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Moviefone's response: http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-to-the-techcrunch-post/ http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-

by zakj 16y ago

Moviefone's response: http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-to-the-techcrunch-post/ http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-to-...

MJR 16y ago
This is important: We never told TechCrunch to change the post in any way. Then to quote the letter: I think their issue is just with some of the text. Let me know if you're able to take another look at it and make any edits. That's a very PC way of saying change the post. They sounded like they expected compliance. They're expectations were wrong.
- synnik 16y ago
  And immediately following that quote: "so if you have good reasons not to change anything that’s fine" It sounds like they expected nothing and this was a CYA email, knowing TechCrunch would not comply, but allowing them to say, "We tried."
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Yeah, this is common. Otherwise this moviefone rep gets grief for not even talking to the author. Now the moviefone rep can say, I talked to her and she's not making the edits.
lwat 16y ago
'We're just the messenger!'
- jedsmith 16y ago
  ...but not the pawn!
- TillE 16y ago
  Yeah, that's a pretty awful defence. Passing it along and especially asking for a response is, if not tacit endorsement of the message ("Let me know if you're able to take another look at it and make any edits."), certainly implied pressure on the reviewer. The ethical thing to do would be to say, with slightly nicer words, "sorry, we don't interfere with TechCrunch, we didn't publish the review, go tell them yourselves."
radicaldreamer 16y ago
No response would've been better than that response.
- latch 16y ago
  I dunno. I read the tech crunch piece, and felt like Moviefone/AOL were in the wrong. Now that I've read Moviefone's response, the whole thing seems overblown. They didn't threaten them with respect to future access. They didn't demand anything. They weren't rude or antagonizing. They just asked for a change. To me, it now seems like they did exactly what they ought to given how they probably felt.
  - Devilboy 16y ago
    You don't ask journalists to change their articles to make the subject look good. That's just NOT ok, even without the explicit threat.
    - latch 16y ago
      On the one hand, you're right (and I appreciate the response rather than the downvote!). On the other hand... I'm an amateur writer (I admit, this is far from a journalist). Sometimes I'm just wrong, or I write something that ends up coming across differently than I expected. I always welcome feedback, even if I disagree with it, or I think it might be driven by some bias. It doesn't mean that I'm going to change it. But without such feedback, I'm not sure I'd ever get better. I guess I'm worried that in your world, journalist would be living in an ivory tower. This constantly happens. People submit editorials with their opinion about what others wrote. People write-in to journalist all the time - to agree or disagree. A movie review isn't an objective piece of pure journalism. It's much more of a subjective editorial, and as such, should be open to far more feedback.
      - Devilboy 16y ago
        There's a difference between feedback and 'change your article'.
kj12345 16y ago
What a classic strawman response. TechCrunch says Moviefone "asked us to change our post". Movefone responds "We never told TechCrunch to change the post in any way". But Moviefone very obviously did "ask", which was the original accusation.
noibl 16y ago
"We never told..." "We would never force..." Much stronger language than Tsotsis used, most of whose post didn't even talk about Moviefone. Protesting too much. Also, I'd love to know how the presence on staff of someone whose job it is to relay concerns from PR agents to journalists from a separate publication "is just one means we have of ensuring editorial integrity on Moviefone".
leif 16y ago
"Filed under: Hot Topic" heh heh

by zakj 16y ago

Moviefone's response: http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-to-the-techcrunch-post/ http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/15/moviefones-response-to-...

MJR 16y ago

This is important: We never told TechCrunch to change the post in any way. Then to quote the letter: I think their issue is just with some of the text. Let me know if you're able to take another look at it and make any edits. That's a very PC way of saying change the post. They sounded like they expected compliance. They're expectations were wrong.

synnik 16y ago
And immediately following that quote: "so if you have good reasons not to change anything that’s fine" It sounds like they expected nothing and this was a CYA email, knowing TechCrunch would not comply, but allowing them to say, "We tried."
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Yeah, this is common. Otherwise this moviefone rep gets grief for not even talking to the author. Now the moviefone rep can say, I talked to her and she's not making the edits.

lwat 16y ago

'We're just the messenger!'

jedsmith 16y ago
...but not the pawn!
TillE 16y ago
Yeah, that's a pretty awful defence. Passing it along and especially asking for a response is, if not tacit endorsement of the message ("Let me know if you're able to take another look at it and make any edits."), certainly implied pressure on the reviewer. The ethical thing to do would be to say, with slightly nicer words, "sorry, we don't interfere with TechCrunch, we didn't publish the review, go tell them yourselves."

radicaldreamer 16y ago

No response would've been better than that response.

latch 16y ago
I dunno. I read the tech crunch piece, and felt like Moviefone/AOL were in the wrong. Now that I've read Moviefone's response, the whole thing seems overblown. They didn't threaten them with respect to future access. They didn't demand anything. They weren't rude or antagonizing. They just asked for a change. To me, it now seems like they did exactly what they ought to given how they probably felt.
- Devilboy 16y ago
  You don't ask journalists to change their articles to make the subject look good. That's just NOT ok, even without the explicit threat.
  - latch 16y ago
    On the one hand, you're right (and I appreciate the response rather than the downvote!). On the other hand... I'm an amateur writer (I admit, this is far from a journalist). Sometimes I'm just wrong, or I write something that ends up coming across differently than I expected. I always welcome feedback, even if I disagree with it, or I think it might be driven by some bias. It doesn't mean that I'm going to change it. But without such feedback, I'm not sure I'd ever get better. I guess I'm worried that in your world, journalist would be living in an ivory tower. This constantly happens. People submit editorials with their opinion about what others wrote. People write-in to journalist all the time - to agree or disagree. A movie review isn't an objective piece of pure journalism. It's much more of a subjective editorial, and as such, should be open to far more feedback.
    - Devilboy 16y ago
      There's a difference between feedback and 'change your article'.

kj12345 16y ago

What a classic strawman response. TechCrunch says Moviefone "asked us to change our post". Movefone responds "We never told TechCrunch to change the post in any way". But Moviefone very obviously did "ask", which was the original accusation.

noibl 16y ago

"We never told..." "We would never force..." Much stronger language than Tsotsis used, most of whose post didn't even talk about Moviefone. Protesting too much. Also, I'd love to know how the presence on staff of someone whose job it is to relay concerns from PR agents to journalists from a separate publication "is just one means we have of ensuring editorial integrity on Moviefone".

leif 16y ago

"Filed under: Hot Topic" heh heh