The outgoing president of a university plagued by scandal has made derogatory comments about the hometown paper's coverage of USC news on at least one occasion.
Interim President Wanda Austin has said publicly that she wanted to create an environment on campus in which "the community feels like they can communicate if they think they see something is not right."
Sounding a different note at a Gould event with Dean Andrew Guzman in February, Austin criticized the Los Angeles Times' coverage of scandals and lawsuits that have been brought against USC.
Specifically, Austin said the newspaper, which broke the news of sexual abuse allegations perpetrated by former USC gynecologist George Tyndall, as well as misconduct involving former Keck Dean Carmen Puliafito, is "just having a great time at [USC's] expense."
The Times, Austin continued, is "interested in selling newspapers, so they're looking for the most salacious titles that they can possibly come up with."
The Times has published many articles about the sex abuse scandal since it was brought to light. The article that broke the main story was headlined "A USC doctor was accused of bad behavior with young women for years. The university let him continue treating students."
Other headlines by the Times include: "Grand jury is investigating USC gynecologist accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients," and "Wealthy USC donors revolt after interim president pushes out top dean over handling of misconduct cases."
The sex abuse scandal gained attention from many news organizations. Some of the national headlines include The New York Times' "University of Southern California to Pay $215 Million Over Sex Abuse Scandal," The Washington Post's "USC president steps down, effective immediately, in wake of sex-abuse scandal," and CNN's "93 more ex-students accuse former USC gynecologist of sexual misconduct, attorney says."
Although the event was public, advertised on USC Gould's events page, and required no RSVP to attend, USC officials requested that no photos, videos, or recordings be made of the conversation between Guzman and Austin.
Austin was appointed to the Office of Interim President in August 2018, after former President Max Nikias was forced to resign in the wake of these allegations which were made public by the Los Angeles Times.
One student who attended the Gould event said that Austin's comments were met with confusion. "It was kind of just blank stares," said Steven, who declined to give his last name while being critical of his university. "When I initially heard it, I was like, okay I get what you're saying…they do want to sell papers, but at the same time facts are facts. You can't argue with them."
Norman Pearlstine, the Executive Editor of the LA Times, said that he discussed the paper's coverage over breakfast with Austin in November. During that conversation, Austin "seemed to understand the gravity of the problems revealed in our stories and to appreciate that investigative reporting is an important component" of the paper's mission of public service, Pearlstine said in an email to Annenberg Media.
"We take great care in verifying the information that we publish and evaluate whether reporting especially that of a sensitive nature, is in the public interest," Pearlstine said.
The Office of the President did not respond to Annenberg Media's request for comment.
Austin is expected to exit the position in June.