Friendly Cautionary Advice to Journalists Sourcing Stories from Lawsuit Allegations

NPR's Madeleine Brand reports, in a piece titled "White supremacy groups try to infiltrate recent protests and influence the narrative," that "It turns out that some of the groups involved in Charlottesville are also behind the violence in today’s protests."

Oh, my! That is rather a twist! And from a reputable institution as NPR surely we can assume it is not based on mere blather. So from where is the piece sourced?

The nonprofit Integrity First for America is suing the organizers of the Charlottesville “Unite The Right” rally for conspiring to commit violence. KCRW hears from the nonprofit’s executive director Amy Spitalnick.

The rest of the piece, an interview with Ms. Spitalnick -- apparently Mayor DiBlasio's former spokesperson -- involves Ms. Spitalnick describing the allegations in her group's lawsuit. From what is reported in the NPR piece, the lawsuit alleges that a white supremacist group sent a tweet urging violence and looting, and that the tweet went viral before the Twitter account was suspended. The group also sent a similar message on another social messaging platform called Telegram. The groups want to "spur race war and bring about this collapse of society that they so crave." The groups have a very shadowy structure and operate clandestinely, but what is known is that many of its members wear Hawaiian shirts. But as Ms. Spitalnick concedes, "[t]here's so many details that are still unknown."

Are allegations in a lawsuit a credible journalistic source? Be aware that litigants often file frivolous lawsuits. Just last month, a California Court of Appeal imposed sanctions against an attorney for filing a frivolous lawsuit alleging an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the Mormon Church was out to get his client. (Brown v. Butler (Cal. Ct. App. May 19, 2020) D075348 (unpublished).) The Mormon Church, the attorney alleged, also operated clandestinely, using for its ends such figures as male prostitutes, pimps, devil worshippers, gang members, bathhouse operators, and lynch mobs. Obviously, there were many details that were still unknown.

I did not find anything in Ms. Brand's reporting that would allow the reader to determine whether the lawsuit that is the source of her reporting contains allegations that were any more serious or credible than those for which the California Court of Appeal recently issued sanctions.

How can NPR's audience be assured they are being provided a report on a white supremacist conspiracy that is any more credible than a Church of Mormon conspiracy?