The controversy over tabloid photos of Dianna Russini hobnobbing with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at an adults-only resort didn’t end with the NFL insider’s abrupt resignation on Tuesday.
Speaking on the ‘Beadle & Decker’ podcast Monday, former ESPN personality and current San Antonio Spurs broadcaster Michelle Beadle issued a warning to Russini’s critics in the media. In particular, Beadle took aim at the women who have continued to criticize Russini for appearing to fraternize with someone she’s reported on for years.
‘I love Dianna, and I consider her a friend,’ Beadle told co-host Cody Decker.
‘And I don’t want to hear “journalistic integrity,”‘ she continued. ‘Stop. Just stop. I’ll tell you where I’m most disappointed. Poor decisions were made; we’ve all made them.
‘What I find interesting is the number of female sportspeople who have felt very comfortable in getting out there and blasting her. Ladies, at some point, I will write a book. And the more I see you yapping out there about all this high and mighty self-righteous, I know a lot about a lot of you. So be careful.’
The photos published by Page Six show Russini and Vrabel hugging, holding hands and relaxing together poolside in Sedona, Arizona, but they’ve each denied any misconduct. Both married parents of two boys, Russini said she was on a hiking trip with girlfriends at the resort, while Vrabel has called the story ‘laughable.’
Speaking on the ‘Beadle & Decker’ podcast Monday, former ESPN personality and current San Antonio Spurs broadcaster Michelle Beadle issued a warning to Russini’s critics
Dianna Russini has resigned from The Athletic amid the storm around Mike Vrabel
But while Russini’s editor at The Athletic initially released a statement defending her presence at the resort as well as her coverage, The Daily Mail has since learned that an investigation into the matter was launched by the website’s parent company, The New York Times, while she was placed on leave.
And on Tuesday, Russini resigned, while standing behind all of her work from her 15-year career at ESPN, The Athletic and other outlets.
Spokespeople for The Athletic and The New York Times declined to speak to The Daily Mail about Russini.
Although Beadle did not call out anyone by name, she did admit to her own missteps over her career, which has included stops covering Major League Baseball and the NBA’s New Jersey Nets as a sideline reporter, not to mention a stint at ESPN.
‘By the way, I’ve made stupid mistakes too,’ she said. ‘I was just lucky enough to have done them before all this sort of social media, everybody’s got a camera life. That is a blessing. But let’s be careful on throwing stones.
‘There’s also a lot of misogyny in how this is being covered,’ Beadle added. ‘She’s got her job on the line; he doesn’t have his job on the line.’
Russini has faced criticism from both men and women inside and outside the media universe. Most notably, Russini was criticized this week in a column from award-winning USA Today writer Nancy Armour.
‘Russini made it harder for every single woman in sports, regardless of what we cover, to do our jobs,’ Armour wrote. ‘By risking her own credibility, she’s put ours in jeopardy, too.’
Russini interviewing Vrabel last year after he got the Patriots job
Russini isn’t the only one taking criticism. As some insiders told Status News, The Athletic’s response to the suggestive photos was ‘unnecessarily messy,’ ‘reckless,’ ‘premature’ and ‘intentionally sneaky.’
The Athletic executive editor Steven Ginsberg issued his own statement after the publication, calling the photos ‘misleading’ and lacking ‘essential context,’ while defending Russini’s professionalism.
‘These were public interactions in front of many people,’ Ginsberg told Page Six. ‘Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL, and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.’
The controversy has also put insider journalism under the microscope. Major League Baseball insider and long-time ESPN reporter Buster Olney delivered a stark warning on the state of sports journalism this week.
‘I do hope this whole thing opens up a larger conversation about the potential destructiveness of quid pro quo in our business, because let me tell you something: It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen,’ Olney told ESPN radio in New York.
Olney, who worked for the Times before joining ESPN in 2003, was not specifically addressing Russini’s situation and did not profess to have any inside knowledge about her reporting on Vrabel or the NFL at large.
But the 62-year-old baseball reporter did slam the blatantly transactional interactions between reporters and their subjects.
A defiant Russini has insisted her resignation does not mean she crossed the line with Vrabel
‘The other day, I was having a conversation with an executive of a team who said: ‘When I read a story, I can connect all the dots. You know this person, you know this reporter has a relationship with this agency, and here’s how the truth is being bent because of that relationship and that man.’
‘I see it too,’ Olney continued. ‘I’m aware of what’s going on behind the scenes. And I think that’s the cost of all this, right?… ‘Hey, if I give you this quote-unquote scoop, then you can bend the number this way, or you can bend the truth this way…’
Olney isn’t the only reporter expressing concern.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the story ‘raises questions’ about Russini’s reporting, fairly or not.
‘The lines get blurred in these sorts of situations sometimes, and again, it’s hard because I think a lot of times, my female colleagues get questioned in ways when they’re seen, with these guys, out, in ways that I do not get questioned,’ Breer told 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. ‘And I think a lot of that is totally unfair.
‘And if this is what it looks like,’ Breer added, ‘then this is really bad for all the women who are doing it on the level.
‘Dianna’s done such a good job covering the league, but if that line was crossed, well then she’s screwing over a lot of other women. It’s going to make people make assumptions about a lot of other women that don’t deserve to have those assumptions made about them.’
