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When I read this, my first thought was "wow, this must have been really hard to anonymize, if he wasn't careful to remove/change enough details people could fig

When I read this, my first thought was "wow, this must have been really hard to anonymize, if he wasn't careful to remove/change enough details people could figure out who the garbage man is". Well, not so much... > So of course Sayyid was aware that I was researching and writing about him. At the same time, he is not literate, so there are serious limitations on his understanding of something like a New Yorker story. > I also considered whether to change his name or not use a photograph. But I don’t like to do that unless there are serious political risks. Inevitably, changing a name reduces the reality of the subject, and there’s more of a risk that the person comes across as a symbol or something half-real. (From https://www.facebook.com/41268348994/posts/pete-asked-me-to-post-this-regarding-his-recent-new-yorker-articlehi-im-not-on-f/10152490349503995/ https://www.facebook.com/41268348994/posts/pete-asked-me-to-... , which is a response to http://edgeeffects.net/tales-of-the-trash-response/ http://edgeeffects.net/tales-of-the-trash-response/ .) I feel the ethics here are really dubious.

chc 7y ago
It sounds like Sayyid knew about the story and it doesn't sound like Sayyid is trying to maintain any sort of anonymity, so what is the ethical problem you see here?
- qserasera 7y ago
  Perhaps Sayyid's ignorance of the consequences from such publicity
  - matthewowen 7y ago
    Did I miss something? What negative consequences were there?
  - np_tedious 7y ago
    This is kinda patronizing
mc32 7y ago
Yeah, it’s a stretch to say using an alias makes it less real or using a ruckenfigur picture takes away from the story. If the law allows for witness protection via alias, I can’t see something less real or genuine. As someone else had pointed out this man may not realize or care about the consequences of the publicity but the author does have a duty to care and I think he betrayed that duty here.
- chc 7y ago
  I'm trying to figure this out: What, specifically, is the duty you think he betrayed? It's pretty obviously not the case that authors have a duty to anonymize everybody they write about — I've never even heard a serious argument to that effect. Hessler said he considered whether there was likely to be negative consequences for Sayyid if he was identified in the story, and he didn't see any likelihood of that. There don't appear to have actually been negative consequences (at least, nobody has mentioned any), so it's hard make a strong case for negligence on that front.
  - mc32 7y ago
    So, to me a lot of what he (the sanitation worker) did wasn’t “official”. Also, he scavenged (and maybe it’s lucrative to him, if so it might interest others). It also mentions he does not observe religious orthodoxy. Someone could come along and try and argue he’s not fit for the job or worse. It’s like when writing s story about people on the periphery of society and most writers use pseudonyms for their subjects. It’s good courtesy and good practice.
    - neilv 7y ago
      I think you have a good thinking about journalistic practice here. It might mitigate hypothetical undesirable effects, in this case, to articulate some of the effect of the article on readers for whom the article was intended. For one example, for me, as a citizen of the US, where this article was published, I enjoyed this article, and it fostered a favorable impression of Cairo, by humanizing one of its people. In a movie, he would be a beloved character. I realize he is of humble circumstances, among a diversity of people in Cairo (we have such diversity in my own US city, too). I am glad he exists, and that his society permits him to find his own greatness of role, in his way. This gives me an impression of Cairo as good people, with whom to feel fellowship, a desire to travel there and to otherwise learn about and appreciate their culture, and with whom to have good international relations and engage in business/trade. I would be troubled to ever hear that any harm has come to this person, or that he has become unhappy.
616c 7y ago
He didn't anonymize shit by giving that street. It is a very specific neighborhood despite Cairo being a huge city.

chc 7y ago

It sounds like Sayyid knew about the story and it doesn't sound like Sayyid is trying to maintain any sort of anonymity, so what is the ethical problem you see here?

qserasera 7y ago
Perhaps Sayyid's ignorance of the consequences from such publicity
- matthewowen 7y ago
  Did I miss something? What negative consequences were there?
- np_tedious 7y ago
  This is kinda patronizing

mc32 7y ago

Yeah, it’s a stretch to say using an alias makes it less real or using a ruckenfigur picture takes away from the story. If the law allows for witness protection via alias, I can’t see something less real or genuine. As someone else had pointed out this man may not realize or care about the consequences of the publicity but the author does have a duty to care and I think he betrayed that duty here.

chc 7y ago
I'm trying to figure this out: What, specifically, is the duty you think he betrayed? It's pretty obviously not the case that authors have a duty to anonymize everybody they write about — I've never even heard a serious argument to that effect. Hessler said he considered whether there was likely to be negative consequences for Sayyid if he was identified in the story, and he didn't see any likelihood of that. There don't appear to have actually been negative consequences (at least, nobody has mentioned any), so it's hard make a strong case for negligence on that front.
- mc32 7y ago
  So, to me a lot of what he (the sanitation worker) did wasn’t “official”. Also, he scavenged (and maybe it’s lucrative to him, if so it might interest others). It also mentions he does not observe religious orthodoxy. Someone could come along and try and argue he’s not fit for the job or worse. It’s like when writing s story about people on the periphery of society and most writers use pseudonyms for their subjects. It’s good courtesy and good practice.
  - neilv 7y ago
    I think you have a good thinking about journalistic practice here. It might mitigate hypothetical undesirable effects, in this case, to articulate some of the effect of the article on readers for whom the article was intended. For one example, for me, as a citizen of the US, where this article was published, I enjoyed this article, and it fostered a favorable impression of Cairo, by humanizing one of its people. In a movie, he would be a beloved character. I realize he is of humble circumstances, among a diversity of people in Cairo (we have such diversity in my own US city, too). I am glad he exists, and that his society permits him to find his own greatness of role, in his way. This gives me an impression of Cairo as good people, with whom to feel fellowship, a desire to travel there and to otherwise learn about and appreciate their culture, and with whom to have good international relations and engage in business/trade. I would be troubled to ever hear that any harm has come to this person, or that he has become unhappy.

616c 7y ago

He didn't anonymize shit by giving that street. It is a very specific neighborhood despite Cairo being a huge city.