By Erica C. Barnett
Two reporters from the Stranger—Ashley Nerbovig and Hannah Krieg—have been put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that they behaved unethically by failing to disclose and lying about a separate ethical breach by former Stranger editor Rich Smith.
Full disclosure: I worked at the Stranger from 2003 to 2009.
The investigation stems from a story that has been circulating in Seattle political circles since last year: Smith, who was then the Stranger’s news editor and the head of its endorsement board, had a one-time sexual encounter not long before the November election with Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who was then a candidate for Seattle City Council. Rinck was elected in a landslide last November.
In an email to staff yesterday, Rob Crocker, the chief financial officer of the Stranger’s parent company, Noisy Creek, announced that Nerbovig and Krieg had “been placed on paid leave,” and that both “are prohibited from representing themselves as employees of Noisy Creek or any of its properties. Their access to company information and communications is also suspended.”
The sternly worded email nods to the fact that Stranger reporters are now represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which is reportedly defending them against the allegations.”In the interests of fairness to Hannah, Ashley, and all other members of Noisy Creek, we need to undertake an internal investigation, which we hope to resolve quickly,” Crocker wrote. “We have contacted the Noisy Union and will be coordinating with them,.”
Hannah Murphy Winter, who replaced Smith as editor of the Stranger last July, told PubliCola, “I can’t speak to the nature of the investigation until it’s been completed,” but noted that “the allegations are serious.”
Smith was fired late last October for reasons unrelated to the incident with Rinck. “We weren’t aware of Rich’s alleged conduct at the time he was let go,” Murphy Winter said.
According to sources, the investigation that’s happening now concerns whether Nerbovig and Krieg knew about the incident and lied about it to their editors. The investigation is also looking into allegations that they told their editors they just learned about the incident recently and attempted to convince people associated with Rinck to support their cover story. The Stranger has rarely put reporters on leave; the last time they did so was after a barrage of right-wing threats in response to a joke Nerbovig made on X about the first Trump assassination attempt.
There’s no evidence that anyone in Rinck’s circle agreed to lie on the reporters’ behalf, and the investigation, which Murphy Winter said would be “quick,” is reportedly intended to determine whether the allegations against the two reporters are true.
Smith and Rinck declined to comment. PubliCola sent questions to Nerbovig and Krieg and received a response from Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild representative Courtney Scott, which read: “Due to the ongoing investigation regarding Hannah Krieg and Ashley Nerbovig we have advised them not to respond to these questions. The Noisy Creek Union and The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild are cooperating with The Stranger’s management team in the investigation and have no other comments at this time.”
It’s obviously unethical for a reporter or editor to have intimate contact or a romantic relationship with a candidate or elected official the paper covers, because it creates a conflict of interest that calls the publication’s integrity into question. Any news staffer in that situation would be obligated, at the very least, to immediately tell their supervisor and stop covering that person or participating in editorial decisions that involve them, including not just endorsements but daily coverage and story assignments. Lying or concocting a false story to protect a colleague who committed an ethical breach is also an unambiguous ethical violation. The obligation to avoid dishonesty is spelled out in many publications’ code of conduct.
PubliCola is supported entirely by readers like you.
CLICK BELOW to become a one-time or monthly contributor.
Murphy Winter replaced Smith as editor of the Stranger after Noisy Creek—a new venture started by former Grist CEO and 2016 Congressional candidate Brady Walkinshaw—bought the paper last July. At that time, Smith returned to his former position as news editor, and was fired from that position three months later.
While Murphy Winter couldn’t confirm any details about the investigation, she did note that the Stranger has “an employee code of conduct that we expect our employees to adhere to,” and that lying about or covering up an inappropriate relationship or incident “would very clearly fall into the terms of that code.”
There may be knee-jerk condemnations of Rinck for fooling around with the news editor of a publication that gave her their endorsement. But by all accounts, the Stranger had already endorsed Rinck, a progressive, before the incident took place—and her opponent was appointed council incumbent Tanya Woo, whom the Stranger called “[o]ne of the dimmer bulbs in the council’s already flickering chandelier, [who] evinces zero capacity for discussing complex legislation, no will to put forth any major legislation of her own, and otherwise displays total fealty to the corporate class.” (Thesaurus much?)
That said, the incident reflects poor judgment on both sides. For Rinck, who was running for office, it was clearly a lapse in judgment, of the sort that male politicians tend to get away with unscathed. For Smith, it appears to have been an ongoing ethical violation, since he did not disclose the incident to his bosses after it happened.
Smith did, however, reportedly tell Nerbovig and Krieg several months ago. The two reportedly did not disclose what they knew to management until earlier this month, when they said they had just learned about the incident for the first time last week. Apparently, in one version, I was the source of the supposed rumor: Someone who overheard me blabbing about it while out drinking with a group of journalists told them what I said. This did not happen.
Hannah and Ashley are not, by any professional standard or definition, “journalists”. The Stranger has been so badly compromised by feckless and indifferent ownership for so long (Dan and Tim barely paying any attention to the newsroom for years now) that I don’t know that it can recover. 206Benjamin’s point that it became largely irrelevant when the print edition was nixed is on point.
That said, schadenfreude about Hannah and Ashley is also a shitty bad look. Yes, they’re terrible (and, in Hannah’s case, author of a steady stream of anti-semitic historical fiction that ignores the existence of Hamas), but this is cause for the ownership of the Stranger to get serious about actual journalism.
Quid pro quo for an endorsement already given to Alexis? No
The Stranger ever endorsing Woo? Hahahahahahahahahaha, Rich Smith would sooner sprout wings and fly to the top of Smith Tower’s cupola.
The Stranger endorsing someone else? Like they did with Pete Holmes or Brianna Thomas? Oops. (and foundationally, part of the problem: find the most batshit left lane candidate possible, and that’s where they’lll be, reliably as there’s oxygen in the air).
My one quibble here: Alexis doesn’t need Publicola to stand in front of criticism of her for bad judgment. That’s a light form of the same ethical issue under discussion. Journalistic favoritism, even when it’s light, compromises its integrity.
There shouldn’t be a condemnation of the pol.
Kind of reminds me of the story of the Vanity Fair reporter who wrote a flattering profile and had an affair with RFK, Jr (who is married). Her career is toast, but he might become HHS secretary – and if he doesn’t, it will be because of other goofy reasons.
Not a good look for the media
Did Rinck do anything unethical? She wasn’t an office-holder at the time, she’d already gotten the Stranger’s endorsement, they did not have a protracted relationship, and Rich had the reporting requirement, not her. If anything, it may be a blessing-in-disguise for her, as (per the article) neither she nor her people got involved in the alleged cover-up scheme, and she’ll now be under scrutiny as a new office-holder, which could help her to keep everything clean.
Congrats on the sex.
Really though, who gives a shit about this kind of story except other journalists?
I mean… is anybody really surprised, especially with regards to Krieg? A lack of integrity and professionalism drips from almost every piece she’s written at The Stranger for years. And all you have to do is Google Nervobig to see that she has some issues, as well.
Graham is pretty much the only reporter over there that isn’t completely too far gone. I suppose Vivian isn’t too bad, either. But Krieg and Nervobig have always seemed quite sketchy.
Had this been CM Woo or any other members of the current council, Erica, you would have crucified them daily calling for their resignation. At least the Stranger had the sense to rid themselves of the unethical duo despite fawning over Rinck daily during the campaign. CM Rinck knew what she was doing was wrong, unethical and would be scandalous should it have been revealed during the campaign. It would have cost her the election then and she should resign now.
The Stranger has ethics? I’ve never seen a shred of ethics, or a commitment to accuracy and fairness.
Reporting this level of detail and the name of the public figure makes the reporting of the *incomplete* ethics investigation itself a breach of journalistic ethics. “a public figure standing for election” and “a personal relationship” happened, and sharing the details behind those makes it clear to me that this is ethical theater to launder hot goss, which I do not give the slightest of fucks about
The Stranger should have sat on its hands here
Lol how convenient! Would you believe the same if this were any other member of the Wright leaning city council or perhaps the mayor? Nope. Rinck knew what she was doing was wrong and she resign for doing it
The minute this council builds something by Frank Lloyd Wright will be the minute I start listening to your description of them!
Goes a bit beyond “hot goss” when at least 3 people who in theory are trusted to report facts about a person, lie to their editorial leadership about them (while the 1 who shouldn’t be, is still reporting on them)? I don’t think this has anything to do with their endorsement (as Publicola also mentions), but it’s an ethical breach and pretty dumb all around. Generally bad practice for journalists to sleep with people they cover and vice-versa! If Sara Nelson were sleeping with editorial staff at the Seattle Times, there’d probably be some different reactions imo. Anyways, things can be stories, without being like, Watergate.
A cynic might well think that the new management is taking advantage of every opportunity to restaff its news room, though new management couldn’t possibly comment.
Oh wow, I didn’t know The Stranger was still around, it became irrelevent (to me) when they gave up print. I guess no one really cares about the office shenanigans of a long lost newspaper, well, except for maybe Dan Savage lol…
It’s amusing that these children are members of a Newspaper Guil;d even though they have no more paper, can anyone with a website join this guild?
I think it’s reasonable to assume this was not a favor for an endorsement, and I probably wouldn’t share that information either, unless I thought it was corruption. There’s no way the Stranger was going to endorse Woo, and I’m not sure that an endorsement from the Stranger causes anybody to flip their votes.
bullshit. Would you have said this if it were Tanya Woo or any other member of the council? Rinck should resign
I totally agree The Stranger was never going to endorse Woo. However, The Stranger may have endorsed a different candidate than Woo or Rinck in the primary election if this affair hadn’t happened!
Nope, the primary was in August and we’re told the incident happened “not long before the November election”. So while it’s a stain on Rinck’s previously prettier escutcheon, she wasn’t buying an endorsement. And while she may have been trying to get more favourable coverage, frankly, I don’t see how it could’ve gotten any more favourable anyway.
(I voted for neither in the primary, no thanks to the endorsers.)
Hahahaha