Freelance Writer Ruth Shalit Barrett Accuses Atlantic of Defamation

The Atlantic had caved to pressure from Mr. Wemple, she said, who, in a series of columns, had questioned both the veracity of some of the details in the article, including the description of a fencing injury, and whether The Atlantic had deceived readers by not including Ms. Barrett’s maiden name, which she used at The New Republic.

Ms. Barrett stated in the lawsuit that the only “falsehood” The Atlantic had uncovered was the addition of a nonexistent son to the family of “Sloane,” a central character in the article. Ms. Barrett said she had added the son at the request of the anonymous source to help disguise her identity.

Ms. Barrett added that The Atlantic’s editors had employed a similar tactic by changing a quote in her article to shield the identity of someone because of “a legal request.” A spokeswoman for The Atlantic, Anna Bross, said in an email: “Our lawyers have never, in this case or any other, advised editors to alter direct quotes. This is a basic journalistic principle; of course, we do not alter quotes.”

Ms. Barrett argued that the inclusion of the son was necessary to protect her source and that she was “acting in accordance with the law and ethical precepts of the profession of journalism.” She also said in the suit the two factual inaccuracies regarding the town one person was from and the size of backyard hockey rinks were “so trivial and insignificant as to hardly warrant correction — let alone the full retraction of a serious and meaningful piece of journalism.”

The Atlantic, in a nearly 1,000-word editor’s note, said that its fact-checking department had gone through the piece and spoken with more than 40 sources, but that Ms. Barrett had misled the fact checkers and lied to the editors.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/business/ruth-shalit-barrett-atlantic-lawsuit.html