Marisa Kwiatkowski: Investigative Reporter Who Broke the USA Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Story

Marisa Kwiatkowski having a conversation with Trinity students 
(The Roar photo) 

By Jacob Rossitter

Marisa Kwiatkowski, who recently visited Trinity University, is an investigative journalist for the Indianapolis Star, a daily newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 2016, Kwiatkowski, along with a small team of investigative reporters, broke the story of USA Gymnastics covering up female gymnasts’ allegations of sexual abuses by several coaches. At the time, two former gymnasts came forward to accuse the team doctor, Larry Nassar, of repeated sexual abuse of female gymnasts. Kwiatkowski and her colleagues followed up with the Nassar story. Since the publication of their stories, more than 250 people have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar.

On Wednesday, April 11, Kwiatkowski gave a talk to around 100 Trinity students and faculty about her experience investigating the USA Gymnastics story, as well as other of her investigative pieces. Her talk demonstrated how having a voice can make a difference, and how investigative journalism can give voice to the voiceless.

Communication professor Jennifer Henderson, who was at the talk and later had Kwiatkowski visiting her class, said she was glad such a figure had come to Trinity. Henderson praised the extensive work Kwiatkowski and her colleagues undertook as investigative journalists. They demonstrated that with hard work, “it’s possible to enact real change in the world,” said Henderson.

Ever since she was a little girl, Kwiatkowski had always wanted to become a journalist. She got a college degree in journalism and worked at several newspapers before joining the Indianapolis Star in 2013. “I was hired with an emphasis on social services and welfare issues,” which include child abuse and neglect, elder abuse, homelessness, sex trafficking, and access to mental health services. While most of her investigations focus on the city of Indianapolis, “obviously the USA gymnastics project was more national,” Kwiatkowski, 34, said during an exclusive interview with The Roar.

However, Kwiatkowski said she was not very surprised by the strong reaction from around the country and the huge impact of her story. “We kind of knew there was going to be a lot of national attention because we did the story from a national perspective, and because of the scope of what was happening was so broad,” she said.

Such strong reactions, she said, was partly due to the fact that sexual misconduct had gone unchecked for too long.“I think there are a lot of reasons why organizations or people don’t report these things,” she added. “Unfortunately what happens certainly in the case of Larry Nassar, as well as others, is that there are so many breakdowns in the system, that this person is allowed to continue to work with underage athletes for decades.”

The process of reporting such a sensitive story was also very challenging. “Before I asked a single question, I would explain exactly what I was working on, why I wanted to talk to them, how their story would fit into the broader piece I was working on, and then I would also ask them if they had any questions for me, and give them an opportunity to address any concerns they may have,” the IndyStar reporter explained. “We wanted to be careful how we used language. We would circle back with the survivors, and make sure they were comfortable with the level of detail we discussed previously. We wanted to avoid traumatizing someone again.”

With compassion, meticulous reporting and countless hours of hard work, Kwiatkowski told stories that had given voice to the voiceless, and made a difference. Nassar is serving a prison sentence of up to 175 years. Former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny resigned, as did the entire board of directors of this prominent Olympic organization.

Also as a result of the stories, Kwaitkowski has been busy giving talks and receiving awards in the past couple of years. Most recently, she and her colleagues were honored with the Free Expression Awards by the Newsuem in Washington D.C.