Michigan State University paid a PR firm more than half a million dollars to monitor social media activity by abuse victims of Larry Nassar, who operated within its campus ©Getty Images

Michigan State University (MSU) paid a public-relations firm more than $500,000 (£350,000/€400,000) to keep track of the social media activity of the abuse victims of former Olympic gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who worked on the campus, it has been reported. 

Activity by some journalists covering the case was also monitored, the Lansing State Journal reported. 

Currently, more than 250 victims of Nassar – sentenced to up to 300 years in prison - are suing Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics in a Federal court.

They claim USA Gymnastics did not do enough to protect them.

Nassar’s former boss William Strampel, a former dean of MSU, has resigned from the University following charges of misconduct in office, sexual assault and two counts of willful neglect of duty.

According to the Journal article, Michigan State paid Weber Shandwick, a New York-based public-relations company, $517,343 (£369,108/€419,565) for more than 1,440 hours of work monitoring social media in the month of January.

Weber Shandwick assigned 18 employees with hourly rates ranging from $200 (£150/€160) to $600 (£400/€500) per hour to monitor the assignment.

Michigan State’s Office of Communication and Brand Strategy simultaneously kept tabs on the social media activities of certain high-profile victims and news agencies and journalists reporting on the case.

According to the report, "Summaries of articles and social media activity, including how much attention certain tweets or stories were getting online, were emailed to other MSU spokespeople or to top university officials.

"Later, once Weber Shandwick took over, emails were sent to MSU’s outside attorneys for the lawsuits related to Nassar."

Teenage gymnast Jake Moore was the first male to accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse ©Facebook
Teenage gymnast Jake Moore was the first male to accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse ©Facebook

On the morning of January 16, the first day of Nassar’s sentencing, a Weber Shandwick employee emailed the University regarding the role the victims played influencing public opinion.

The employee said, "Conversation around the upcoming sentencing and MSU’s role in the matter continues to be driven by victims of Nassar, their families and regional journalists," according to the Journal.

Rundowns of the previous day’s media coverage were also sent to former MSU President Lou Anna Simon, members of the Board of Trustees, and the university’s in-house attorneys, among others.

The Journal  wrote: "The firm detailed local and national coverage, and how much engagement (retweets and likes) tweets from victims, celebrities or journalists were getting."

Emails from Weber Shandwick employees also mentioned certain journalists by name, including reporters from BuzzFeed, The Detroit News, Michigan Radio, the Huffington Post, ABC News, USA Today, The Guardian, and ESPN, among others.

Additionally, Weber Shandwick notified MSU of which celebrities had voiced their support for the victims of Nassar, including Kristen Bell, a Michigan resident herself, and Chrissy Teigen.

On January 25, the day after Nassar was sentenced, a Weber Shandwick employee emailed MSU communications informing them that social media conversation had increased by 17 times in the previous 24 hours, with 381,000 mentions of MSU and Nassar together.