The Athletic has released the findings of its investigation into reporter Dianna Russini, concluding that her relationship with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel constituted a violation of the company's standards, though it found no evidence of bias in her reporting.
Russini stepped down from The Athletic earlier this year following the emergence of photos showing her and Vrabel at a resort. Further details later surfaced, raising questions about their relationship's nature and potential ethical breaches given her role as an NFL insider covering the league.
The investigation, conducted by Mike Semel, The Athletic's editorial director for standards and editorial quality, reviewed over 900 stories and 77 videos by Russini, along with 204 podcast episodes. Semel also interviewed approximately 14 colleagues and compared The Athletic's coverage of Vrabel and his teams to that of other publications.
According to the report, Russini declined to be interviewed but stated, "I stand by any and all reporting I've ever done in my career." The report noted that while the full nature of the relationship between Russini and Vrabel was not determined, the publicly available photographs were sufficient to conclude a policy violation occurred.
The report states that Russini's relationship with Vrabel was a "clear violation of The Athletic's standards" and that "regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed." Semel concluded that Russini was "noncompliant" with The Athletic's standards.
Further, the report detailed that when initially confronted with the photos by The New York Post, Russini waited two days to inform her editors. It also stated she provided an explanation that did not align with the facts, raising concerns about trust.
Despite these findings, Semel found limited evidence that Russini exhibited favoritism towards Vrabel. The report indicated that most of Russini's coverage of Vrabel or the Patriots was "transactional and newsy" and that "I've not found a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic." However, the report did acknowledge "examples of Russini writing glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable."