RE-SOURCE: Six editorial staff members at the...

RE-SOURCE: Six editorial staff members at the prominent hip-hop magazine the Source have walked out, joining suspended editor-in-chief and part owner James Bernard in calls for the resignation of publisher David Mays. More charges are flying, alleging physical threats against the staff by a rapper who is a friend of Mays.

Bernard has filed a complaint in a New York City dispute resolution center, claiming that Raymond Scott (a.k.a. Ray Dog), a member of the group Almighty RSO, had threatened him with physical harm in an attempt to get coverage in the magazine. Mays had lobbied with Bernard for a story on the group, and when the editor refused, Mays hired a free-lance writer and put the article in the November issue without the knowledge of the staff.

“Basically we feel disrespected by our publisher,” says associate editor Carter Harris, who signed a letter asking Mays to step down and says that he also was harassed by Scott. “Two of us were threatened by Ray Dog, and our publisher did nothing about it and . . . went behind our backs and stuck this puff piece into the magazine about the group.”

Says Bernard: “This is a fight for a precious thing, a magazine that speaks directly to a hip-hop generation from people who are part of that.”

Scott was unavailable for comment.

A spokesman for Mays says that new staffers are being hired and that a December issue will be put out as scheduled.