The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

How Washington Post journalists broke the story of allegations against Roy Moore

Analysis by
Senior news anchor
December 8, 2017 at 4:07 p.m. EST

A new poll by the Poynter Institute, a journalism nonprofit, finds that while overall trust and confidence in the press has increased during the Trump administration, 52 percent of those surveyed don’t trust the news media. More than half of America is skeptical of journalists’ motives.

With that in mind, The Post launched a new series aimed at deconstructing the journalism process while answering questions about how reporting works.

In the first episode, we sat down with the reporters who broke the story that GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore allegedly pursued and sexually assaulted teenage girls while he was in his 30s.

Post reporters Stephanie McCrummen and Beth Reinhard describe how the story started with on-the-ground reporting in Alabama and locals in the Gadsden area sharing memories about Moore’s past. Through dozens of interviews and weeks of fact-checking, what started as a tip became a story that could shake an election.

How to be a journalist: Reporting on Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (Video: The Washington Post)