New reporting from The Assembly in North Carolina says that Walter Hussman, a major donor to the University of North Carolina school of journalism that bears his name, “repeatedly warned against hiring” NYT journo Nikole Hannah-Jones:
NEW exclusive emails + multiple sources: @UNC donor Walter Hussman repeatedly warned against hiring @nhannahjones at the school that bears his name
His outreach included at least 1 BOT member, senior admins, and at least 1 other major donorhttps://t.co/FUWA74RoLm
— The Assembly (@TheAssemblyNC) May 30, 2021
From the article:
Hussman had doubts about whether having her on the faculty would distract from teaching the school’s core values, according to emails and four university sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
He relayed his concerns to the university’s top leaders, including at least one member of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees. The Assembly obtained copies of emails in which Hussman expressed his concerns about Hannah-Jones to David Routh, vice chancellor for university development; Susan King, the dean of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media; and chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
“I worry about the controversy of tying the UNC journalism school to the 1619 project,” Hussman wrote in a late December email to King, copying in Guskiewicz and Routh. “I find myself more in agreement with Pulitzer prize winning historians like James McPherson and Gordon Wood than I do Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Narrative staus? BUSTED:
This is a fascinating story and confounds what many observers on both sides of this controversy presumed: that partisan politics was the driving force here. Still no certainty but this story raises the possibility of a very different locus of disagreement driving events https://t.co/OVRZFvT7OR
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) May 30, 2021
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One thing that we see getting mentioned at this early stage is an interview Hussman gave to Tucker Carlson on reporter objectivity:
Hussman is an ardent believer in strict reporter objectivity. A 2019 WSJ op-ed and appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show lay out his views.
His pushback against Hannah-Jones represents a new front in the debate happening in newsrooms across the countryhttps://t.co/FUWA74RoLm
— The Assembly (@TheAssemblyNC) May 30, 2021
So, the idea that the school didn’t give her tenure because of a conservative mob has collapsed only to be replaced by one that now has to include Tucker Carlson?
The largest donor to Univ. of North Carolina’s journalism school (whose views on news ethics were endorsed by Tucker Carlson) pressured the university to deny tenure to @nhannahjones. https://t.co/YUq5BipqEX
— Kumar Rao (@KumarRaoNYC) May 30, 2021
Tucker “nodded” along, you see:
Walter Hussman – who engaged in backchannel lobbying against Nikole Hannah-Jones on the grounds that the 1619 Project is not "objective" enough for him – once nodded along as *Tucker Carlson* said "a clear line between news and opinion… I think we have that here" pic.twitter.com/6Mktt9JxZn
— Lindsay Ayling (@AylingLindsay) May 30, 2021
Hannah-Jones shared the above tweet with her followers, too:
Of note, Hussman’s big donation has been pledged but not yet delivered:
'Hussman’s involvement raised concerns at the university. Much of his $25 million pledge has not yet been delivered, a common arrangement for major gifts, and his comments could be interpreted as leaning on key players to get his way on a personnel decision.' #1619Project https://t.co/FcFrxVwNtX
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) May 30, 2021
Hussman is under fire from blue-checks, to put it mildly:
UNC should send Hussman's money, what he has paid of it, back and take his name off a school of journalism. https://t.co/EhWWzEtYvf
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) May 30, 2021
Deeply telling that this dude preached "old-school objectivity." https://t.co/svQvEr2fvn
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) May 30, 2021
What we talk about when we talk about cancel culture. https://t.co/e021enooBZ
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) May 30, 2021
Typical rich white man thinking his money should give him veto power over everything… https://t.co/KFAfaAPZdl
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) May 30, 2021
And Hannah-Jones called the news “disappointing”:
Great, if disappointing, reporting by @john_drescher @TheAssemblyNC . John was my managing editor when I was a cub reporter @newsobserver. https://t.co/0IauEIvXp8
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 30, 2021
More from Hannah-Jones on the article:
Just, wow: “Long before Nikole Hannah Jones won her Pulitzer Prize,” Hussman, the biggest donor to UNC’s journalism school, wrote, “courageous white southerners risking their lives standing up for the rights of blacks were winning Pulitzer prizes, too.” https://t.co/jrMXlXVMa3
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 30, 2021
And:
Also: completely irrelevant to my credentials as a journalist, for the record, I’ve long credited Black and white race beat reporters with inspiring my own journalism. This has been on the bio page of my web site for years. pic.twitter.com/fzsC9HGKzt
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 30, 2021
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