Editor Of Boston Globe Accused Of Sending Inappropriate Texts

BOSTON, MA — A former Boston Globe writer is accusing the paper's editor-in-chief of sending her an inappropriate, sexually suggestive text.

Hilary Sargent, who started the acclaimed Chartgirl website and no longer works for the Globe, posted a screen grab of a partial text message exchange in which she appears to be asking for writing advice from an unnamed person. That person, who she says is Brian McGrory, responds with a question about what she's wearing when she writes.

Before she posted the image, Sargent, who has long been outspoken on Twitter about what she says is hypocrisy within the Globe regarding sexual harassment, tweeted the following Monday:

"If you've ever been sent a sext-type text from someone who was powerful enough that you felt you couldn't do anything (other than panic/shake your head/cry), you're not alone. The more we tweet these, the less they'll send them. #MeToo," tweeted Sargent.

And then she posted this screen grab:

Sargent, who started at the Globe in 1998 as an intern and then returned to Boston.com in 2014 for two years, didn't immediately point the finger at McGrory. She later attributed the text exchange, which is undated and has the names cropped out, to him.

“It never occurs to men like @GlobeMcGrory (see text) that we actually *are* looking for advice about WRITING, that maybe we don’t want to be asked what we are wearing while we write, that maybe we want to work, to be journalists,” Sargent wrote. “And yes, in case it isn’t clear, I mean @GlobeMcGrory texted this to me.”

McGrory did not return request for comment from Patch. But here is his note to the newsroom Wednesday>> Boston Globe Editor Responds 'I Never Harassed;' Possible Lawsuit

“I have no further comment at this time,” Sergent wrote to Patch in an email before referring Patch to a comment she sent to WGBH and posted to Twitter.

"Women deserve to be treated professionally and taken seriously. It is crucial that individuals in leadership positions are held to the same high standard of conduct that the Globe would expect of any individuals in leadership positions at other similarly powerful institutions. Those in leadership positions at media organizations have significant influence over how the issue of sexual harassment is covered, and the coverage they oversee should never be tainted or colored by their own missteps or misdeeds."

Last year the Globe refused to name one of its own reporters accused of sexual harassment because McGrory said the charges did not rise to a level where naming the person would be appropriate. Later McGrory issued an apology to readers, and confirmed reports that Globe's State House reporter Jim O’Sullivan had to resign after being accused of sending sexually suggestive texts to State House insiders. As that process was brought out in the public conversation, Sargent criticized the Globe for not doing more to out sexual harassment at the paper.

McGrory joined the Globe in 1989 and went on to cover Boston as a general assignment reporter; he served as White House correspondent, and as a roving national correspondent. In 1998, he became a metro columnist. He became associate editor in 2004 and then deputy managing editor for local news in 2007. He took over for Marty Baron as editor of The Boston Globe in 2012.

Sargent first joined the Globe as an editorial assistant for a year in 1998. She wrote for City/Region section covering everything from the state's 98' gubernatorial race, to state legislature and regional economic issues. She returned as a senior writer for two years at Boston.com from 2014 to 2016, reporting on everything from the Boston Marathon bombings to Tom Brady's personal chef.

In 2014 she was suspended from Boston.com for an incident involving a T-shirt that mocked a subject she had reported on. Just before that Sargent co-wrote a story containing an unverified e-mail message containing a racial slur that a Harvard Professor allegedly sent to a restaurant. Boston.com ended up pulling the story.

It's unclear when the text allegedly authored by McGrory was sent.

“Sometimes, it takes 20 years to do what you’ve got to do,” Sargent posted to Twitter.

Greater Boston on WGBH took up the subject for their Tuesday evening show. Media experts Emily Rooney and Dan Kennedy said they believed the authenticity of the exchange, but questioned the timing and noted context would be critical to help understand what happened.

"People are struggling to make sense of what happened, how serious is it, what the Globe should do about it," Kennedy said on the show. "At the moment everything is all kind of vague and fuzzy."

Still, said Kennedy, Sargent clearly found the exchange to be offensive and that is something to pay attention to.

"I think we have to take that seriously. Even though we don't know the context, we don't know what came before we don't know what came after, she believes it's very objectionable," he said.

Here's the Globe's sexual harassment policy posted last year.

See the WGBH Greater Boston segment with Adam Reilly, Emily Rooney and Dan Kennedy:

Previously on Patch:

Boston Globe Discloses Sex Assault Allegations Vs. Ex-Reporter

Boston Globe Writer Put On Leave Amid Questions Of Accuracy

Boston Globe Editor Responds 'I Never Harassed;' Possible Lawsuit

Photo by Alison Bauter, Patch