The Athletic found that former senior NFL reporter Dianna Russini violated the outlet’s journalistic standards by failing to disclose her relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
The New York Times-owned sports outlet said Thursday that the relationship created the appearance of a conflict of interest and should have been disclosed. The Athletic did not reach a conclusion about the full nature of the relationship, but said it was a breach of its standards regardless.
“Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic,” The Athletic said in its report, “it was a breach and should have been disclosed.”
The findings follow a monthslong investigation launched in April after Page Six published photos showing Russini and Vrabel together at a luxury hotel in Sedona, Arizona. Russini told her editors at the time that their relationship was “close” but “strictly professional.”
The Athletic initially defended Russini before opening an investigation into her work. Russini resigned from the outlet on April 14, saying she stood by her reporting and had “no interest in submitting to a public inquiry” that she said had already caused significant damage.
After Russini’s departure, The Athletic stopped investigating her personal conduct but continued reviewing her journalism. Editorial director for standards and editorial quality Mike Semel examined 903 articles, 77 videos, 204 episodes of Russini’s podcast and roughly two dozen appearances on other platforms.
The review found that 5% of Russini’s work included mentions of Vrabel or his teams and that none contained inaccuracies. It also found that Russini had a wide network of NFL sources beyond Vrabel and the Patriots.
But the review raised concerns about the tone of some of Russini’s coverage, describing some of it as “gushing” and “effusive.” The report said examples of Russini writing positively about Vrabel appeared “awkward or even uncomfortable” in hindsight.
The Athletic also said Russini gave editors an explanation for the photos that “did not align with facts, raising issues of trust.” The outlet said she violated its policy requiring journalists to disclose sources or affiliations that could call their credibility into question.
Vrabel addressed the controversy in April, saying he had held “difficult conversations” with his family and Patriots leadership following the publication of the photos. He called the interaction shown in the photos “completely innocent.”
The Athletic’s review recommended additional newsroom safeguards, including requiring new editorial employees to meet with its standards editor and encouraging editors to pay closer attention to reporters’ recurring use of the same sources.
Neither a representative for Russini nor a Patriots spokesperson immediately responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
