Woman behind Shitty Media Men list comes forward: 'I don't know what kind of future awaits me'

Hours after it was reported that Harper's Magazine planned to expose her, the woman behind the infamous "Shitty Media Men List" has come forward.

Writer Moira Donegan says she created the anonymous document, which lists numerous men in the media industry and their alleged sexual misconduct, to enable women to share their stories "without being needlessly discredited or judged".

In an article published in The Cut, she admitted that she was naive to the possible ramifications of producing such a Google document in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal.

"I was naive because I thought that the document would not be made public, and when it became clear that it would be, I was naive because I thought that the focus would be on the behaviour described in the document, rather than on the document itself," she wrote. " It is hard to believe, in retrospect, that I really thought this. But I did."

Donegan admitted that said she became "overwhelmed and scared" as names continued to be added daily because anonymity meant "false accusations could be added without consequence".

"I had imagined a document that would assemble the collective, unspoken knowledge of sexual misconduct that was shared by the women in my circles: What I got instead was a much broader reckoning with abuses of power that spanned an industry," she explained.

Word of the document soon spread like wildfire online before Buzzfeed published an article confirming its existence. Reddit later kicked the drama up a notch by publishing the controversial list uncensored.

This caused a firestorm of criticism from activists and members of the online community, who branded the list "irresponsible" and claimed that it did little to raise awareness of encouraging the involvement of law enforcement.

As publications clamoured to unmask the author, it was claimed that Katie Roiphe was preparing to out Donegan as the list's creator. This rumour prompted Donegan's supporters to sacrifice themselves. Filmmaker Lexi Alexander was amongst the dozens of women who claimed responsibility.

Donegan revealed that she has lost friends and her job over the fiasco. "All of this was terrifying. I still don't know what kind of future awaits me now that I've stopped hiding," she concluded.