Shachtman considered Meek "a peer with whom he was friendly."
A new report has revealed that the man who edited Rolling Stone’s initial story on the FBI raid of ABC producer James Gordon Meek, who was later revealed to have been charged with possessing child pornography, removed all references to the charge from the report, and was an associate of the accused producer.
On October 18, former Rolling Stone journalist Tatiana Siegel broke the news that the FBI had raided Meek’s home in April and that the Emmy award-winning ABC producer had disappeared from the public eye.
According to a new report from NPR, Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman had removed from her piece key information from Siegel’s sources that Meek had been raided by the FBI as part of a child pornography federal investigation.
Shachtman, the outlet reported, considered Meek "a peer with whom he was friendly," a concern that Siegel had brought up to corporate officials. Shachtman reportedly told colleagues that the two travel in the same professional circles. A 2021 tweet, from before Shachtman taking the helm at Rolling Stone, Meek was seen on Twitter suggesting a Niger band for Shachtman to listen to.
At a staff meeting late in September, Siegel reminded Shachtman that she was working on the story, and the following week, Shachtman stepped in to edit, a move that was "rare," NPR said.
Siegel was reportedly warned by Shachtman against including the words "child pornography" in the story.
"According to what Siegel told others, Shachtman and she agreed that the article would reflect that the FBI's interest stemmed from concerns of possible criminal behavior outside the scope of Meek's work — that is, it had nothing to do with national security or journalism," NPR reported, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Shachtman reportedly later told others that he did not believe Siegel had adequately nailed down her sourcing.
In a statement to NPR, Penske Media, the parent company of Rolling Stone, said that the authority to decide Rolling Stone’s coverage choices lies with Shachtman, and that "That was true in this case, as reflected in the final edits to the story. Some material was added late in the process, other material was dropped."
Shachtman was seen in Rolling Stone’s Slack channel asking photo staffers to come up with a generic photograph, requesting that a photo of Meek not be used.
"let's not use a picture of the guy in question, james gordon meek," Shachtman requested, in a post stamped "NEEDS PHOTO." "something FBI-y, please." The photo ended up being one of federal agents in their windbreakers at a crime scene.
Siegel was pulled away from finalizing the piece to take care of her ailing mother, who later passed away. Shachtman reportedly told Siegel that the story would land safely while she was caring for her family.
Penske Media said the two "were in contact up until the final moments before publishing."
Shachtman, in the final hours before publication, reportedly removed suggestions that the federal investigation was not related to Meek’s reporting as a national security journalist, leaving in reporting that federal agents had reportedly found "classified information" on Meeks devices, which led to widespread backlash on social media, with people stating that the raid, if related to his work, was a violation of press freedom.
On February 1 the Justice Department revealed that Meek was arrested in connection to possessing images of child sex abuse, one of which authorities say shows the rape of an infant. Meek has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to NPR, colleagues said that Siegel was not aware of the changes to her story until it was published, and was reportedly angered by what she considered to be interference on Shachtman’s part.
"The Meek case was a particularly complex one, and the editorial choices made while covering it weren't always simple or easy," Penske Media said in its statement. "So Rolling Stone stuck to a simple principle: publish in the moment as much information as it could confidently substantiate."
Penske Media said that as editor-in-chief, Shachtman "makes the final call on the use of anonymous sources and background material."
Siegel left Rolling Stone for Variety to serve as its executive editor of film and media in December. Penske Media said the move "had been a conversation for many months–well before the first Meek story ran."
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