We are the reporters who broke the Roy Moore story

Started by FurryAvocado, 12/15/2017 06:06PM
Posted 12/15/2017 06:06PM Opening Post
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/7k0rr1/we_are_the_washington_post_reporters_who_broke/

Q: Were there any allegations brought to your attention that were not reported due to lack of credibility?

A: Yes we chased all sorts of leads, tips, allegations and crazy rumors. We only reported what we were able to substantiate.

Q: Did Moore ever attempt to contact you directly and, if so, what did he say?

A: No, Roy Moore never once personally attempted to contact us.

Q: Some people, including many prominent politicians, have said that these are 40-year-old allegations and that diminishes their importance and that they were only brought up to prevent him from getting the seat in the Senate. How do you respond to that?

A: Naturally, when there is a race for U.S. Senate, especially a high profile one, reporters are going to begin doing all sorts of stories to try to illuminate the candidates. So it makes sense that reporters would be in the Gadsden area at this time, asking questions. Other than that, our only focus was reporting the story thoroughly and publishing if and when it was solid.

Q: The story said that you approached the accusers, not the other way around, but how did you know to investigate this in the first place?

A: While I was reporting another story in the Gadsden area, I heard that Roy Moore liked teenage girls, and as we began talking to more people, specific names began to emerge. It turned out that quite a lot of people in the Gadsden area had heard these stories about Moore over the years, and some had direct knowledge of the situation.

Q: What amount of contact, if any, did you have with the "National Democrat Party" in the course of developing the story?

A: None, zero, zilch.

Q: What are your thoughts on this mysterious "Bernie Bernstein" guy who apparently works for the Post?

A: There are no Post reporters or editors named Bernie Bernstein. It was clearly a hoax. Here's what our executive editor, Marty Baron said: "The response to our meticulously reported story about Roy Moore has been a stunning level of deceit, deception, and dirty tricks. The Moore campaign and others have lied about our motives and lied about our methods. And at least one individual — we’re still not sure who — has also pretended to be a Post journalist so as to falsely portray our journalistic practices."

Q: Has the "fake news" campaign made your job harder?

A: No and even people who cry "fake news" love to cite our stories in the Washington Post and other major news organizations when it suits them. Candidate Trump mentioned loving our story on Clinton and NY jobs during the campaign.

Q: What is your vetting process for stories like this?

A: We interviewed the women repeatedly, to make sure their recollections were consistent. We only reported details they were certain about, and when possible, we talked to people they had shared their stories with. We asked them if they had kept journals. We also, when possible, pulled public records that would corroborate their stories.