AN: A little surprise present for you..Jackson's article.
This piece is a companion to my story Family Affairs.
The Predation of Mitchum Huntzberger: The Legendary Misdeeds of a Newspaper Legend
By Jackson Andrews
"I have a story for you."
The handsome blond man in the Fendi sweater looking down at me was every bit the picture of privilege and power. That was no surprise considering who he was; considering who has father was. Logan Huntzberger was journalism elite, born the son of one of the world's most prominent media magnets, he was set to inherit it all—the company, the money, the influence. Logan Huntzberger was the future of journalism, thanks in some part to the undeniable talent that came from a combination of an upbringing emersed in the field, a world class education, and DNA. But more than that, he was the future of journalism because his father and grandfather were the past and present. Logan Huntzberger had it all. Or least he did, until a few weeks prior when he'd unexpectedly walked away from the empire he was set to inherit.
Rumors were swirling about his untimely exit from the family business. Some suggested he'd been caught embezzling from the company. Others claimed Mitchum had found out that Logan wasn't his biological child. Me? I suspected something far more banal; the typical father-son fights over money and old childhood traumas, perhaps. But whatever the reason, I had never for a moment thought it would lead to him standing in front of me with stacks of research, secret documents, and a look of great determination. I should have known that truth was stranger than fiction.
"My father is not a good man," Logan informed me. "Are you ready to make an enemy?"
His father, president and CEO of Huntzberger Publishing Group (HPG), owns dozens of prominent newspapers across the globe. Working as a writer and editor for two of the company's papers in his youth, he was short-listed for a Pulitzer for covering the Iranian hostage crisis when he was 25; it is widely held within the journalism community that were it not for his youth, the prize would have been his. Upon Mitchum Huntzberger's assent to publisher, he quickly expanded the company's media holdings from domestic to international making them the first family owned, global media outlet. Mitchum Huntzberger was a man any young journalist aspired to be, or so I thought.
"You don't like him." I had no interest in getting in the middle of some father-son vendetta. Some ploy to bring a legend down just so a spoiled socialite could get what was already coming to him a little sooner. And maybe a part of me was afraid to pull back the curtain and find out that someone I'd idolized was not the man he appeared to be. But if there really was a story….I looked at the plethora of records and notes in front of me. I should at least hear him out.
"He's hurt a lot of people."
"That's business." I shrugged it off. Business, journalism—it was a cutthroat world. Collateral damage was inevitable.
"No," he clarified, "he's caused physical harm to a lot of people. Women, in particular." This caught my attention.
"You have proof?" It turned out that proof was a long way off, but he had evidence. Convincing evidence. Not just about his father, but about other big players within Huntzberger Publishing Group. It was a tale of abuse, harassment, cover-ups, and an entire culture of exploitation and sexual misconduct. And thus began the most harrowing few months of my life as I began to uncover the truth about Mitchum Huntzberger. Because it turned out Logan was right about everything, including the fact that I was about to make a very powerful enemy.
Mitchum Huntzberger was known throughout the industry as a brilliant writer, a tough but fair boss, and a no-nonsense work-a-holic with an extremely private personal life. So private, in fact, that many people thought it non-existent. His marriage to ex-wife, Shira, dissolved in 1991 amid rumors of infidelity. Since then, Mitchum would occasionally be spotted in a restaurant or at an awards dinner with a beautiful, age-inappropriate woman on his arm, but if the same woman was ever seen more than once, no one could recall. It was widely speculated that journalism was the only partner he needed. But, as it turned out, it wasn't the only partner he'd had.
During the course of my three-month investigation, I spoke to four HPG employees who claim Huntzberger made unwanted advances towards them. Five women (three who were employed by Huntzberger Group) who claimed to have dated him for periods of time spanning two weeks to three months, and two accusers who attest to being in a long-term relationship with him. Several of these women shared accounts of anger management issues and violent tendencies. Both women who were more intimately involved with him recount similar stories of verbal and emotional abuse eventually escalating to physical abuse. His ex-wife declined to be interviewed for this story, but statements from his children and several household employees provide supportive evidence of a cruel and aggressive relationship, and a former nurse disclosed that she had provided unofficial medical care to Shira Huntzberger for injuries consistent with domestic abuse on several occasions.
Jennifer Rosenbaum was 23 when she started interning at the Village Voice, HPGs flagship newspaper, in 2003. She quickly found herself catching the eye of her enigmatic, and formidable boss. He took an interest in her writing, offering her hands-on help that went far above and beyond his duties as head of the company. Rosenbaum was flattered, and happy for the advice; assuming that Mitchum Huntzberger saw something special in her work. But it soon became clear her work wasn't all he was interested in. He asked her out. Rosenbaum felt uncomfortable with the invitation and at first found a way to politely decline. But the requests continued, and changes in his attitude toward her caused her to worry that continued rejection would lead, at the very least, to the end to the mentor-mentee relationship they had developed; and so, she finally relented to the pressure. They went on several dates before Huntzberger seemed to tire of her, becoming quick to anger in the later days of their short-lived courtship. As their romantic prospects fizzled, so too did their work relationship. Huntzberger stopped communicating with her, both inside and outside of the company and over the following weeks, Rosenbaum said she noted increased hostility from her higher ups, eventually leading her to seek employment elsewhere; a feat which was difficult as she found herself unable to procure a good recommendation. Today, Rosenbaum works as a staff writer at a small, local paper in Wichita, Kansas.
Rosenbaum's story was repeated to me with perturbing frequency. Bethany Bechtle, a young staff writer at the paper in 2007 gave an almost identical account, as did another past HPG employee who chose to remain anonymous. Ex HPG employees Shannon Howe, 32, Stephanie Franklin, 41, and Vanessa Sher, 27, along with two other anonymous sources, all report similar unwanted advances within the workplace. They all also noted a rapid deterioration of their status within the company following their rejection of said advances, though Franklin managed to remain on staff for five years following the alleged events. None of the women were ever directly let go from the company, however almost all found continued employment there to be untenable. Most of the alleged victims stated that they were hesitant to come forward for fear of retaliation. "It's been hard enough to find a new job in the industry since this happened. If I tried to come forward, there's no telling what he would do. And what difference would it make anyway? Who would listen to me?" one of the anonymous sources stated.
The most serious and substantiated accusations come from Huntzberger's most recent relationship with 24-year-old, Rory Gilmore.
Rory Gilmore knew what she wanted to do for as long as she could remember. When other little kids were dreaming of being astronauts and fire fighters and veterinarians, Rory dreamed of being a journalist. When other girls were idolizing Brittany Spears, she was idolizing Christiane Amanpour. When other teenagers dreamed of travelling to Paris and Amsterdam, she dreamed of travelling to Istanbul and Fez.
So, when she received the coveted Davis Fellowship straight out of her undergraduate stint at Harvard, it was a dream come true. A dream that would eventually turn into a nightmare.
Like most budding, young reporters would be, Rory was thrilled to be working for a journalism icon like Mitchum Huntzberger. And at first, he seemed to live up to his reputation; he was smart, funny, and charming, as well as talented. She quickly developed what she referred to as a 'professional crush.' She never expected it to amount to more than a mentor-mentee relationship, but as he started to take more of a personal interest in her and her career, she began to find him harder and harder to resist. As time went on, his compliments became more personal, his demeanor more demonstrative. Eventually he asked her out, an invitation which she declined, though she admits that by this point, her own interest had moved past the purely professional. Still, she knew the pitfalls of pursuing a relationship with her boss.
But Mitchum Huntzberger was not one to take 'no' for an answer. The attention from someone so accomplished and renowned was flattering and hard to ignore. Eventually she gave in to his advances and they began to date.
In the beginning they both agreed to keep their involvement quiet, knowing the negative publicity their affair would cause. But as their relationship progressed, Rory began to feel isolated by their silence. Every time she brought up the idea of going public, Mitchum would convince her that it would only hurt her reputation and career prospects. And so, she kept it quiet, even from her closest friends and family, growing more and more distant from everyone she used to rely on, and more and more reliant on Mitchum.
Over time, the calm, confident man she had fallen for started to show his true colors, letting fits of possessiveness and rage slip through. But she couldn't leave him, not when doing so could cost her her career, and not when she had no one else to turn to.
Their relationship became even more complicated with the return of Logan Huntzberger from his time oversees, working for their London paper. In addition to their shared writing talents, and their matching noses, Logan also inherited his father's tenacity, and despite Rory's secret and her attempts to distance herself from him, Logan and Rory developed a bond, much to Mitchum's displeasure.
Seeing his hold on Rory slip away, Mitchum escalated his psychological abuse, becoming more possessive, yet emotionally withholding, he began throwing things, and he even held the risk of losing a chance at a promotion over her head for leverage. For a period of time, it worked, and Rory terminated her friendship with Logan. But Rory felt more alone than ever, and at Christmas time, she finally came clean about her relationship to her mother and an old childhood friend. Mitchum was not pleased. This was when he first became physical.
Rory began to think about leaving him, but a part of her blamed herself for the abuse, and Mitchum seemed incredibly apologetic. Just as she was about to break it off, he offered her the one thing she had wanted for so long…to go public with their relationship, a promise he solidified with an engagement ring.
Against Rory's better judgement, she said yes. The engagement, however, didn't last long. That very night, Logan stopped by his father's apartment to drop off documents for work, discovering the affair. The uncovering of their secret led to a fight which devolved into a dangerous physical altercation. Rory managed to escape with minor injuries, and the absolute certainty that she and Huntzberger were done. She returned the next day to confront him and return the engagement ring, but this time, she didn't get away quite so easily.
Afraid for her future and all that could befall her at the whim of Mitchum's wrath, Rory refused to go to the hospital, instead seeking the help of her roommate, a medical student, and a friend she had met through Logan. They have both corroborated Rory's telling of events that night.
Rory's telling of events, of course, is not without repudiation. Even with the testimony of her friends that night, was well as that of another friend she confessed to a few days later. Her affiliation with Logan Huntzberger, of course raises flags. They have, in recent weeks, been linked together romantically themselves. Could they be working together to sabotage Mitchum and allow Logan to take over the company?
My journalistic instincts were to believe her, but my journalistic training knew I needed more evidence.
The plethora of similar stories detailing Huntzberger's advances were solid, but support for the claims of emotional and physical abuse were harder to pin down. That is, until I spoke to Cassandra Metcalf. Metcalf worked for The Village Voice beginning in 1996. She recounted the beginnings of a relationship that, at this point, were far too familiar. But unlike most of the women I spoke to, her relationship with Mitchum didn't fizzle early on. According to Metcalf, they went on to date seriously for three years. She described several incidents of domestic abuse beginning shortly before their one-year anniversary. Ms. Metcalf was seen in the emergency room in 1998 for a fractured wrist and dislocated shoulder, an injury she had told the doctors, was caused by a Rollerblading accident. She was able to provide me with medical records of the incident and consultation with an ER doctor, Priya Sharma, DO, supports the fact that her injuries could be consistent with domestic abuse. Metcalf told no one of these incidents of abuse at the time; as was the case with Ms. Gilmore, her relationship with Mitchum Huntzberger was a secret. She also described a combination of shame, and concern for Mitchum and his reputation that kept her from coming forward. As for why she agreed to come forward now, she felt, in the presence of these other reports from other women, she had a responsibility to tell her story and help prevent other victims from falling prey to this serial assailant.
The frequency and similarities of all these stories was, indeed, quite condemning, but the strongest evidence for these claims of domestic abuse came from Mitchum Huntzberger himself, in the form of a handwritten apology letter penned to Ms. Gilmore. The letter, two pages front and back, admitted to the slapping incident on Christmas as well as to the more substantial assaults the following week. Photos of the pertinent passages have been included. A handwriting analyst has independently confirmed that the penmanship matches that of Mitchum Huntzberger.
If the extent of Mitchum Huntzberger's abusive and misogynistic behavior ended here, it would be overwhelming in its scope. But Mitchum didn't just perpetrate his own abuse, he created an environment at Huntzberger Publishing Group that allowed sexual harassment to flourish. He covered for the bad actions of high-status personnel, most notably National Journalism Award winner, Jeffery Peterson. The Examiner has obtained copies of several HR reports involving sexual harassment accusations against Peterson. According to the documents, no disciplinary action was taken. We have also obtained copies of non-disclosure agreements between HPG and two former employees that awarded them substantial sums of money in exchange for not making any public claims of sexual harassment or hostile work environment during their time at the company. Both women declined to comment for this article because of concerns surrounding enforcement of the NDAs.
Both Mitchum Huntzberger and Jeffery Peterson were contacted for comment in regard to this article. Peterson denied any untoward intent, stating that, if his "naturally affectionate demeanor was misconstrued and caused any woman to feel uncomfortable or obligated toward me in anyway, I apologize." Mitchum Huntzberger declined to comment, a fact he stated amid a torrent of threats and personal attacks directed at me. Further attempts for comment were hindered by his arrest for violating an order of protection issued by Logan and his sister, Honor Huntzberger shortly before publication.
Huntzberger's response to my investigation and this pending article, served to highlight to me the true threat these women faced in coming forward with their stories. The fear of retaliation and violence I encountered was short lived and but a fraction of what they must have felt; Mitchum Huntzberger used his position of power to make these women feel completely powerless. The fact that they have chosen to come forward at all, even those who did so anonymously, is a true act of bravery. When asked why they did so now, most stated they felt a responsibility to other potential victims to bring light to his heinous acts and a need to take back their own sense of self-agency. "I don't know what people will think; if they'll believe me," Gilmore stated. "I don't know if any paper will ever hire me again. And that's scary as hell. But whatever happens, it will be because I made a choice. I made a choice to stand up to him. For myself, and for all the other women he's hurt or that he might hurt in the future. And so, as scary as it is to come forward, I guess I realized in the end, that it's a lot less scary than the alternative."