New York Times reporters who reported on sexual misconduct allegations against Louis C.K. spoke during an event hosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications on Tuesday night.

The story, which broke in November 2017, described five women’s allegations against C.K., which included sexual misconduct such as openly masturbating in front of women without their consent. These allegations came to light amid sexual misconduct accusations against other men in business and media in 2017.

The two journalists who broke the story, Cara Buckley and Melena Ryzik, spoke in Newhouse’s Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium. They described the process of corroborating the women’s stories and being thorough in their reporting.

“We chased down every tip,” Buckley said.

The reporters vetted every woman’s story through emails, text messages and Facebook messages that the women saved from telling their stories to friends and family. Some of the women had Facebook messages and emails from C.K. himself.

Stephanie Goodman, the editor of the story, emphasized that the journalists needed corroborated evidence because C.K. had dismissed other accusations in the past as being just rumors.

Even though the reporters did not have to deal with non-disclosure agreements preventing the women from talking on the record, Buckley said everything “had to be airtight before it went live.” Several of the women were afraid of reprisal, and the reporters wanted to protect their sources as much as possible.

“Some of the women felt pre-blacklisted,” Ryzik said.

Lawyers for The New York Times were involved in the writing and editing process to avoid any legal action against the people quoted, Goodman said.

The need to have everything “airtight” led to reporters going on “lots of wild goose chases” to track down possible sources and corroborators, Buckley said. The reporters went so far as to slip notes under doors in gated communities in an attempt to find women willing to tell their stories, she said.

“I think people just didn’t want to know,” Goodman said, when asked about the public’s knowledge of C.K.’s misconduct. “He came off as authentic, but it actually wasn’t authentic. I was surprised he admitted to it.”

Before publishing the story, Buckley and Ryzik requested an on-the-record discussion with C.K. They also offered him the opportunity to comment on the allegations, but the requests were denied. Similar requests were left unanswered by his various representatives, Buckley said.

However, C.K. and his representatives were aware that the story would be published with or without his comments, so his appearances, specifically his promotion of his now-defunct movie, “I Love You, Daddy,” were canceled a few hours after the requests for comment were made, Buckley said.

The day after the story was published, C.K. released a statement separately.

Ryzik said the story was the first time a New York Times news alert used the word “masturbation.”

Goodman also said the reporters waited three weeks to publish the story because they wanted to follow through with at least 90 percent of the tips they received. Goodman and the reporters, though, also said that “there’s a lot that didn’t make it into the story.”

Ryzik said she is still getting calls from sources who want to tell their stories of C.K.’s sexual misconduct and other powerful people.

“This is happening in every industry,” Buckley said. “This doesn’t just happen in Hollywood. The shadows that are cast over these women’s lives, it can’t be understated.”

Published on April 11, 2018 at 3:31 pm

Contact Jordan: jtkoster@syr.edu