Molly McPhersonCrisis and Reputation Strategist | Creator of Mollyfi | Host of The PR Breakdown

Quashing the story backfired #substack #shorts

25 Jun 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:05

In this YouTube short, Molly McPherson narrates a case where a woman, formerly a high‑earning journalist, approached the CEO of The New York Times demanding that the paper suppress a story about her. McPherson likens the move to the New England Patriots’ own attempt to silence negative coverage. The woman later texted a Times reporter, identifying herself as a “former journalist,” and after losing an $800,000 income, tried to prevent being quoted. The reporter replied that the conversation was on the record, exposing the woman’s misunderstanding of on‑record/off‑record rules. McPherson uses the episode to illustrate how attempts to control tabloid coverage can backfire dramatically.

Chapters

She ended up going to the CEO of The New York Times with this assumption that she's so important that The New York Times is going to quash the story, which is exactly what the Patriots tried to do as well. Quash it. What happens when you try to go to a tabloid and quash a story? Can you say the opposite? They go, bing! They love that. It's Christmas Day to them. So— Months later, she texts a Times reporter and called herself a, quote, former journalist. And by the way, do you know how much money she made in that job? $800,000. That's what her income used to be. So she's lost all that money. She tried again to manage the story, and then she said, you cannot quote me. And the reporter said, we're on the record. Now, that would be a mistake that other people not in media would make. She's a reporter. She is a reporter, and she did not know the rules of on the record, off the record. Why?