Manager of DC-based NPR affiliate resigns amid workplace complaints

The general manager of Washington, D.C.’s NPR affiliate announced Friday in an email to staff that he is stepping down amid allegations of fostering a toxic work environment at the station. 

JJ Yore, who served as WAMU general manager for the past six years, was reportedly pushed to resign after an investigative report last week in the DCist, a site owned by WAMU.

The story included claims surrounding Yore’s handling of misconduct and allegations against former transportation reporter Martin Di Caro, who served in the position from 2012-2017.

“This has been a very difficult decision for me,” Yore wrote in the email to staff on Friday, according to The Washington Post. “However, as I have looked back on the past months, I realize that I have not led the station through recent events in a way that has earned and maintained your trust and that trust is essential to our mutual success and to the success of WAMU.

“I regret the sense that I have let you down which is why I feel I must now step aside,” he added. 

American University holds the license to WAMU.

The school announced that an investigative task force looking into the allegations made by multiple women at the station will be led by WAMU’s chief content officer Monna Kashfi, as well as two other WAMU officials, the DCist reported.

The university also launched an investigation in July around WAMU managing editor Zuri Berry. The inquiry was launched after three women of color indicated they left their positions at the station because of unpleasant interactions with Berry, according to a report last week by Current.com, a nonprofit news service covering media.

The Hill has reached out to American University for comment.

WAMU first began broadcasting in Washington in 1961.