Portland technology news site Digital Trends is facing an outcry from current and former employees over accusations of a hostile workplace, racial insensitivity and a lack of diversity among employees.
Those broader concerns are epitomized by a 2018 party, described either as a “Hip Hop Party” or a “Gin and Juice” party. Photos and videos from the event show the company’s chief operating officer dressed in a black hat, bandanna and white T-shirt, standing before a poster of graffiti while holding a bottle wrapped in a paper bag.
Corey Gaskin, who worked as an editor in Digital Trends’ New York office, said he left the company in March because of a “toxic culture." Gaskin said he witnessed sexual harassment, homophobia and racist comments. He said the company retaliated against those who raised concerns, chasing out him and others.
“It’s clear that Digital Trends does not have representation of women, of people of color, and the reasons why is this toxic culture has proliferated to the point where those people had to leave," Gaskin said Wednesday.
The Portland company acknowledges the racially insensitive party took place and sent employees an email apologizing at the time. After tweets highlighted the event again last week, Digital Trends sent another email expressing regret.
“It identified some weaknesses in the company, clearly, that we needed to work on,” CEO Ian Bell said in an interview Tuesday. He said Digital Trends plans an all-hands meeting Wednesday to address the issues raised by the 2018 party and by this month’s tweets.
“It’s about listening, understanding and healing. For us right now it’s about listening to our employees,” Bell said. “They mean the world to us and they feel horrible. And that’s not good.”
Digital Trends posts technology news and online electronics viewers and guides. From its headquarters in the U.S. Bancorp Tower (“Big Pink”) in downtown Portland, the company has built a huge following among gearheads and technology enthusiasts. The company has offices in several cities and 130 employees altogether.
The global outrage triggered by George Floyd’s death last month at the hands of Minneapolis police has rocked the media industry, along with nearly every element of American society. There is a broad reckoning underway.
The editor of Bon Appétit magazine quit Monday after a “brownface” photo of him resurfaced. The editor of women’s lifestyle publisher Refinery29 quit Monday, too, following accusations of discrimination by former employees.
Digital Trends chose to retain COO Chris Carlson, whom it had hired just three months before the 2018 party and remains with the company.
“I’m not a proponent of cancel culture,” Bell said Tuesday. “Good people have flaws and make mistakes. I would rather put these individuals into D&I (diversity and inclusion) and sensitivity training so they’re better individuals.”
Digital Trends said Carlson will not comment before speaking to employees at Wednesday’s all-hands meeting.
Bell said he shut down the 2018 party as soon as he learned of it, 45 minutes after it began. He said he sent the employees who attended to diversity and training afterwards and said he’s committed to making the company more welcoming and inclusive.
“We’ve got some work to do,” Bell said. “It think that’s what this comes back to. We’re committed to doing that.”
Current and former Digital Trends employees who spoke with The Oregonian/OregonLive, who asked not to be identified speaking about the company, said they saw repeated instances of bullying by top executives and described a workplace where leadership would ostracize those who fell out of favor or stepped out of line.
The employees described a shocking absence of diversity among their colleagues, a fact Digital Trends acknowledged in last week’s email to employees, who are working remotely due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“The lack of diversity filling our Zoom windows is not lost on us and it falls on the executive team to create an inclusive environment for every employee and to work toward fostering more diverse voices that represent the full spectrum of our culture,” Bell wrote in the email to employees Friday. “While we have come a long way in our diversity and inclusion initiatives, we know we have a long way to go and we’ve made mistakes.”
Digital Trends’ mistakes became public last week when Gaskin, the former editor, highlighted the 2018 party and other issues in a series of tweets last week. Gaskin, who now writes for the prominent technology publication Ars Technica, contrasted the company’s record on inclusion with a Digital Trends post on Instagram in which the company proclaimed, “We stand with those who are grieving from systemic violence and impression.”
“What a joke,” Gaskin wrote in one tweet, which included a photo of Carlson at the party. “@DigitalTrends if you stand with black people start by making an environment where they’d like to work. Speaking from experience.”
This article has been updated with additional comment.
-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699
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