Sean Penn’s profile of notorious drug kingpin El Chapo was skewered by journalists almost immediately after it published online Saturday evening because Rolling Stone made a deal with the recaptured convict to seek his approval before publication.
Giving subjects that power is frowned upon in the journalism world due to ethical implications. If the subject of a story has the control, that could lead to censorship and the transformation of a journalistic piece into propaganda. The sheer possibility of that mutation, even if doesn’t occur, could find a publication with egg on its face. In this case, Rolling Stone notes that El Chapo did not make any changes after reading the story before it published, but that didn’t stop critics from chomping at the bit Read more…
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