As someone who is not at Twistars, but very close to the story who has been hearing about the behind the scenes proceedings for the past year and a half, I have not found the media to be a joke whatsoever. I actually feel the media, especially local media, has been doing a great job of factually reporting things as they become publicly known. I do fault the national media for not paying attention to the magnitude of the impending story sooner, and also for suddenly appearing on the scene, reporting the story as if it is only a story about the high profile elite girls that were abused, without focusing as much on Rachel Denhollander or the vast number of unknown girls and the depths of, and connections between the head-turning by MSU, USAG and Twistars.
I feel confident in saying that if you are an upper level family in Michigan, stories about verbal, emotional and physical abuse by your Head Coach are already on your radar, and certainly did not begin with this story and situation. What has come out has been more first-hand detail and specifics from actual gymnasts that trained there (instead of hearsay), and of course MUCH more detail about the situation with Nassar. But gymnasts move. Parents talk. The people we are hearing from are confirming or adding to things people have been hearing for years. To pretend as though his behavior is completely fabricated seems a big stretch.
