Magazine: It Answered Shaw Letter

An attorney for Sports Illustrated said Monday that the magazine had indeed responded to a letter complaining about “investigative tactics” surrounding a story on gambling that involved Ram Vice President John Shaw, but that it had not felt it necessary to answer a second letter.

Richard Marmaro, an attorney for Shaw, said he wrote to Sports Illustrated before publication of the article in the March 10 issue, complaining about a reporter who “spread scandalous and false statements about my client, and then goaded people into agreeing with them.” The article indicated that Shaw had a history of gambling on sporting events.

In an article in last Thursday’s Times, Marmaro indicated that the magazine had not responded to his letters.

“SI did not respond in substance, to my first letter, so I wrote a second one which was unanswered,” Marmaro said Monday.

“The letter I received was nothing more than a statement that the magazine adhered to the highest ethical journalistic standards and that they would stand by their investigation. That letter did not satisfy the questions we asked about specific allegations by the reporter.”

SI attorney Judy Bass said she had not responded to Marmaro’s second letter because it “did not contain anything different from the first one, so we felt there was no need to respond again.”