COUNTERPUNCHED

Newsweek staffers publish story slamming owners

The tumult surrounding Newsweek’s ownership has exploded onto its own Web site as staffers delivered the stunning backstory to the upheaval at the media company.

A connection between the Newsweek magazine parent and Olivet University, a small Christian college with ties to Korean-American pastor David Jang, sparked the unrest in the past several weeks, according to the report.

The unrest seemed to crest Feb 5 when three staffers working on a story about Newsweek Media Group’s financial connections to Olivet, were fired and at least 12 resigned.

Late Tuesday, the unfinished work of the three fired journalists was completed by five staffers — and the investigative report appeared on Newsweek’s Web site.

An editors’ note atop the story details the surprising revelations on how the staffers “threatened to resign” if their untampered work wasn’t published as conceived.

In the end, NMG brass blinked — and approved the publication.

The report details a shady 2016 deal in which Olivet offered officials in Dutchess County — about 75 miles north of Midtown Manhattan — free advertising in Newsweek.

At the time, Olivet was seeking tax breaks and per- mits to build a new campus on the local site of the abandoned Harlem Valley Psychiatric Hospital.

The officials accepted the offer and Newsweek ran 10 full-page ads — valued at $149,000, according to company ad rates — touting the area’s Hudson Valley Regional Airport and Dutchess County tourism, the report said.

But the most jaw-dropping part of the Web post was the lengthy “Note From the Editors,” which slammed NMG brass for firing Newsweek Editor Bob Roe, Executive Editor Ken Li and senior politics reporter Celeste Katz “for doing their jobs.”

It revealed the unrest continued through at least this week.

“As we continued working on the story, we were asked to take part in a review process which, we ultimately learned, involved egregious breaches of confidentiality and journalism ethics,” the note continued.

“We believe that subjects of the story were shown parts of the draft, if not the entire piece, prior to publication by a company executive who should not have been involved in the process.”

“At an on-the-record interview with the subjects of this story, a company official asked editors to identify confidential sources,” the note continued.

“On-the-record sources were contacted and questioned about their discussions with Newsweek Media Group reporters.”

The note, which carries seven signatures, said staffers “resisted [management’s] efforts to influence the story.”

It is not known whether the report will be included in an upcoming print issue.

The staff upheaval was punctuated by a raid of NMG offices by the Manhattan District Attorney on Jan. 18.

NMG co-founder Jonathan Davis on Wednesday tried to calm the staff by agreeing to install an ombudsman to oversee standards, according to an interview in International Business Times, an NMG publication.

The DA is investigating possible financial crimes committed by NMG, sources said,

Calls and e-mails to NMG were not returned.