Dianna Russini is making strides toward a return to sports media, as reported by Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. This news comes on the same day that The Athletic released the results of an internal review initiated after her resignation in April. Russini has been in discussions with various potential employers and is expected to announce her next move in the near future.
The review, which took nearly five months to complete, was led by Mike Semel, The Athletic’s editorial director for standards and editorial quality. Semel's investigation included a thorough examination of 903 stories and 77 videos associated with Russini, as well as 204 episodes of the Scoop City podcast she co-hosted and around 25 other appearances where she represented the site. Additionally, Semel interviewed approximately 14 staff members who worked closely with her and compared The Athletic’s coverage of Mike Vrabel and his teams against about 75 stories from other media outlets.
In his findings, Semel noted that Russini's relationship with Vrabel violated The Athletic’s standards, emphasizing that disclosure was necessary regardless of the nature of their relationship. However, he did not reach a conclusion regarding the full extent of this relationship. Importantly, Semel found no inaccuracies in any of Russini's stories related to Vrabel or his teams. Approximately 5% of her work referenced Vrabel or the team he was coaching at the time, and none of this content contained exclusive information that had been overlooked by other organizations. While he flagged certain passages of praise as awkward or uncomfortable in retrospect, he did not establish that she had used her platform to promote him.
According to the review, Russini delayed informing her editors and managers about her relationship with Vrabel for two days after the New York Post confronted her with photographs of the two. The account she provided later did not align with the facts as established in the review. Despite these findings, Russini maintains that she stands by her reporting throughout her career. When asked about the review's conclusions, Vrabel stated he had no reaction to the findings.
As she prepares for her next chapter, Russini is reportedly exploring a range of roles, from pro football insider to opinionist and personality. These discussions reflect the review's split findings, where the accuracy of her work was validated, but the disclosure issue raised concerns. Industry insiders, including Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy and Fox Sports Radio host Jon Weiner, have expressed willingness to hire her, while Michael Silver, a former colleague at The Athletic, suggested that she might not return as an insider in the immediate future.
Russini's contract with The Athletic was terminated on April 14, shortly after the initial photographs surfaced. The review published on Thursday is a comprehensive document, totaling around 2,800 words, and it has significant implications for her future in the sports media landscape.
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