Ex Forbes editorial staffer alleges racism, sexism

Samar Marwan, a former West Coast-based assistant editor of technology at Forbes, writes about the sexism and racism she experienced at the publication.

Marwan writes, “Forbes has serious issues with racism and sexism. As one of the few women of color who worked at Forbes, I can share how it impacted me. There are a number of incidents and open secrets that are far more consequential than my own experience, but those are not my stories to share.

“‘Wow, you’re SO tan’ was what a former Forbes colleague said to me when we first met. ‘That’s your opinion’ was a response from my superior after raising issues with a story angle because it was related to my ethnicity (I’m Palestinian American). I never had the chance to air out my grievance with HR because they never bothered giving me an exit interview. I guess my opinion really didn’t matter. I was never offered mentorship or performance reviews. I did not have the same career trajectory as my male and white colleagues despite working at the company longer than them. I was the assistant manager of technology, which had a handful of women writers out of a couple of hundred men, mostly white. It took a contributor tweeting #ForbesSoWhite for the company to eventually hire two black journalists on the editorial team.”

Read more here.

We’ve asked a company spokesman for a reply.