​The release of the bodycam footage from the Dianna Russini traffic stop has put the New York Times in a difficult spot, and the paper has since tried to shed the awkwardness it created. The original Times article about the former staffer’s actions used her account of FaceTiming an NFL coach to dodge a ticket as its hook, and the Times has since published another piece about the bodycam footage. Notably, this update comes from the same reporters who wrote the first article, and it describes what is shown in the bodycam video while also noting that Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the Times Company, pointed reporters to the prior statement describing Russini’s publicly shared version of the incident as “unacceptable conduct.” The new Times article even states that “it was not certain whether the January traffic stop was the same incident that Ms. Russini described in detail on the podcast.”
Russini has said publicly that the traffic stop occurred after the Bills had fired coach Sean McDermott, and the bodycam footage recorded on January 19—the morning of the firing—confirms that timing. The narrative Russini shared aligns with the footage in most respects, except that there was no FaceTime call. The Times now raises the possibility that Russini might have been stopped twice that morning, and that in both stops the officer expressed a dislike for the Giants or the Jets. In one stop, she allegedly showed the officer her texts to the coach of his favorite team, and in the other, she FaceTimed the coach of the officer’s favorite team.
Criticism follows the paper for admitting a mistake, arguing that the Times initially accepted Russini’s story as true without sufficient verification. The piece notes that the Times has not corrected its earlier article despite the ethical journalism standard that requires corrections “as soon as we become aware of them.” The Times’ stance, claiming it isn’t certain that an error occurred, is seen by some as an evasive position that undermines its obligation to correct.