Roopstigo.com founder Selena Roberts was apparently less than candid with at least one potential source, according to Auburn Director of Strategic Communications Jack Smith.
Since the publication of Roberts' article "Auburn's Tainted Title: Victims, Violations and Vendettas for Glory" Wednesday, April 3, the former sports editor for The Auburn Plainsman has come under fire for seemingly questionable journalistic ethics and integrity.
Former Auburn football players Mike Blanc, Neiko Thorpe, Daren Bates and Antonio Coleman were all quoted by Roberts in the story and all four now claim to be misquoted or taken out of context.
In an email shared with the media Friday, Smith called Roberts' approach "gotcha, hide-the-ball journalism at its worst."
Roberts emailed Kirk Sampson, assistant athletic director for media relations, six days before the story's publication requesting an interview with Athletic Director Jay Jacobs.
In the email, Roberts said she was "working on a piece about the armed robbery charges involving Mosley, Kitchens, Goodwin and McNeil" and had already spoken with over a dozen other sources.
Smith notes in the email that Roberts said nothing about "allegations of academic fraud, pay-for-play, racism or any of the other outrageous claims made in her story."
Sampson forwarded the email to Smith who denied the request.
"With three pending court cases, it would not have been appropriate for us to do an interview," Smith said in the email.
In an interview with AL.com, Roberts blamed the lack of communication on the media relations department.
"If he wanted a litany of everything I was working on, they could have communicated with me and discussed more issues," Roberts said to AL.com. "Not only did they not communicate with me, all they sent me emails saying they declined to talk. Not even one phone call, so perhaps if we had a phone call at some point we could have discussed more about what I needed to talk about."
Here are both emails, her request and subsequent denial, in their entirety (minus contact info):
Hi Kirk -- I'm working on a piece about the armed robbery charges involving Mosley, Kitchens, Goodwin and McNeil. After interviewing more than a dozen people about that night, I had some questions regarding Auburn University and former Coach Gene Chizik's role in the case. I'm requesting an interview with Jay Jacobs about the information I have received.
I can be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
Thank you, Selena
Selena Roberts
Founder| Roopster Media Group, LLC
Roopstigo Sports Network
______________
Selena,
Good afternoon. Kirk Sampson forwarded to me your email requesting an interview with Jay Jacobs about the former football players involved in the 2011 robbery. We respectfully decline the opportunity to be interviewed for your story at this time. Best of luck and thanks for reaching out to us.
Respectfully,
Jack
Jack Smith
Director of Strategic Communication
Auburn Athletics
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