This is an open letter protesting the work conditions Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog have subjected employees to. Ever since GLAAD’s open letter to the New York Times regarding their coverage of trans issues and defense of J.K. Rowling, in addition to Jesse’s vulgar display of power at the San Francisco Blocked and Reported party, Jesse has become intoxicated with power and shifted from soyboy beta cuck to alpha male, right-wing shock jock. And now that Katie has moved to Sarasota, Florida, there is nobody else at Blocked And Reported HQ to rein him in. His constant flexing and proclamations of “Do you even lift?” and “I’m alpha as fuck, bro” create a hostile, intimidating work environment.
Furthermore, the company Slack stores the invoices for my wages as “Bill For Lexer” and Jesse frequently quips “I haven’t seen a deal this good since 1862!” before paying it, something he never does to the white employees. The leaking of the podcast’s financial statements have only made this worse. It’s not fair that Jesse and Katie are podcast millionaires who get away with paying us barely six figures for the dozens of hours of hard work we put in.
The only way to make this right is to give us a 200% raise and at least 60 weeks of PTO yearly. Unless our demands are met, we will stage a mass walkout on the 30th in protest.
Signed by:
Lexer
Updates & Errata
The post speculating on BAR’s earnings
Jesse’s response
The new president of the New College of Florida discusses his views on friendship
NYT Drama
GLAAD’s NYT Sign-On Letter
https://www.glaad.org/new-york-times-sign-on-letter-from-lgtbq-allied-leaders-and-organizations
Slate: Dan Savage Revolutionized Sex. Then the Revolution Came for Him.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/09/dan-savage-advice-savage-love-criticism-interview.html
The NYT open letter’s webpage
Panic! At the Gender Clinic w/ Jules Gill-Peterson and Charlie Markbreiter (06/23/22)
Nebraska Legislature: Human and Health Services Committee Hearing (afternoon) 2-8-23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYekckkVcC0&t=6920s
The NYT’s response
A list of NYT coverage on transgender issues
https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/transgender
NYT column “In Defense of JK Rowling”, published shortly thereafter
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/opinion/jk-rowling-transphobia.html
Journalists against journalism
The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling
https://www.thefp.com/p/the-witch-trials-of-jk-rowling
Image: Disgruntled Blocked and Reported employees begin rioting after learning their lunch break has been reduced to just three hours. courtesy of Getty.
Episode 152: As Thinkers, We'd Like Journalists To Stop Being Cowardly Lemmings