By Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive
At the intersection of sex scandals and journalism, some denials are better than others.
Here’s a good one from NFL reporter Dianna Russini, who was seen at a Sedona resort with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. Both are married, and the pictures suggested that they were doing stuff, shall we say, unburdened by their marriage vows.
They say nothing improper happened. Just a group setting. Nothing to see. Move along.
Sherman Frederick
Fine.
Nevertheless, Ms. Russini resigned from her job at The Athletic and said the hubbub was “self-feeding speculation … unmoored from the facts.”
Not a bad defense because journalists indeed do a lot of that these days, and more’s the pity because while journalists were examining the footage frame-by-frame like it was a Zapruder film, this story from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, landed with barely a ripple.
In March, federal prosecutors charged John H. Windom, a senior official overseeing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $16 billion electronic health records overhaul.
The allegation: While running one of the largest health IT projects in government, Windom also allegedly collected gifts from contractors doing business under his watch. Cash. Casino chips. Gift cards. Luxury perks.
He concealed it. Sometimes, prosecutors say, he asked for it outright.
Now, before anyone screams “conviction”: It’s an indictment. Not a verdict. The man gets his day in court. That’s the system.
But let’s not play dumb about what’s at stake.
This isn’t petty misconduct. It’s potential corruption inside a big government contract. Billions move through procurement pipelines so complex that accountability lags. For example, one company that received a $10B contract was asked by Windom to create a $1.7 DEI contract for itself and give it to a circle of Windom’s “power friends.” Smells like a kickback.
Meanwhile, the VA system Windom was supposed to fix has been a disaster by any reasonable measure.
Thousands of documented incidents of patient harm tied to system failures — lost orders, scheduling breakdowns, cascading errors. Reports linking those failures to multiple deaths.
That’s the story.
Or at least it used to be.
Instead, we’re treated to a parallel media universe where intimate snapshots generate more oxygen than a federal procurement kickback scheme tied to a $16 billion program affecting veterans.
Forty years ago, this is where Mike Wallace shows up, sits across from someone in an uncomfortable chair, and asks some very uncomfortable questions. No memorized PR answers allowed.
Today, we get forensic analysis of vacation body language, an infinite scroll of “what does this mean?” content about people who would prefer you never ask.
What did Russini call it —“Self-feeding speculation”?
The unvarnished truth is that those self-feeding speculation stories in journalism today crowd out important stories. Easy narratives bury hard ones.
Stories involving actual complexity, like government contracting, institutional failure, systemic waste, get shoved away. It’s not viral enough.
We don’t see it ending soon.
FUNDAMENTALIST
American discourse has become quite sloppy in throwing around the term “fundamentalist.”
It’s especially egregious when used as a loaded word to bludgeon political opponents. Example: A caller to an NPR podcast asked a question that seemed to equate “fundamentalist” leaders in Iran with “fundamentalist” leaders in Washington, D.C., like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
It’s also misused routinely by clerics and layfolk alike in church circles to mean “The Christian Right,” or “Christian nationalism.”
Let’s see if we can clean that up, just a little, for the sake of better discussions.
The AP Stylebook offers this warning.
“Fundamentalist” properly refers to a movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes literal interpretation of the Bible and adherence to what adherents consider its fundamental doctrines. The term has been extended to other religions (e.g., Islam, Judaism), but this can be imprecise or misleading, since the concept doesn’t always translate cleanly across traditions. Don’t use the word “fundamentalist” as a catch-all synonym for extremist, militant, or conservative.
Let’s be more careful. It will make for better discussions.
(Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada journalist and a member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. You can read more from him at shermanfrederick.substack.com.
