Do you remember your first or second job in the industry you are in now? Were you calling the shots for the company? Making the big decisions, and deciding what is right or wrong for business based on your probably limited and biased political beliefs?
Oh, you didn’t make the big corporate decisions and put senior management in extremely awkward positions because of your “demands?”
In the alternate universe we all live in in 2021, it probably isn’t surprising that Simon & Schuster employees have submitted a petition, demanding the company refrains from publishing books authored by any former Trump administration official.
That includes Mike Pence, which the publisher has a deal in place with.
Here’s what’s included in the statement from the empowered employees.
“When S&S chose to sign Mike Pence, we broke the public’s trust in our editorial process, and blatantly contradicted previous public claims in support of Black and other lives made vulnerable by structural oppression.”
But wait, there’s more. The petition has another demand. They want the company to sever ties with Post Hill Press, who in the past had published a book by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
Bold move by employees, who in most normal situations (pre-2021) could probably be replaced. The CEO of Simon and Schuster, Jonathan Karp, actually pushed back on his woke staff in an internal memo last week. Here’s part of it.
“As a publisher in this polarized era, we have experienced outrage from both sides of the political divide and from different constituencies and groups. But we come to work each day to publish, not cancel, which is the most extreme decision a publisher can make, and one that runs counter to the very core of our mission to publish a diversity of voices and perspectives.”
Stay tuned to find out who has more power and actually calls the shots at this iconic publishing house.
Add comment