Rolling Stone Boss Edited Out Child Porn Accusations After Journo-Pal Raided By FBI

After the FBI conducted a raid on a journalist last April, Rolling Stone national security reporter Tatiana Siegel wrote that it was “quite possibly, the first” carried out by the Biden administration on a reporter – in this case, former ABC national security reporter James Gordon Meek, who was previously an investigator for the House Homeland Security Committee.

The RS article, which casts Meek as an unimpeachable truthsayer, framed the raid as an abuse of power, NPR reports.

“Meek appears to be on the wrong side of the national-security apparatus,” reads the article.

Siegel’s sources told her that “federal agents allegedly found classified information on Meek’s laptop during their raid.” But what we didn’t know at the time was that Rolling Stone Editor-in-hief Noah Shachtman – a friend of Meek, made the rare decision to personally edit Siegel’s article to remove all mention that the raid was part of a federal investigation into child porn.

As edited by Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman, however, the article omitted a key fact that Siegel initially intended to include: Siegel had learned from her sources that Meek had been raided as part of a federal investigation into images of child sex abuse, something not publicly revealed until last month.

Why did Rolling Stone suggest Meek was targeted for his coverage of national security, rather than something unrelated to his journalism?

…

When Siegel detailed the seriousness of the allegations against Meek, Shachtman warned her against turning in a story that included the words “child pornography” in it. –NPR

According to the report, Shachtman “considered Meek a peer with whom he was friendly,” and told colleagues that the two men “travel in the same professional circles.”

Shortly before Shachtman joined Rolling Stone, Meek suggested on Twitter that Shachtman should pay attention to an obscure band from Niger — the location of the botched military mission that Meek helped investigate for ABC. Shachtman replied by linking to an earlier review.

Meek soon emailed Shachtman to gauge interest in covering his Hulu documentary series. The new Rolling Stone editor passed the note along to colleagues; the magazine posted a glowing review some weeks later, in November 2021. -NPR

Shachtman also insisted that staffers use a generic photograph instead of Meek’s image. “let’s not use a picture of the guy in question, james gordon meek,” he requested, adding “something FBY-y please.”

According to NPR, citing two anonymous sources, Washington attorney Mark “I’ve gotten clearances for guys who had child porn issues and love hanging out at Disney World by myself” Zaid called Shachtman on Meek’s behalf while Siegel was writing up the story.

Zaid confirmed to NPR that he called Shachtman – and admitted that Meek was a longtime friend and client who he was representing on any potential prosecution or investigation of his potential possession of classified material.

Then things get even weirder

According to the report, “The accounts given by the associates, colleagues and friends of the two key figures — Siegel and Shachtman — diverge here.”

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.

Shachtman later told others that he did not believe that she had nailed down her sourcing adequately. Rolling Stone parent company Penske Media notes that authority to make such choices for Rolling Stone’s coverage lies with Shachtman. “That was true in this case, as reflected in the final edits to the story,” the company said in a statement to NPR. “Some material was added late in the process, other material was dropped.” -NPR

Aaaand it’s gone

As NPR reports, after Siegel had to step away from the article to care for her ailing mother, Shachtman changed Siegel’s draft to remove all suggestions that the raid was about anything other than Meek’s FBI reporting, just hours before it was set to go to publication – saying only that the FBI had allegedly found “classified information” on Meek’s devices.

The article left many readers with the distinct impression that the investigation was linked to Meek’s reporting — which could lead to a clash of the government and the press. Rolling Stone’s official Twitter account promoted the story this way: “Exclusive: Emmy-winning ABC News producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI. His colleagues say they haven’t seen him since.” The tweet’s thrust was echoed by WikiLeaks, Glenn Beck and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which wrote, “If this was related to his work, as this @RollingStone report suggests it might be, it is a gross press freedom violation.” -NPR

Aaaand she’s gone

According to colleagues and friends, Siegel says she didn’t know about the changes to her story until it appeared online, and was furious about what she considered Shachtman’s interference with the independence of her reporting.

Two months later, Siegel accepted a position at a sister publication.

My how the wagons circle…