Rolling Stone Stirs Controversy with Sean Penn's Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Interview

At USA Today, "'Rolling Stone' stirs controversy with drug lord interview":

There almost had to be something wrong with this picture: Rolling Stone magazine, still bruised from erroneous reporting about campus rape, scores an exclusive interview with escaped Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The interview conducted by tough-guy actor Sean Penn and posted on the Rolling Stone website late Saturday fueled several journalistic misgivings. An editor's note said Guzmán was given right of refusal after reading a finished version, and some names had been changed. The magazine said Guzmán, who does not speak English, asked for no changes.

Ceding such control to Guzmán was professionally "inexcusable," wrote Reuters reporter Andrew Seaman, who chairs the ethics committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, in a blog Saturday night. The New York Post cited the same reason in labeling Penn "El Jerko."

Questions remain about whether the magazine's efforts to secure the interview in October helped law enforcement recapture the renowned prison escapee on Friday. An unnamed Mexican federal law enforcement official told the Associated Press that the Penn interview assisted its efforts.

Penn, in the article, makes clear he worked hard to avoid being noticed by police.

Other journalism analysts said the Guzmán interview was a bona fide exclusive or scoop — aside from the ethical issue of giving him the right to change the article — and could help restore the nearly 50-year-old magazine's tarnished image.

"Rolling Stone needed this story," said Samir Husni, professor at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the school. It was crucial for the magazine to show it remains a major player in journalism, he said.

"They are still a very relevant magazine doing such a great job that very few are actually doing," Husni said Sunday.

He said the decision allowing an actor to conduct the interview was a classic Rolling Stone mix of pop culture and journalism..

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Actually, I think this "good journalism" take is the minority position.

See Hadas Gold, "Rolling Stone has been just a whole study of journalism ethics these past couple years."