NYT suspends Crouse for failing to disclose Michael Phelps book deal

[2muchcoffeeman]

Oof. I wonder what her thought process was.

The New York Times has suspended star sports journalist Karen Crouse and her future at the paper is being heatedly debated amongst the paper’s top editors, three people familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast, following revelations she failed to disclose her deal to write a book with Michael Phelps while reporting on the Olympic swimming icon.

Last month, Crouse wrote a glowing piece on Phelps’ retirement from the sport and his reinvention as a mentor for young athletes. As The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple first reported, the Times quietly added an editor's note to the piece on Tuesday revealing the ethical violation.

“After this article was published, editors learned that the reporter had entered an agreement to co-write a book with Michael Phelps,” the note read. “If editors had been aware of the conflict, the reporter would not have been given the assignment.”

Crouse was due to travel to Tokyo to cover the Olympics for the Times but has now been suspended and taken off the swimming beat, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The Daily Beast.

The reporter inked her deal to co-author the book earlier this year but failed to inform Times management. In fact, Crouse’s editors only learned of the publishing deal after reading about it in Sports Illustrated and were “livid,” according to the people familiar with the situation.​

 

[ChrisLong]

Sorry for Karen, one of the most decent people I've known.

 

[Songbird]

Just like that she throws it all away.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Just like that she throws it all away.

Oh, we've seen plenty of blow-up-your-career moments. In a land where Stephen A. is still polluting the airwaves, this doesn't quite measure up to me.

Hey, they love their advocacy journalism over there, right? Well, she's advocating. For Michael Phelps. ;)

 

[playthrough]

Oh, we've seen plenty of blow-up-your-career moments. In a land where Stephen A. is still polluting the airwaves, this doesn't quite measure up to me.

Hey, they love their advocacy journalism over there, right? Well, she's advocating. For Michael Phelps. ;)

Apples-to-oranges to compare a paid loudmouth to an NYT scribe (or at least it should be). Just tell your bosses you have a book deal and pass on any stories that might crossover with it.

 

[Alma]

NY Times Suspends Sports Reporter Who Failed to Disclose Her Michael Phelps Book Deal

“Our guidelines state that no staff member may serve as a ghost writer or co-author for individuals who figure or are likely to figure in coverage they provide, edit, package or supervise. As the editors’ note makes clear, the arrangement was a conflict of interest. This was a significant lapse in judgment. We are reviewing this matter and will take appropriate action.”

Crouse wasn’t embarrassed in the least to announce it, so it was hardly a secret she meant to keep. She must’ve thought it was fine.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

LOL. Conflict of interest? How the **** is that a conflict of interest but Maggie Haberman's entire tenure isn't?

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Come back, Boom! He'd have a field day here.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

When she praised what a good person Phelps is she kind of gave away that she had a financial stake here.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Come back, Boom! He'd have a field day here.

Wait, are we pretending Boom's not here?

 

[swingline]

Shhhh

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Wait, are we pretending Boom's not here?

I'm sure everyone who left for the SJ 12.0 doesn't check in here!

(Big Boom fan, so this isn't a knock on him)

 

[User 150927]

Wondering if she already has an exit strategy and doesn't care? Because this is a staggering breach of ethics.

 

[WriteThinking]

NY Times Suspends Sports Reporter Who Failed to Disclose Her Michael Phelps Book Deal

“Our guidelines state that no staff member may serve as a ghost writer or co-author for individuals who figure or are likely to figure in coverage they provide, edit, package or supervise. As the editors’ note makes clear, the arrangement was a conflict of interest. This was a significant lapse in judgment. We are reviewing this matter and will take appropriate action.”

Crouse wasn’t embarrassed in the least to announce it, so it was hardly a secret she meant to keep. She must’ve thought it was fine.

I don't know if my perspective has changed since I'm no longer in journalism, or because I've been out of it for a while. There was a time when alarm bells would have rung loudly for me about this, and I might have been up in arms. But, for some reason, now, I'm not.

I'm tending to want more information from Crouse, regarding what the book is to include, how the deal came about, if/how it might impact her availability for work for the NYT, and her reasons for wanting to do the book, and if she was fully aware of NYT policy regarding writers and co-writing/ghostwriting, why did she agree to do it, and, in her mind, what did it mean for her future?

Because when I saw this thread, my very first thought was that, "She was probably planning to leave the NYT once the Olympics were over, anyway."

I also don't see as much of a problem with this as I once might have perhaps just because it is Karen Crouse. As ChrisLong mentioned, she is among the most decent people in the industry. She may have broken NYT rules/guidelines. But whether that was done knowingly or unknowingly, it, for some reason, doesn't make me question her integrity. From what I know of her, I would still think she could and would write the difficult, less-positive things about Phelps when/where appropriate.

And beyond any integrity issues (or lack thereof), as the link that Alma posted referenced, Crouse also is one the premier swimming reporters/writers not just in this country, but in the world, and she has great knowledge and experience of Phelps, and a long history with him already, whether there was a book connecting them, or not.

That's part and parcel of being close to the national/international swimming scene, and a significant part of why she was on the NYT's Olympics coverage team. If she's going to write a book, it actually makes sense for her to do one about and/or with Phelps.

 

[wheels89]

If she's going to write a book, it actually makes sense for her to do one about and/or with Phelps.

Then it would have helped her to inform her bosses instead of them finding out in a Sports Illustrated article.

 

[ChrisLong]

-- Karen was a competitive swimmer at USC.
-- Knowing her, I seriously doubt she would orchestrate her own ouster if she was planning to leave the NYT. She would have been above board and done it properly.
-- I am surprised this went down the way it did. But on a similar vein, wasn't Woodward saving stuff for his Trump book that could have been considered news to the WaPo?

 

[WriteThinking]

Then it would have helped her to inform her bosses instead of them finding out in a Sports Illustrated article.

I can agree with that.

Would they have let her do it, and keep her job, though? And go to the Olympics, and cover Phelps there?

That's why I think maybe she was planning to leave the NYT after the Olympics (as Mngwa also suggested).

And perhaps not just for the NYT but for her book, Crouse wanted to go to the Olympics for the coverage of Phelps there -- kind of the closing chapter(s) for the book...

 

[WriteThinking]

-- Karen was a competitive swimmer at USC.
-- Knowing her, I seriously doubt she would orchestrate her own ouster if she was planning to leave the NYT. She would have been above board and done it properly.
-- I am surprised this went down the way it did. But on a similar vein, wasn't Bernstein saving stuff for a book that could have been considered news to the WaPo?

I don't think she was orchestrating anything with this. I don't think she'd want to be ousted/fired.

I could see her thinking of leaving the NYT after the Olympics, though, especially if she's got a solid major project in the works to focus on instead -- something that would be right in her wheelhouse, both in terms of her knowledge and experience, and the kind of personal/human-interest portrait type stuff in which she has always excelled.

 

[Flip Wilson]

The Times' code of ethics is pretty clear in what it expects of its reporters who write books.

Ethical Journalism

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

What do Judith Miller and Karen Crouse have in common?

My sense is the NYT is so horny for revenue that it wants a cut of what its help generates.