Author of Men Media List reveals identity

■ Moira Donegan says she created the list

Washington: Writer Moira Donegan said she was the creator of ‘ Shitty Men Media list’, a Google spreadsheet in which women anonymously named dozens of men in in the media industry alleged to have abused.

Ms Donegan said she had created the list for women to share their stories “without being needlessly discredited or judged".

The list went viral when it was set up in October.

It was online for only 12 hours but gathered the names of more than 70 men.

Allegations against those named ranged from harassment to rape.

Writing in The Cut, Ms Donegan said she was "incredibly naive" when she made the Google spreadsheet.

It followed a string of allegations made against dozens of men in the entertainment industry, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

When it was released the list drew a mixture of praise and criticism, and was the subject of several media articles.

Speculation had said that Ms Donegan was going to be identified as the list's author by Harper's magazine.

In her article for the The Cut, she said the anonymous, crowd- sourced list had been an attempt at solving "what has seemed like an intractable problem — how women can protect ourselves from sexual harassment and assault".

"I only wanted to create a place for women to share their stories of harassment and assault without being needlessly discredited or judged," she said.

"The hope was to create an alternate avenue to report this kind of behaviour and warn others without fear of retaliation."