Revolt at publisher Hachette re Rowling "transphobia"

[Lamahaha]

Young staff members threatened a strike apparently:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8424029/JK-Rowling-publishers-revolt-Workers-publishing-house-Hachette-threaten-tools.html

My heart sank when I read that headline and the opening paragraphs, since I have professional "connections" to Hachette:

Publishing staff working on JK Rowling’s latest book threatened to down tools yesterday in protest at her views on gender.
...
Yesterday morning at publishing house Hachette, several of those involved in Miss Rowling’s new children’s book, The Ickabog, are said to have staged their own rebellion during a heated meeting. One source said: ‘Staff in the children’s department at Hachette announced they were no longer prepared to work on the book.

‘They said they were opposed to her comments and wanted to show support for the trans lobby. These staff are all very “woke”, mainly in their twenties and early thirties, and apparently it is an issue they feel very strongly about.’

But fortunately the grown-ups held up to the toys-out-of-the-pram tantrum:

Last night Hachette issued a statement backing Miss Rowling’s right to express herself. It said: ‘We are proud to publish JK Rowling’s children’s fairy tale The Ickabog. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing. We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view.

‘We will never make our employees work on a book whose content they find upsetting for personal reasons, but we draw a distinction between that and refusing to work on a book because they disagree with an author’s views outside their writing, which runs contrary to our belief in free speech.’

I can't say how pleased and proud I am. Well done Hachette.

No they won’t walk. They are acting like little social warriors who obviously never had to face real discrimination on their molly coddled little lives.

I am glad the grownups are speaking.

@SameoldBS

The problem is this tactic has worked in so many other places and instances. Look at the hounding of Suzanne Moore at the Guardian. Hachette is probably one of the few places where it hasn't worked. Even the New Scientist has fallen to the thought police.

Good. They’re setting a precedent, providing a template for how organisations can withstand this nonsense.

Emmuvva
Indeed, I have teenagers and they are all GC, as are their friends.

But then they are not spoiled Goldsmith types.

To be honest what really bothers me on a very fundamental level is the hypocrisy and lack of intellectual honesty of it all.

As stated upthread, my own job is not always fully aligned with all of my personal beliefs. It's a personal decision I have actively taken because I have concluded that, all things considered, I'm not willing to sacrifice job satisfaction and earning potential on the altar of ideological purity - especially not since it's hardly as though it would make a difference and everything I do depends on big corporations with all their good and all their flaws anyway. Even if I worked for the wokest little start up out there, I'd still be part of "the system".

And, the brutal truth is: "the system" is good to these people. I.e. university educated, white collar employees who have enough prospects to chose roles in an industry they presumably feel passionate about. The system is even better to people like myself, i.e. someone like the boss of the boss of their bosses. My misgivings about it stem from the question of whether or not it's good for people a lot less fortunate which it clearly isn't and what the ethical implications are thereof.

It's the being happy to benefit from the system but demanding personal exemptions when it's uncomfortable that bugs me and strikes me as hypocritical. Because your ability to do so depends on everyone else getting their hands dirty to prop up what ultimately affords these people such privilege.

They remind me a lot of the type of anti-vaxxers who won't vaccinate their children but somehow fully expect them to be protected from measles nonetheless because other parents vaccinate and they benefit from herd immunity.

Rant over. But, yes, this bugs me - in this particular instance as well as as a wider, more general trend.

@Dances

Emmuvva Indeed, I have teenagers and they are all GC, as are their friends.

But then they are not spoiled Goldsmith types.

My teen and his mates are all on the side of biology.

They actually think for themselves and don’t buy onto this nonsense. Basically - they can think in more than 280 characters.

Well I think these young women staff will soon discover that there are plenty of people who will gladly step into their shoes and do their job.
As said above you are at work to work. My employer does not pay me to spout my beliefs, it pays me to do the job I am employed to do.

Bloody typos! Woke not women.

Good for Hadhette and Warner Bros.

Cancelling and getting people fired and bullying and lying and destroying people's lives because they hold beliefs these self-righteous little shits find objectionable.

Thank goodness they turn on each other at the drop of a wrong thought.

What a disgusting generation. More companies need to stand up to their nonsense.

Well done Hachette.
I wonder how many of the employees will leave in protest?
Or maybe their moral stand might be tempered by having to pay the rent. Cancelling has consequences.
Welcome to the world of work and free speech.

One day when someone actually reads its and uses their brain for a second the shame will be on the ones who very clearly didnt...

I'm actually so embarrassed for some of these people because they very clearly haven't taken the time to read the words on the page.

Good on hachette

Quote from this morning's Bookseller:

Staff at Hachette UK working on J K Rowling's new book The Ickabog have threatened to down tools over the author's recent comments affecting the transgender community.

It is understood that between four and five employees, whose roles span the breadth of the full publishing team, communicated their reluctance to work on the project in a meeting held yesterday morning, and that these staff are now being spoken to individually by their managers.

Hachette UK has released a statement drawing a line when it is and isn't valid to refuse to work on a book project.

"We are proud to publish JK Rowling’s children’s fairytale The Ickabog," reads Hachette UK's statement.

"Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing. We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view.

"We will never make our employees work on a book whose content they find upsetting for personal reasons, but we draw a distinction between that and refusing to work on a book because they disagree with an author’s views outside their writing, which runs contrary to our belief in free speech.”

Speaking further with The Bookseller, a spokesperson has clarified it will not be taking a blanket approach to how it deals with employees' objections.

"We are approaching all the conversations with empathy and compassion and on a case-by-case basis," they said.

Standalone fairytale The Ickabog was announced last month. It is being released for free online, with an illustrated edition to follow from Hachette Children's Group imprint Little, Brown for Young Readers in November 2020.

I love the detail 'between four and five employees'.

Dear Hachette, you rock and I'm unemployed. Just sayin.

Rufus is that you, once Bewildered? Love the adaptation

It's interesting though as pointed it by a pp, suddenly these kids who are used to getting their own way with #nodebate, are in the working world where actually it's generally put up or shut up.

I'm sure they'll claim it's literal violence soon enough. Maybe Jameela Jamil could employ them to count her hair brushes or something.

@IsMiseMorag

I love the detail 'between four and five employees'.

Maybe one of them is not identifying as an employee today?? Perhaps they save that for payday.

Their staff are fucking idiots. Imagine putting your job on the line for a bunch of males threatening to sexually assault and murder a woman. How did these people even get through the interview process?!

If you appreciate it let them know. Quick line to enquiries at hachette dot Co. UK is all it takes.

@Snorkers done!

Hey tellme

I was sad to lose my bewildered moniker as i felt that as well as it obviously being a tribute...it also summed up my virtually permanent thoughts on mumsnet

And i had langloving for a while...

But who doesn’t love a bit of alliteration 😀

@LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett

Dear Hachette, you rock and I'm unemployed. Just sayin.

Oh excellent point

Ds1is just graduating

He could do with a job...he Can read and everything

(To be fair he stopoed reading the Harry potter books the second the word ‘deatheater’ came up...very sensitive As a young one, less so now)

and that these staff are now being spoken to individually by their managers.
Hopefully some home truths about life in the real world are being doled out. And some P45's waved around, just in case they still don't get it.

Oh fuck me....he is a lot more literate than his mother

I switched spell and grammar check off as i felt it was judging me

Fabulous work by Hatchette.

The woke-workers also gave their employer a clear demonstration that they hadn't actually read the Ickabog. Whoops.

"and that these staff are now being spoken to individually by their managers."

Oh lordy I'd hate to be having to do that chat. Hope s/he has tissues, a blankie and soothing whale music.

snorkers, Good idea. Sent a short message.