Report: Al Jazeera Staff Allege Systemic Harassment

Facts

• A recent BBC report has revealed allegations of widespread bullying and sexual harassment from employees of the Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.¹
• According to the report, Kamahl Santamaria, one of the channel's top journalists for 16 years, made sexually-suggestive comments and sent inappropriate messages to colleagues on social media and the outlet's email system. Employees also alleged unwanted touching and kissing in the office.²
• The BBC report comes after Santamaria was hired by TV New Zealand in April, but resigned after just 31 days on air. Allegations emerged that a complaint about inappropriate behavior had been made against him by a younger female employee.³
• The employees accused Al Jazeera of contributing to a toxic work culture by failing to address complaints about sexism, racism, and bullying. Those who spoke to the BBC remained anonymous, in fear of retaliation.⁴
• Santamaria responded to the allegations in a public statement, saying some of them were "true, some missing crucial context, some outright lies and a rewriting of history."⁵

Sources: ¹Minute Mirror, ²I24News, ³NZ Herald, ⁴The Star and ⁵Doha News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by BBC News. Al Jazeera fostered a toxic work culture for years, where a powerful man's inappropriate behavior was left unchecked because of his stardom. Santamaria was the catalyst for creating a workspace where high-level employees could harass their colleagues without fear of repercussions - this is unacceptable and deeply exploitative.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Daily Blog. In a democratic society, the assumption is supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty." Santamaria hasn't been formally charged with anything. We should wait until we have all the information to make judgments, instead of letting the #MeToo monster continue ruining men's careers before the facts are made clear.