Penn State child sex-abuse scandal: When we had the facts, we ran the story

[PoliticAverse]

On Friday, The Patriot-News was the first news organization to report that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky had been charged with child sex abuse. Since then, the national media have descended on Happy Valley and our own coverage has drawn 6 million page views on PennLive.com.

While many readers have expressed their appreciation for our coverage, some have asked: Forget Joe Paterno or Graham Spanier. Why didn’t The Patriot-News investigate these allegations sooner?

That’s an important question. Here is the answer:

Read the rest at: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_state_child_sex-abuse_sca.html

[pnwmom]

1. Interesting note about the state police telling the mother not to talk to reporters in 2002.

I wonder if the state police really conducted an investigation at all?

[Divernan]

2. Local report, ignored by MSM, prompted more victims to come forward.

I think the Patriot News & its reporters should receive some major journalism awards for their painstking, long term investigation and reporting.

More from the OP link:
The national media ignored it. Locally, we mainly received anger from some readers.

“It truly is troubling to me to see a ‘reputable’ newspaper such as The Patriot-News carrying this type of sensationalist story,” wrote one.

“Shame on those who have tried to defile the legacy that Jerry Sandusky has worked so hard to build,” wrote another.

We stood by the story and more stories followed. We have been told by those with knowledge of the grand jury investigation that our stories prompted additional victims to come forward.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Sara Ganim has done an impressive job.

Beyond impressive. I caught her being interviewed on CNN the other day. Gal knows her stuff about this story and left CNN in the dust with her command of the facts.

[Stuart G]

4. Agreed, outstanding job by Sara..and her paper..

[hootinholler]

5. What appears to be the first article:

Pertinent bit:

Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach with Penn State football, has been the subject of Internet rumors for months. Now, sources close to the case confirm that a grand jury is hearing testimony connected to a 15-year-old's allegations that he was inappropriately touched several times over a four-year period by Sandusky. Grand juries are used as an investigative tool used to allow prosecutors to decide if there is enough evidence for criminal charges. Since the investigation began, police have called witnesses to review a similar allegation made by another boy against Sandusky in 1998. No charges have been filed in either case.

The rest of the article describes the Grand Jury process.