Russini waited – Dianna Russini learned that a New York Post planned to publish photos of her and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel from a Sedona, Arizona resort, yet she waited two days before alerting her bosses. When the situation finally reached The Athletic leadership, executive
Dianna Russini didn’t raise the alarm right away after the New York Post acquired photos of her with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at a Sedona, Arizona resort. In the account described in the New York Times story, Russini waited two days after learning of the Sedona photos before informing her bosses.
The first call wasn’t to her immediate supervisor. Instead. the initial contact went directly to Meredith Kopit Levien. the CEO of the Times Company. according to a Times Company spokeswoman quoted in the story. Levien. the spokeswoman said. told Russini to call Steven Ginsberg and David Perpich—figures at The Athletic and the Times Company hierarchy. Ginsberg is the executive editor of The Athletic. Perpich is the publisher of The Athletic and vice chairman of the Times Company.
The timeline matters. The Times story says The Athletic executives learned about the Post’s intention to publish the photos only when the deadline for a response was “just a few hours away.” Those executives were described as unaware that The Post had first contacted Russini two days earlier. At the center of that late scramble was Ginsberg, who was on vacation when the matter came in.
When Ginsberg moved to respond, the record described by the Times turns on what he actually saw. The story explains that Ginsberg entered “deadline mode.” It also includes an account that it felt difficult to imagine any truth in what the photographs seemed to be insinuating—that The Athletic’s star NFL reporter was entangled in a personal relationship with one of the most prominent people on her beat.
In the end, Ginsberg provided a statement supporting Russini. The Times story reports that his statement to the New York Post said. “These photos are misleading and lack essential context.” It added: “These were public interactions in front of many people. Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.”.
But the Times story also describes a critical gap. It says Ginsberg saw “at least one of the photos” that the Post would be publishing before he responded, and there’s no explanation offered for why he didn’t see all of them.
The situation changed only after the Post published the full set. Once the New York Post ran all of the photos, The Athletic’s internal view reportedly shifted. In the Times account. a Times spokeswoman told reporters that “More photos were included in the story than Steven was originally shown or was made aware of.” She said that the photos that ultimately ran “raised new questions about Dianna’s conduct.”.
The Times account implies that the photos Ginsberg saw before issuing his statement were those Russini had shared with him—because after he saw what the Post ultimately ran. the questions inside The Athletic expanded. In that frame. if Ginsberg had seen all of the photos before his initial statement. the statement supporting Russini may have been different.
The tension now runs through an internal investigation The Athletic continues regarding Russini’s reporting. The Times story’s outline places Ginsberg at the center of that pressure point. If the full array of photos changed the assessment of Russini’s conduct. the question becomes whether Ginsberg had any reason to suspect editorial-method issues tied to the very high standards applied by The Times and The Athletic.
For the Times. the account rests on how information is obtained—arguing that method can matter as much as the product. For The Athletic. at least as reflected through the story’s framing of the NFL insider role. the method may be treated differently. with the focus placed on the end result rather than the route.
As the chain of events in the Times story spells it out. Russini’s two-day delay to alert her bosses. the decision to escalate first to CEO Meredith Kopit Levien. Ginsberg’s vacation-timed “deadline mode. ” and the fact that he saw only some of the photos before backing Russini all collide into one issue: once the full set of Sedona images ran. the internal understanding reportedly shifted—yet the initial public statement was never corrected in the period described. The Athletic continues its review. and the personnel at the heart of the response are now more difficult to separate from the outcome.
Dianna Russini Mike Vrabel Sedona photos New York Post The Athletic Meredith Kopit Levien Steven Ginsberg David Perpich NFL journalism internal investigation