In the wake of Frank Meza's death (an apparent suicide), Derek Murphy of Marathon Investigation has come under fire from some people today. His critics say Murphy posted excessively about the Meza story, plays fast and loose with the facts, is only in it for the money, and so on. He has even been accused of racism, due to Meza's Mexican heritage.
I have been following Murphy's work for about 15 years. As far as I can recall, he has always been an extremely careful reporter, basing his analysis on facts, photos, videos, and other evidence. He bends over backwards to be fair to the subjects of his stories, inviting them to clear the air and so on.
Yes, he wrote many stories about Frank Meza in recent weeks. That's because the evidence didn't unfold all at once, but rather unfolded over a period of time. Murphy posted when new developments warranted. Of course, Meza could have quickly extinguished the story by simply acknowledging that he had cheated. Let's not blame Murphy for Meza's intransigence.
The allegation that Murphy or other Meza critics are motivated by racism is too absurd to warrant a response.
To my eye, Murphy is a judicious and very fair-minded journalist who is passionate about exposing cheating and other unethical behavior in our beloved sport. Surely, the sport of marathoning is better off as a result of his efforts. If everyone in the media were as fair and meticulous as Murphy is, our nation would place far more trust in our news media.
Like many journalists and other creators, Murphy asks for financial donations from his supporters to support his work. Anyone who has seen Patreon knows that this business model is not unusual in the modern era. I see nothing wrong with it. Certainly nobody has been forced to donate.
Many of the people who accuse Murphy of Internet harassment are themselves guilty of Internet harassment, in my opinion. They wildly accuse him of lying and distorting facts without a scintilla of evidence to support their claims. By contrast, Murphy's demeanor is calm and reasonable.