Toxic work culture can take a heavy toll on a person’s physical and mental health. In the media industry, toxic newsrooms are causing serious distress to even seasoned journalists. On 28th February 2024, Satish Nandgaonkar, a Senior Editor at Hindustan Times, Mumbai passed away after suffering cardiac arrest outside HT’s office at Lower Parel in Mumbai. Now it has been alleged that he was suffering from a toxic work culture and was being regularly bullied by Editor Meenal Baghel.
On the fateful day, Nandgaonkar complained of pain in his back that afternoon, walked to a pharmacy near the office, and collapsed. He was rushed to Global Hospital and proclaimed dead upon arrival. He was cremated at Thane on 29th February.
On 29th February, Hindustan Times published an article in remembrance of the 52-year-old journalist. The media house said that Satish Nandgaonkar was a “beloved figure in Mumbai’s journalism” world and that his “large presence will be deeply missed in the HT newsroom.”
However, in a shocking turn of events, it has come to the fore that Satish Nandgaonkar was allegedly subjected to workplace harassment, humiliation and bullying by Hindustan Times Mumbai’s Editor Meenal Baghel.
An investigation by the Mumbai Press Club (MPC) revealed disturbing details concerning the sudden demise of Satish Nandgaonkar. The Mumbai Press Club has forwarded its findings to the Editors’ Guild of India and HT’s chairperson Shobhana Bhartiya.
Harassment, humiliation and manipulation: MPC findings reveal alleged dark truth of HT Mumbai’s toxic newsroom
In its letter to Anant Nath, the President of the Editors’ Guild of India, Mumbai Press Club wrote that these incidents of harassment just days before Nandgaonkar’s death may have precipitated the event.
“With respect to the death of Satish Nandgaonkar, it is not known whether there is a direct relation between the incidents of harassment meted out to him on the 21st and 28th of February by Baghel and his death due to cardiac arrest. What is known, though, is that he had been put under severe stress by continuous bludgeoning and insults by the Executive Editor, which might have triggered a cardiac episode. It is, therefore, necessary for the Editors Guild of India to intervene and investigate the matter before we see more casualties at the Hindustan Times,” the Mumbai Press Club wrote, adding that it will provide necessary assistance for the probe.
Thanks to @mumbaipressclub @gurbir110 for standing by senior journalist Satish Nandgaonkar's family to seek justice for him. Toxic newsroom culture is a threat to good journalism. pic.twitter.com/KPgqTCIage
— Dinesh Unnikrishnan (@Dinesh_Unni) March 14, 2024
Detailing on the sequence of events on 28th February, the day Satish Nandgaonkar died, the Mumbai Press Club said that an editorial meeting chaired by Meenal Baghel was held at around 12:30 pm wherein Satish Nandgaonkar was rebuked over a delayed story filed by his team member. During the meeting, Baghel allegedly threw epithets like “Brainless” at Nandgaonkar. The incident left the journalist distressed.
“Nandgaonkar defended himself, pointing out that the lady reporter was in a no-internet area and, therefore, there was a delay in sending the story. He further mentioned that the desk instructed him to send the story directly without editing to avoid any delay. However, the harangue continued with accusations that ‘You are not doing your job’ and with Baghel throwing epithets like ‘brainless’ at Nandgaonkar. A colleague said she found him sitting glassy-eyed at his workstation after the meeting. Since there was another ‘special stories’ meeting scheduled at 3.30 PM, she requested him to come for lunch, but Nandgaonkar did not respond. He was also heard by other colleagues complaining about ‘upper back’ and ‘shoulder’ pain and said he would go to a pharmacy and get some painkillers,” the MPC letter reads.
The letter further mentions accounts of several ex-HT employees who alleged to have faced humiliation and bullying at the Hindustan Times newsroom at the hands of Hindustan Times Mumbai Editor Meenal Baghel. The experiences of several journalists who faced harassment while working at the Hindustan Times Mumbai office suggest that Meenal Baghel allegedly bore grudges against some journalists dismissing their pitched stories as “trash”. Moreover, she is also alleged to have used manipulation tactics to spread fear among the journalists to assert control and make the employees accept the toxic work environment in the newsroom. For this, she used the argument that “there are no jobs outside, so you have to accept the situation here.”
“The Mumbai Mirror newsroom was famous for the Editor’s terror, abusive language, screaming and humiliation of reporters for not doing the “right” kind of journalism. Reporters were labelled as “stupid”, “immature”, and “idiot” in front of the newsroom. Abusive words such as “f. k” were repeatedly used,” a former employee at Hindustan Times Mumbai told the Mumbai Press Club.
Furthermore, the MPC investigation found that several HT reporters had to take therapy to cope with the constant pressure. It said that the perpetual doubting and questioning of their journalistic skills lowered their confidence to a point where many of them lost the confidence to pitch a story. The journalists were also under pressure to attend editorial meetings and also be present on the field. In another shocking revelation, the MPC said that reporters were sometimes made to write “wrong”, “factually incorrect”, and “false” stories because the Editor had received inputs.”
Mumbai Press Club also released an Open Letter to editors and media houses regarding the development, urging them to address the issue and create a better and more professional work culture. “Free and responsible news media requires an encouraging environment where journalists can bring out their best and perform their duties without fear or favour,” they wrote in the open letter.
AN OPEN LETTER TO EDITORS AND MEDIA HOUSES pic.twitter.com/FJtlNynqW7
— Mumbai Press Club (@mumbaipressclub) March 1, 2024
As the letters sparked debate around toxic newsrooms and workplace harassment, Meenal Baghel spoke to MPC chairperson Gurbir Singh and allegedly played the victim card. She also denied having any animosity with Satish Nandgaonkar.
Based on its investigation and interviews of several former employees of Hindustan Times Mumbai and Nandgaonkar’s immediate colleagues, the MPC demanded that the Editors’ Guild intervene and investigate the matter.
Taking to X, on Wednesday (13th March), the Mumbai Press Club shared some pictures from a condolence meeting held in memory of Satish Nandgaonkar.
Condolence meeting in memory of Satish Nandgaonkar
— Mumbai Press Club (@mumbaipressclub) March 13, 2024
The Mumbai Press Club's investigation reveals that Satish Nandgaonkar, a journalist with HT who passed away on 28th February, experienced significant stress due to bullying and insults inflicted upon him by the HT Mumbai Editor. pic.twitter.com/E1fI84ZhaZ
The Club said “The Mumbai Press Club’s investigation reveals that Satish Nandgaonkar, a journalist with HT who passed away on 28th February, experienced significant stress due to bullying and insults inflicted upon him by the HT Mumbai Editor. These findings have been forwarded to HT’s chairperson, Shobhna Bhartiya, as well as to the Editors Guild for further action. It is imperative that a Code of Newsroom Conduct for Editors be established without delay.”
Ambekar has highlighted numerous instances of abuse by the HT Mumbai Editor and has referenced emails and WhatsApp messages as prima facie evidence.
— Mumbai Press Club (@mumbaipressclub) March 13, 2024
“We have also received a copy of the complaint dated 10th March, addressed to HT Media by Anjali Ambekar, the wife of Nandgaonkar. In the complaint, she has requested an investigation into her husband’s death. Ambekar has highlighted numerous instances of abuse by the HT Mumbai Editor and has referenced emails and WhatsApp messages as prima facie evidence,” the MPC wrote on X.
Anjali Ambekar’s “Appeal for Justice”
Meanwhile, Nandgaonkar’s wife Anjali Ambekar penned an emotional open letter titled “Appeal for Justice” describing the alleged abuse and harassment her husband faced while working at HT Mumbai. In her letter, she cited evidence from emails and WhatsApp messages.
“After his untimely death, I made it point to go through his Whatsapp chats and his emails and was horrified to note that he faced constant harassment at HT at the hands of Mumbai resident editor Meenal Baghel. I have been told that unable to cope with the harassment they faced at the hands of Meenal Bahgel, a few journalists resigned from the newspaper. Now I hear that one person has resigned from the newspaper after Satish’s death because of her, for the same reasons that had made my husband feel humiliated,” Ambekar wrote.
“Meenal Baghel has anger issues. There were a few occasions even when I had witnessed or heard Meenal shout at Satish and use foul language. She would underrate him, rubbish him and humiliate him in front of his colleagues, a thing that would affect morale of sensitive journalist like Satish. It pains me to hear from his colleagues that at an editorial meeting held on February 28, Satish was sweating profusely in a fully air-conditioned office and seething with anger during and after the meeting, where he was badly humiliated by Ms Meenal Baghel,” Ambekar added.
In her letter, she demanded that a dedicated team conduct a thorough investigation into the events surrounding Satish’s sudden demise. She insisted on gathering testimonies from all colleagues who were present in the office before his death or had worked with him.
Ambekar suggested that if the inquiry committee finds any misconduct, decisive and severe action be taken against those involved. She also requested that appropriate compensation be announced for the family, as well as comprehensive guidelines for effectively handling workplace harassment of journalists.
