Sean Penn interviews El Chapo

Andrew Seaman, of the Society of Professional Journalists, takes RS to task:

The Rolling Stone story cautions that “an understanding was brokered with the subject that this piece would be submitted for the subject’s approval before publication. The subject did not ask for any changes.”

Allowing any source control over a story’s content is inexcusable. The practice of pre-approval discredits the entire story – whether the subject requests changes or not. The writer, who in this case is an actor and activist, may write the story in a more favorable light and omit unflattering facts in an attempt to not to be rejected.

Rolling Stone Gathers No Accolades

 

Anyone remember LeBron's "first-person" essay? Seaman chime in then?

The Story Behind Sports Illustrated's Big LeBron James Exclusive

 

I caught part of CNN's Reliable Sources this morning, and they had Jeffrey Toobin on their panel discussing the Sean Penn story.

He of course criticized RS for giving el Chapo approval of the stories content.

He mentioned twice that there is this rare practice known as "quote approval" where a journalist will give a source/subject final approval of a given quote used in the story/article.

He acted like this was a compromise that journalist sometimes had to make, and while I forget the exact wording, he implied that it was not standard practice.

Un, Jeffrey, you cannot get a White House official to grant an on the record interview without granting quote approval. The practice is widespread in Washington, and it's gaining traction elsewhere.

What Rolling Stone did is just one step beyond what is already happening all over the place.

 

It's more than one step beyond.

 

Two?

 

I'd say four or five.

 

Turns out RS is not the only ones practicing shoddy journalism with this story.

Retracted: Sean Penn ISIS Story Is False

And this is the "story" they fell for:

ISIS Chief Abruptly Cancels Meeting with Sean Penn - The New Yorker

 

I have a hard time mustering angst for this considering some of the structural ethical lapses that have crept into the industry under the guise of "efficiency, sponsored content, or restructuring." Does the industry as a whole even have the right to navel gaze anymore? And it helped capture El Chapo so I'm good.

 

It was a role Penn was born to play. It'll be in Cannes first and pimped out here for late fall '17.

 

I agree. I've read a bit about the interview but I assumed from his standpoint it was an afterthought during research for some film project. Dennis Hopper was quoted as believing Penn needs to see things first hand. Penn says he wants to be a positive force and my impression is his heart is in the right place, or at least fairly close, but he's a bit of an emotional man-child who isn't always quite sure how to go about it. With that said, I'd probably go see the movie in a heartbeat.