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racheltachel25 karma

Paul Huntsman bought the paper well after we'd begun the series, so the train was already down the tracks. I think we all felt a little bit of apprehension — not just about this story, but about a lot of things; it was going to be a big change to go from uncaring corporate ownership to being owned by someone involved in the community. But one of the first things he and his father said, in my recollection, when they came in to meet the newsroom was how important the BYU stories were and how they wanted to support us continuing that kind of journalism.

racheltachel17 karma

One clear response to the issues raised in our work were the sweeping changes at BYU, including the adoption of an amnesty policy. I'd say the number of people who accused The Tribune of reporting on these issues because it is anti-Mormon was small.

racheltachel15 karma

Although Erin Alberty was accused a few times on Twitter of writing the stories because of anti-BYU football allegiances.

racheltachel14 karma

Every story is different, of course. Erin Alberty can talk about how she contacted about a dozen women for the first BYU story. After that, we put out a form on our website asking about people's experiences at BYU with sex assault — whether they reported or didn't. From that, we got about 60 responses, which led to other stories.

For the Utah State story, we used a combo of police reports and social media to find women who'd filed reports and asked if they'd be willing to talk.

And in some cases, individuals have reached out to us.

We also handle each person's story uniquely — depending on how or whether they want to be identified. Some people want to have their story shared widely; others want to contribute to a wider story but don't want themselves to be featured prominently.

racheltachel11 karma

I don't know that there's one best way. But from some of our reporting we've seen that survivors may feel isolated when people who care about them *aren't* asking how they're doing, or following up. A simple inquiry about how someone is feeling or doing, or asking if they want to talk, can be helpful. Keeping that door open that you're a person who is willing to talk and listen can be good; even if he or she doesn't want to take you up on it at that moment, they may at some point in the future.