Chaos after staffers axed in coverage flap

CHAOS ROILED the Newsweek offices Monday with the firings of the editor-in-chief, his No. 2 and as many as three reporters — possibly in retaliation for their unfavorable coverage of the company.

Johnathan Davis, the cofounder of Newsweek Media Group, ordered the firing of top editor Bob Roe, his deputy Ken Li and reporter Celeste Katz.

Newsweek reporter Josh Saul as well as Josh Keefe, a reporter for the International Business Times, a sister company, had their email accounts disabled.

Newsweek senior writer Matthew Cooper resigned in protest. In a letter to Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad, Cooper called the firings a “disgrace.”

“The coup de grace comes at the end of a string of scandals and missteps during your tenure,” he wrote.

“Leaving aside the police raid and the harassment scandal, it’s the installation of editors, not Li and Roe, who recklessly sought clicks at the expense of accuracy, retweets over fairness, that leaves me most despondent not only for Newsweek but for other publications that don’t heed the lessons of this publication’s fail.”

Cooper went on to say he has never seen such “reckless” leadership in 30 years. Katz, a former Daily News reporter, thanked her colleagues on Twitter and said she was proud of her work.

“I’ll sleep well tonight,” she wrote, “. . . and I’m looking for a job.”

Li posted to Twitter: “What a day to leave my charger at home.”

The company declined to comment.

“Newsweek Media Group does not comment on personnel matters,” it said in an email.

Later Monday, the company said in a statement to employees that Nancy Cooper, a top editor at the International Business Times, will take over as editor. Li’s position was not yet filled.

Roe and Li “will be leaving the business,” the company said.

Katz, Saul and Keefe had been writing about an ongoing investigation of the company by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

In addition to that investigation, Newsweek had to place Chief Content Officer Dayan Candappa on leave following allegations that he repeatedly sexually harassed a woman while he was a top official at Reuters. The reporters had written stories on that scandal as well.

The company hired a law firm to investigate Candappa’s conduct.

Roe and Li had been closely involved in the editing of those stories, a source said.

“This whole entire staff feels it’s clearly retaliatory,” the source said.

A second source said Roe and Li told the staff last week that they would protect Katz and Saul, and promised to quit if the reporters were fired.

On Monday, Katz’s firing sparked a revolt. Editors told staffers not to work until the company provided answers about the decision. It wasn’t clear if Saul and Keefe had been officially terminated, though their email accounts were disabled.

Staffers were told they could leave for the day, but many remained in the newsroom in the hopes of an explanation from higher-ups.

One staffer described the atmosphere in the newsroom as “horrified and furious. No hope for the future.”

In addition, International Business Times staffers were not paid Monday as expected.

“At this moment the entire staff is angry, frustrated and confused,” a source said.