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Is it correct that, from my reading, the authors did not speak to Mike Rothenberg before publishing this piece? If so I'm forced to categorize this more as goss

by Kinnard 10y ago

Is it correct that, from my reading, the authors did not speak to Mike Rothenberg before publishing this piece? If so I'm forced to categorize this more as gossip and speculation than as balanced investigative journalism. It's clear that there are problems. But I'd rather see problems identified and corrected than aired as dirty laundry.

smacktoward 10y ago
Read all the way to the end. > At 6:30 on a recent Wednesday night, Rothenberg offered to give one of Backchannel’s reporters, Lauren Smiley, a tour of his Folsom Street office. I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. An inbox check yielded an email just then from Rothenberg’s crisis communications flack: “Mike just called me and is slammed with some deadlines. He’d love to show you the office but overcommitted himself.” Soon after, an executive assistant I recognized from LinkedIn answered the door, and asked if I had an appointment. She showed me upstairs to the lobby. Rothenberg came out briefly in office casual to politely say he was on a call with an investor, and retreated to his corner office... Waiting for Rothenberg to get off the phone, the assistant handed me a HTC Vive VR headset, and cued a video by Wevr, one of the fund’s portfolio companies. Fitting it over my head, I found myself undersea in an underwater cage... I took the headset off, and was back in a nearly abandoned Rothenberg office, where I told the assistant I’d show myself out. Rothenberg remained behind his office door, talking away.
- Kinnard 10y ago
  I read the whole piece. Not buying it. 1) When did the authors reach out for comment 2) What was the response The authors craftily imply that they reached out, but did they? >At 6:30 on a recent Wednesday night, Rothenberg offered to give one of Backchannel’s reporters, Lauren Smiley, a tour of his Folsom Street office. Did they just ask for a tour of the office? Was this last Wednesday? Did they reach out for comment subsequently? Furthermore, I can't Imagine that Mike is not actually completely swamped . . . Asking to reschedule is not refusing to comment.

by Kinnard 10y ago

smacktoward 10y ago

Read all the way to the end. > At 6:30 on a recent Wednesday night, Rothenberg offered to give one of Backchannel’s reporters, Lauren Smiley, a tour of his Folsom Street office. I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. An inbox check yielded an email just then from Rothenberg’s crisis communications flack: “Mike just called me and is slammed with some deadlines. He’d love to show you the office but overcommitted himself.” Soon after, an executive assistant I recognized from LinkedIn answered the door, and asked if I had an appointment. She showed me upstairs to the lobby. Rothenberg came out briefly in office casual to politely say he was on a call with an investor, and retreated to his corner office... Waiting for Rothenberg to get off the phone, the assistant handed me a HTC Vive VR headset, and cued a video by Wevr, one of the fund’s portfolio companies. Fitting it over my head, I found myself undersea in an underwater cage... I took the headset off, and was back in a nearly abandoned Rothenberg office, where I told the assistant I’d show myself out. Rothenberg remained behind his office door, talking away.

Kinnard 10y ago
I read the whole piece. Not buying it. 1) When did the authors reach out for comment 2) What was the response The authors craftily imply that they reached out, but did they? >At 6:30 on a recent Wednesday night, Rothenberg offered to give one of Backchannel’s reporters, Lauren Smiley, a tour of his Folsom Street office. Did they just ask for a tour of the office? Was this last Wednesday? Did they reach out for comment subsequently? Furthermore, I can't Imagine that Mike is not actually completely swamped . . . Asking to reschedule is not refusing to comment.