Sara Ganim's incredulous report about a
1971 report to Paterno by an alleged Sandusky victim fails to meet journalism standards
By
Ray Blehar
June 26, 2017: 10:15AM EDT, Revised 1:14 PM
Recently, CNN retracted and removed all links to a political story because the story failed to meet its
editorial standards. It needs to do the same for its May
6, 2016 story about an alleged Sandusky victim who allegedly made a 1971
report to then Penn State University (PSU) football coach, Joe Paterno.
CNN's 1971 story was
authored by Sara Ganim, who received a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting about
the Jerry Sandusky scandal. As such, Ganim knew or should have known that
the victim's allegations did not comport with Sandusky's modus operandi as an acquaintance
offender.
Unreliable Corroborating Source
Ganim's history as a PSU student and as a crime and courts reporter at the Centre Daily Times also adds to the lack of journalistic
integrity because she knew or should have known the story's corroborating source,
Bernie McCue, was known for erratic
behavior, despised Joe
Paterno, and was otherwise unreliable.
Unreliable source: Ganim used a well-known Paterno hater to corroborate the 1971 story. |
To make matters worse, Ganim chose McCue's corroborating
account over a Pennsylvania State Trooper who was also a friend of the alleged
victim -- and did not find his friend’s story to be credible.
Although Ganim won a Pulitzer Prize for her Sandusky
coverage, it was for local – not investigative
– reporting.
Evaluations conducted by notpsu.blogspot.com found numerous errors, half-truths, and omissions the ten stories that were submitted to the Pulitzer committee.
Evaluations conducted by notpsu.blogspot.com found numerous errors, half-truths, and omissions the ten stories that were submitted to the Pulitzer committee.
Her 1971 story was no different.
Wrong
from the Start
An honest fact-check of the story would have found almost
none of it to be true, starting with Ganim’s assertion that the alleged
victim was the oldest known victim.
“But for many of the victims, it's not
ambiguous. Like for Victim A, a 60-year-old State College native and Sandusky's
oldest known victim.”
Just as many local news
reports on the public record revealed that Ganim consistently erred in stating that The Second Mile separated Jerry from all programs involving children after his 2009 abuse finding, a KDKA
Pittsburgh report from October 2012 revealed that a then 57-year-old was abused by
Sandusky over 40 years ago. That man
would be at least 60 or 61 at the time Ganim penned her story.
Allegations
Do Not Fit Sandusky’s Modus Operandi
More significantly, however, is that the KDKA report
confirmed Sandusky was operating as an acquaintance offender dating back to his
time at the Brownson House in his hometown of Washington, Pennsylvania. The then 57-year-old man was one of three men Sandusky victimized there.
Sandusky's acquaintance offending likely began in his teen years at the Brownson House |
This story and the facts established at the Sandusky trial refuted a key
point of Ganim’s story that Sandusky offended against a hitch-hiker (i.e., stranger).
All of Sandusky’s victims from the trial came as a result
of Sandusky’s relationship with them through his charity. Ganim, who covered the trial, obviously had
to recognize that Victim A’s allegations did not fit Sandusky’s pattern of
victimizing children he had befriended.
Next, none of Sandusky’s victims from the trial alleged
that he provided them with drugs or alcohol. Ganim's Victim A alleged that Sandusky bought him beer and gave him pot before physically assaulting him. He was also considered a straight-arrow growing up as a teen and in college. He wasn't known to attend fraternity parties. In fact, Sandusky was well known as a church-going, teetotaler.
Last but not least, no known victim or claimant – other than
Victim A – alleged that Sandusky physically assaulted them before forcibly
raping them. Again, this conduct would be far outside the
realm for an acquaintance/serial offender whose success relies upon gaining the
trust of the victim – who will remain silent about the victimization.
Too
Good To Fact Check
CNN’s story goes even further into the
realm of the incredible after the alleged rape took place.
In a series of events only the extremely gullible could
believe, Victim A’s injuries are noticed by his foster mother at breakfast the
next morning. After some prodding, the
alleged victim tells his foster mother what happened. Next, the foster mother and her husband –
against Victim A’s wishes– inform the young man that they are going to report
the incident to PSU officials, adding that nothing will happen because PSU won’t
call the police.
Any reasonable person would find this story to be highly
unlikely and question why the parents didn’t go directly to police to report
the assault and rape of a foster child. Moreover, a reasonable person would question the fitness of these individuals as foster parents and ask questions about them.
But Ganim isn't a reasonable person. She needed the story to be singularly focused on Paterno.
Not only do the guardians of the young man then follow through on their call PSU, but
they insist that the 15-year old boy tell his story to none other than Joe
Paterno.
Like the questionable account
of Mike McQueary, Victim A stated he did not tell Paterno he was raped, but
that he made it very clear “it was a sexual attack.”
Sandusky had no history of good works in 1971
The credibility of the story completely failed when Victim
A recalled Paterno’s handling of his report (emphasis added).
"I made it clear there were things done to me that I just
can't believe could have been done to me and I couldn't escape. I said, 'I'm
very upset and scared and I couldn't believe I let my guard down.' They
listened to me. And then all hell broke loose.
"They were asking me my motive, why I would say this about someone who has done so many good things."
Jerry Sandusky did not establish The Second Mile until 1977. He had no track record of good
deeds that would have prompted such a response from Paterno.
In 1971, Jerry Sandusky had been on the PSU coaching staff
for just two years and had just begun coaching linebackers, having switched
from defensive line coach. At that point in his tenure, he was not an indispensable
part of the staff. Sandusky was, in
fact, replacing somewhat of a coaching legend – Dan “Bad Rad” Radakovich, who
left PSU for the Steelers.
There was nothing in 1971 that would have stopped Paterno
from doing exactly what he did in 2001 – which was to take the report seriously
and forward it to his superiors.
CNN
Must Retract Story
Much like Sabrina Erdley's now infamous Rolling Stone story of an alleged a gang rape of
"Jackie" by members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University
of Virginia (UVa), the evidence shows that CNN's
desire to write a sensational story led them to a fatal flaw of journalism in
writing a story that was "too good to check."
The Rolling Stone story was criticized by UVa's President because it damaged serious efforts to combat sexual violence on campus. Similarly, CNN's story did nothing to combat sexual violence against children and, as history shows neither CNN nor Ganim pursued investigating Victim A's claim of molestation by a priest.
The Rolling Stone story was criticized by UVa's President because it damaged serious efforts to combat sexual violence on campus. Similarly, CNN's story did nothing to combat sexual violence against children and, as history shows neither CNN nor Ganim pursued investigating Victim A's claim of molestation by a priest.
This story was nothing but a smear and a desperate attempt by Sara Ganim to become relevant again.
As such, the 1971 story about Paterno must also be retracted.
As such, the 1971 story about Paterno must also be retracted.
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