Trigger Warning

Richard Green, executive editor of the Press Democrat stated, “…Our decision to not thoroughly investigate these women’s accounts about alleged incidents involving Foppoli may have caused more personal heartache, humiliation, and physical and emotional harm for other women.” In a statement that was published by the Press Democrat, he continued. “We had a responsibility to take these allegations seriously, and there is no excuse for our failure to not push harder; to not dig deeper.”

The Foppoli sexual assault accusations were brought to attention after San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes, published an article titled ‘Four Women say Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, ‘prince’ of Wine Country, sexually assaulted them’ on April 8.

The San Francisco Chronicle article goes into personal, and graphic, detail about the encounters the women had with Foppoli. As well as the article gives insight on why the women, after their sexual assaults occurred, did not go to the police or take legal action against Foppoli.

“…they felt shame at the time and wanted to put the episodes behind them,” wrote Bordas and Dizikes. Because Foppoli is such a significant political figure in Windsor and Sonoma County, some of the women felt discouraged to take legal action, or even report, the alleged assaults to the police. 

As of April 12, there have been a total of six women who have accused Foppoli of sexual assault, according to an NBC Bay Area news broadcast. 

On April 9, executive editor of the Press Democrat, Richard Green, made a public statement that focused on the public’s outrage towards a decision, made two years ago, not to pursue a tip a reporter shared that involved the allegations of the Foppoli assault against two women.

Green assures readers of the Press Democrat that they are taking steps to ensure the most diligent reporting will be taking place under his tenure. He confirmed that the Press Democrat has hired two new editors, in the process of looking for additional investigative journalists, and that Green will personally be involved in the Press Democrats’, “biggest and most important work.” Hopefully, this means giving stories, as the one tipped two years ago, a chance to be heard. 

Though Green was not the executive editor at the time the tip was shared, it is still important for the Press Democrat to recognize the mistake that they made moving forward. By disregarding the accusations and choosing not to investigate Foppoli two years ago, they have let the abuse continue. This decision will continue to reflect poorly on the Press Democrat as a news source and the choice to disregard sexual assault allegations will haunt the organization for years to come. The Press Democrat choosing not to look further into a tip regarding Foppoli’s sexual assault allegations two years ago sends a negative message: serious stories could potentially be ignored by their journalists. This should never be the case. 

Stories such as the women who were mentioned in the SF Chronicle matter, and it is clear that some individuals need to continue to work towards becoming better listeners, particularly whoever made the decision to not pursue the Foppoli story two years ago. Green’s statement acknowledging that a mistake was made is a good step in the right direction, however, the momentum towards better listening now needs to be followed by reporters and editors alike.

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