In the world of journalism, the line between personal and professional can sometimes become blurred. Recently, this ethical boundary was brought into the spotlight with the suspension of New York Magazine political correspondent Olivia Nuzzi. The suspension followed revelations that Nuzzi was having a personal relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while she was covering his presidential campaign.
The incident raises important questions about journalistic integrity and the measures in place to prevent conflicts of interest. New York Magazine took swift action to suspend Nuzzi and conduct an internal review of her published work, which found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias. However, the magazine decided to undertake a more thorough third-party review.
When journalists become too close to their subjects, it can create the appearance of bias, even if none exists.
A spokesperson for the publication told Status that Nuzzi recently “acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures.”
The spokesperson went on to add that, “Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign. An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias. She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.”
Nuzzi, 31, said in a statement to The New York Times that “some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal” earlier this year.
“During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,” she said. “The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”
A spokesperson for Kennedy, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines of the television series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, denies the relationship saying, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,” the spokesperson told Status.
Nuzzi’s most recent feature is an interview with Trump published earlier in September. That piece, and a July feature about President Joe Biden, have been updated with a note to readers containing the magazine’s statement about Nuzzi in the interests of full transparency.
In pieces that Nuzzi wrote in March, when Kennedy’s poll numbers were in the single digits and he was not even a longshot contender for the Oval Office, she described the 2024 election as a “three-man race” to The New York Times and said that Americans were lucky to “have a range of third-party candidates to choose from,” including Kennedy who she said was polling “competitively.” In July Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump.
