Another example of where perceptions can become reality quite easily.
From what I have read and seen, Russini was pretty respected too as an NFL reporter and insider too.
I think stuff like this is bullshit.
Agreed , Vrabl has zero consequences.
Russini and Vrabel are in different industries and are held to different rules and standards. This article sums it up well:
Vrabel-Russini drama reveals that everybody loses if audiences can’t trust your coverage
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/opinion-morgan-campbell-mike-vrable-diana-russini-9.7165446
That dynamic also helps explain why Vrabel hasn’t faced any on-the-job sanctions yet.
First, he coaches the Patriots, whose owner can’t wag his finger at anybody over shenanigans like the photos in question. Google: Robert Kraft Arrest and you’ll know why.
Second, Vrabel’s not a journalist or Russini’s co-worker. He’s a football coach. Russini’s ethical rulebook says she can’t show unfair bias to people she writes about; coaches can, and do, play media favourites. If he coughs up secrets that could get his team beaten on Sunday, he’d better call a lawyer and negotiate a severance deal. But unless his contract forbids it, he can offer all kinds of inducements in exchange for favourable coverage. And unless their employer approves it, journalists can’t accept.
Also, one point that the ESPN article that I linked to plus other articles makes is that Russini immediately contacted a crisis management company to handle this and that she and Vrabel coordinated on how to respond to those photos. That alone is a big indicator they both knew this wasn’t just some innocent thing. Add to that, as part of its investigation The Athletic asked Russini to provide proof of her story that she was on a hiking trip with friends and she could not show anything. And, if it really was some innocent thing like Russini said, wouldn’t there be a lot of people immediately stepping up to verify their story?
Bottom-line: Russini did something really stupid for somebody in her profession and is paying for it big-time.
I know, doesn’t mean I agree.
And to be fair, Vrables boss has no room to hold Vrabel to any level or morality
Fair enough. As a sincere question, how do you think this should be handled regarding each party?
They are grown ass adults.
By all accounts, what was going on didn’t affect her performance as a reporter.
Nobodies business but theirs.
If you don’t see the conflict of interest in a reporter having a non-professional relationship with a person who she covers as part of her job, I don’t know what else to say.
Edit: One example:
One has to wonder how many times stuff like this happened in the days before cell phone cameras.
I am not saying it is a great look, but voting Vrabel coach of the year is no hot take
I am just saying she shouldn’t lose her job over it.
We will agree to disagree then.
Fair enough.
This sums things up pretty well.
To bring this back, this piece gives a good explanation of why what Russini did could create a conflict of interest.
If Russini had been covering Major League Baseball while seeing Vrabel, I would agree with your take. That was hardly the case here.
I will come over to your side a little. An old tweet from 2020 resurfaced from some random about how she had inside information on the Titans.
I will just reiterate my point that a journalist covering somebody with whom she has a relationship screams conflict of interest big-time. And, that applies to “he” journalists too, just so nobody accuses me of being sexist. 
In some ways, more so when the relationship is secret.
I agree with this 100%.
I will say that there is a lot of this that goes on in the NFL (not romantic, but personal), that is not really known.
Update: This story will not die and could get really interesting.
Dianna Russini is ready to sit down and give her side of the story following her affair scandal with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.