There’s a subtext to the recent Dianna Russini situation at The Athletic. As explained by John Ourand of Puck in the latest edition of his Varsity newsletter, the controversy highlights lingering tensions between The Athletic and The New York Times, which purchased the sports publication in 2022.
Ourand describes the Times as “not quite a media company but rather a loosely organized federation of warring factions.” They have, per Ourand, “tribal leaders with a penchant for nursing longitudinal feuds, petty or otherwise.”
Past pressure points have come from the Times telling reporters working for The Athletic to not identify themselves as employees of the Gray Lady. Reporters with the Times have complained that The Athletic “operates under looser standards and rules.”
Via Ourand, the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel imbroglio “has struck a particular nerve because staffers fear it reflects more broadly — and more poorly —” on the publication’s reputation.
Ourand notes that the drama impacts ongoing collective bargaining talks. The Times Guild wants The Athletic to be folded into the union, a request aimed at preventing the Times from buying nonunion operations and using their coverage to replace union jobs.
It makes for a bigger mess than it would have been if, for example, Russini were still at ESPN. The broader, and preexisting, dance between The Athletic and the Times makes the scandal a political football in the broader chess match between the two operations.
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