A slight crack in my faith in journalism
How declining to be a source put me on a path to frustration
Issue #66
Hi all —
Every journalist should experience what it feels like to be on the other side of a story – even when, as in my experience recently, you declined to be interviewed at all.
On March 5, Business Insider published an article about The Juggernaut, a media startup that covers South Asians and the diaspora. I worked there between April and August of 2020 before leaving to start my freelance career.
A few months ago, the Business Insider reporter contacted me to ask about my experiences at The Juggernaut. I declined to comment on the record and made clear that I would not be an on-background or “off the record” source either.
When I read the article online, one aspect of its sourcing caught my attention immediately. An anonymous source was identified as a managing editor of The Juggernaut, and male pronouns were used to describe the person’s identity. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only former employee who could be characterized as a male editor at a senior level. My title was “senior editor” but it filled the role of the previous female managing editor. Further research based on publicly available information on LinkedIn and the Internet Archive further strengthened my belief that I was the only male in that senior editorial position.
Since the article’s publication, I sent emails to the Business Insider reporter and multiple editors up the masthead with my concern that the reference to an anonymous male managing editor naturally points to me, although it certainly is not me. Over the last week, I’ve gotten several text messages from peers across journalism and Brown communities assuming (incorrectly) that the anonymous source was me.
On Tuesday, Business Insider’s global editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson responded to my latest email and made it clear his organization was not going to issue a clarification: “Thanks for your notes. I understand your frustration. Our language is accurate and we won’t be changing the story. When asked, I recommend you tell people you weren’t a source for the story, and that there is apparently a former Managing Editor who is accurately described by the language we used.”
I remain unconvinced. The universe of people who have held the managing editor or senior editor title is extremely limited, and we all know of each other. While this experience hasn’t broken my faith in journalism, it has certainly made a crack in it.
Vignesh Ramachandran (on Signal at 773-599-3717)
Co-founder of Red, White and Brown Media
Your Thoughts
Please email us to share your feedback, story ideas or anything else you’re thinking about these days:
Red, White and Brown Media facilitates substantive conversations through the lens of South Asian American race and identity — via journalism, social media and events. Please tell your friends and family to subscribe to this newsletter.