Some journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer are refusing to work on Thursday and posting an open letter about systemic racism after the publication ran an offensive headline playing on the phrase Black Lives Matter.
As of Thursday morning, more than 40 staffers of color had signed onto an open letter to the paper’s leadership about systemic racism ― not just in America, but in journalism.
HuffPost US
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a column this week with a headline minimizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
According to the employee HuffPost spoke to, an editor responded to the letter in Slack by saying they would donate their own paid time off to any journalists of color who lost a paid day off to protest.
Several employees of the paper took to Twitter Wednesday night to air their frustrations:
Cassie Owens, a reporter at the paper, said many staffers were “exhausted”:
Lisa Hughes, the newspaper’s publisher, issued a statement to staff on Wednesday night, saying no one would be charged a day off if they declined to work.
