The Athletic has found that Dianna Russini’s relationship with Mike Vrabel breached the outlet’s newsroom standards and should have been disclosed, even if the relationship was not romantic.
“Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed,” the outlet’s editorial director for standards and editorial quality, Mike Semel, wrote in a report published on Thursday.
Semel reviewed 903 stories, 77 videos and 204 episodes of Russini’s Scoop City podcast as part of the investigation.
He said the review did not find a clear link showing that Russini used her position at The Athletic to promote Vrabel or help his teams.
“I’ve not found a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to help promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic,” he wrote.
However, Semel said some of Russini’s coverage of Vrabel now appeared “awkward or even uncomfortable” and that the situation had affected readers’ confidence in her impartiality.
He also noted that most of Russini’s work had nothing to do with Vrabel, the teams he coached or players those teams were pursuing. Interviews with colleagues, he said, showed that she had sources across the NFL and was not relying only on Vrabel or the Patriots.
Russini, 43, resigned from her role at The New York Times’ sports site in April after Page Six published photos of her and Vrabel, who are both married to other people, holding hands and hugging at a resort in Arizona. Both denied wrongdoing.
A source told ESPN that Semel interviewed members of staff during the investigation but did not speak with Russini.
Semel has recommended that new hires meet with a standards editor during onboarding and that reporters disclose anonymous sources to the company.
