinking through every thing that I had ever done and looking for something that would back it up. When you're accused if something like that, it's hard not to suspect yourself, I guess, in the same way that other people might suspect you.

BLAIR: You know, there are some people who would hear what you just said and say, well, good. Men do need to think more about everything they do.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And I agree. I think that the goals of the list and things like the list really require men to take a hard look at, you know, the way that they treat people that they are in sexual relationships with and people that they are in professional relationships with.

BLAIR: As for Stephen Elliott's defamation lawsuit against the list creator, Moira Donegan, a judge gave Elliott permission to subpoena²⁵ Google for the names of the anonymous⁶ contributors. A spokesperson tells NPR Google objects to the subpoena. Elliott's lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg, says this case isn't just about the "Media Men" list. It's about anonymous allegations of serious offenses²⁶ that can stay online forever.

ANDREW MILTENBERG: This could be any of us. This could be - any one of us in any of our professions could be anonymously attacked over and over again until our reputation is destroyed.

BLAIR: But anonymous allegations might be the strongest tool the #MeToo movement has. When women do report sexual misconduct at work, 1 in 3 say they faced retaliation²⁷. That's according to the National Women's Law Center. The only way to understand the scope of the problem, says writer Deirdre Coyle, is to let women name names anonymously.

COYLE: Any kind of broad sweeping²⁸ change is not going to be perfect. It may have some negative consequences, but for change to happen, something like this needed to happen. That's my opinion.

BLAIR: Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF POPPY ACKROYD'S "LIGHT")

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

6 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

7 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

11 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

12 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

13 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

14 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

15 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

16 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

17 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

19 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

21 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

22 agitator   

n.鼓动者；搅拌器

参考例句：

• Hitler's just a self-educated street agitator.希特勒无非是个自学出身的街头煽动家罢了。
• Mona had watched him grow into an arrogant political agitator.莫娜瞧着他成长为一个高傲的政治鼓动家。

23 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

24 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

25 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

26 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

27 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？