ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio tore into The New York Times over how it handled a glaring mistake in their bombshell article on Dianna Russini.
Police bodycam footage contradicted a key anecdote in the lede of their article, but what bothered Florio most is what The New York Times did next.
Mike Florio Calls Out The New York Times After Dianna Russini Bodycam Footage Surfaces
Back in February, Russini told the “Stugotz and Company” radio show that she’d once FaceTimed an NFL head coach during a traffic stop to get out of a ticket. This became the lede of The New York Times’ bombshell report on Russini, with quotes from the radio show appearance as well as new details. The article even quotes a Times Company spokesperson, calling it “unacceptable conduct.”
Then, the bodycam video leaked.
In the seven-minute video, Russini’s entire exchange with the officer is shown and at no point did she call an NFL coach. Instead, she simply name-dropped some coaches and briefly showed the officer that she texts with Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.
Despite this error, Florio pointed out that The New York Times’ article wasn’t updated with an editor’s note or correction notice. Instead, a small parenthetical about the bodycam footage was inserted nine paragraphs down.
Also, the same authors wrote a separate article about the bodycam footage and stated that they couldn’t be certain the traffic stop shown in the bodycam footage was the one Russini discussed during her radio appearance (even though Russini clearly stated that the stop was after the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott, which she discusses in the footage).
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Florio called out The New York Times for refusing to acknowledge their error.
“The Times is now opening the door to the possibility that Russini was stopped twice that morning,” Florio writes. “It’s OK to admit a mistake. In this case, the Times assumed that Russini’s story was true, without doing the legwork. And, inexplicably, the Times still hasn’t corrected its prior story – despite the indisputable standards in its Ethical Journalism rulebook: ‘It is our policy to correct our errors, large and small, as soon as we become aware of them.’ The Times has avoided that obligation by taking the position that it’s not ‘certain’ that there was an error. And that’s certainly laughable.”
To Florio, the follow-up piece reads more like an attempt to create doubt and cover their tracks than to correct the record.
Florio isn’t the only media member criticizing The New York Times, as NFL podcaster Tony Farmer has also called out the newspaper for not obtaining the bodycam footage during their reporting or fact-checking process for the article.
“Why didn’t The New York Times have this footage? … For the NYT to get outscooped by an organization called The Center Square on the bodycam footage needs to be the headline,” Farmer stated.
“Last week I tried to warn the NYT that I requested Russini bodycam footage and they might look silly upon publication,” Farmer added. “I thought it was odd/suspicious they hadn’t already included it. [no reply, various attempts]. If I saw the egg on their face coming, how did they not? I’m just a guy and not even good at this, they’re the New York Times and had a 2 month head start.”
Russini resigned from The Athletic (which is owned by the Times) in April, and an investigation into her reporting is ongoing.