Portland tech site Digital Trends faces criticism of racism, hostility

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, reports Mike Rogoway of The Oregonian.

Rogoway reports, “Concerns center around 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.

“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.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.