New York editor no longer employed following Objective investigation

Michael Hinman, a New York editor accused of bullying reporters, is no longer executive editor at Herald Community Newspapers. The change came days after The Objective published a story about a dozen reporters — mostly women — who worked under his leadership.

Stuart Richner, CEO of Richner Communications, which owns the Herald, did not respond to interview requests from The Objective about Hinman’s employment. Hinman declined to comment. 

Hinman began his tenure with Richner Communications in March 2017, when he became editor of The Riverdale Press, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in the Bronx. Reporters who worked with him there said they often felt demeaned and humiliated by him. 

They shared their concerns with Richner multiple times, only for Hinman’s treatment to continue. He became executive editor of Herald Community Newspapers in March 2022. 

After The Objective’s investigation published June 27, Richner suspended Hinman pending an internal review.

As of Monday, Hinman’s name is no longer listed on the Herald’s staff page. A new job posting for executive editor at the company includes “develop your direct reports into effective coaches” as a duty of the role. 

Reporters who formerly worked with Hinman said they felt a maelstrom of emotions at his exit.

“While I want to feel gratitude at some small semblance of justice seemingly being served, I only wish it didn’t have to take a public exposé for it to happen,” Rose Brennan, who worked at The Riverdale Press from 2020 to 2021, said. “The fact is Richner Communications — including CEO Stuart Richner — was aware of the problem for years.”

Brennan is now the assistant editor at the Fairfield County Catholic, the largest circulating newspaper in Connecticut. Her former colleague at The Press, Kirstyn Brendlen, said her gratitude is tempered by regret for Hinman. 

“It does not feel good to know that someone has lost their livelihood,” Brendlen said. “But the thing is, it’s that one person losing their livelihood or that one person keeping it and costing so many other people so much.” 

Brendlen is now the digital editor at Brooklyn Paper. She hopes the story’s outcome will help reporters “know that speaking up can really do something — even if not within their newsroom, at that moment. It’s still worth doing.”

Her former Press colleague Raphael Lassauze said their experience is not singular. Lassauze left journalism because of Hinman’s behavior, she previously told The Objective. She published her first book of poetry in 2023. 

“The problem of Michael Hinman is a systemic one,” Lassauze said. “(He) is not a rarity nor an aberration … and if that doesn’t change, we’ll be out of good journalists — and will have to contend with the reportage of those willing to accept, if not defend, workplace abuse.” 

Alexis Allison is a journalist, teacher and baker near Fort Worth. This fall, she’s attending law school at The University of Texas.