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All these tech "blogs" -- TechCrunch, VentureBeat, GigaOm, Mashable -- operate with real budget and hire real people who rely on real paychecks to go through th

All these tech "blogs" -- TechCrunch, VentureBeat, GigaOm, Mashable -- operate with real budget and hire real people who rely on real paychecks to go through the weeks. When you're playing with real money, it's not time or place to fuck around. When I was working at a big blog, the major takeaway I got was that everyone will be engaging in an inevitable attrition war. And in that war, many will pull some crazy shit to get to the top. The sites themselves need to continuously generate pageviews day after day. They need to posture and project that they're more and more influential. The biggest offender, consistently, has been TechCrunch. They publish stuff that has explicit no publish requests, they break embargoes that hinders around real businesses' launch times, and they censure over petty beef with another tech blog. Oh, don't forget the fact that TechCrunch is no longer about startups -- it's the new CNet, without the class and without the journalistic integrity.

neilc 18y ago
You think CNet has "class" and "journalistic integrity"? Wow.
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  For an organization of over 2000 people. Yes.
  - neilc 18y ago
    NYT, WaPo, and even CNN have considerably more class and integrity than CNet, IMHO -- and outside the media world, there are many organizations of 2000+ people I have more respect for.
- whatusername 18y ago
  compared to TC? Yes.
staunch 18y ago
That big blog you worked for was Valleywag...and you're complaining that TC lacks integrity.
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  For what it's worth -- having worked on the flipside -- Valleywag did uphold journalistic integrity to a better degree. VW protected and respected the wishes of the sources, fact-checked as much as we could with multiple sources -- it was especially hilarious watching people blame VW on this to try to get away with their bullshit, and respect amongst the other writers in the industry. I would suggest you try working for them for awhile but, meh, it doesn't really matter.
  - lacker 18y ago
    There's more to integrity than fact-checking. Valleywag built an audience on insults, gossip and scandal. I would not call that a great example of integrity.
    - seiji 18y ago
      Valleywag : The Daily Show :: TechCrunch : FoxNews
    - alaskamiller 18y ago
      Considering the publisher kept insisting it was a gossip rag that happened to have on board legit journalists that switched in and out of writing gossip, blind items, and poignant analysis... I'm not sure what to tell you.
  - iamelgringo 18y ago
    Ummm... Yeah... About Valley Wag respecting the wishes of the sources and fact-checking multiple sources. Not so much in my case. I wrote a comment here on HN about the Yahoo/Microsoft merger based on a conversation I had with a friend that worked at Yahoo. I made the mistake of posting some identifiable information about my friend. Valley Wag picked up my 7 line comment, and turned it in to two separate stories on the Yahoo/Microsoft merger. They sourced one article to my comment, and included identifiable information about my friend. The second article did some "analysis" and speculation based on the information obtained in the first article. I was worried that my fried would get laid off, so I wrote Valley Wag and politely asked them to remove identifiable information about my friend. I was stunned by the nastiness in response from Valley Wag. I was told that I maybe I should think before I post on HN, and they had the freedom of speech to post whatever they wanted, etc... It was my mistake that I posted the information, and if my friend lost his job because of what I said, it was my fault. PG was nice enough to edit the identifying information out of my comment. My friend did indeed get a pink slip, although I don't think it had anything to do with the Valley Wag stuff. And Valley Wag stories got banned here a few months later. @alaskamiller: My interactions weren't with you. So, no hard feelings. Next one is on me at Hackers and Founders. :)

neilc 18y ago

You think CNet has "class" and "journalistic integrity"? Wow.

alaskamiller 18y ago
For an organization of over 2000 people. Yes.
- neilc 18y ago
  NYT, WaPo, and even CNN have considerably more class and integrity than CNet, IMHO -- and outside the media world, there are many organizations of 2000+ people I have more respect for.
whatusername 18y ago
compared to TC? Yes.

staunch 18y ago

That big blog you worked for was Valleywag...and you're complaining that TC lacks integrity.

alaskamiller 18y ago
For what it's worth -- having worked on the flipside -- Valleywag did uphold journalistic integrity to a better degree. VW protected and respected the wishes of the sources, fact-checked as much as we could with multiple sources -- it was especially hilarious watching people blame VW on this to try to get away with their bullshit, and respect amongst the other writers in the industry. I would suggest you try working for them for awhile but, meh, it doesn't really matter.
- lacker 18y ago
  There's more to integrity than fact-checking. Valleywag built an audience on insults, gossip and scandal. I would not call that a great example of integrity.
  - seiji 18y ago
    Valleywag : The Daily Show :: TechCrunch : FoxNews
  - alaskamiller 18y ago
    Considering the publisher kept insisting it was a gossip rag that happened to have on board legit journalists that switched in and out of writing gossip, blind items, and poignant analysis... I'm not sure what to tell you.
- iamelgringo 18y ago
  Ummm... Yeah... About Valley Wag respecting the wishes of the sources and fact-checking multiple sources. Not so much in my case. I wrote a comment here on HN about the Yahoo/Microsoft merger based on a conversation I had with a friend that worked at Yahoo. I made the mistake of posting some identifiable information about my friend. Valley Wag picked up my 7 line comment, and turned it in to two separate stories on the Yahoo/Microsoft merger. They sourced one article to my comment, and included identifiable information about my friend. The second article did some "analysis" and speculation based on the information obtained in the first article. I was worried that my fried would get laid off, so I wrote Valley Wag and politely asked them to remove identifiable information about my friend. I was stunned by the nastiness in response from Valley Wag. I was told that I maybe I should think before I post on HN, and they had the freedom of speech to post whatever they wanted, etc... It was my mistake that I posted the information, and if my friend lost his job because of what I said, it was my fault. PG was nice enough to edit the identifying information out of my comment. My friend did indeed get a pink slip, although I don't think it had anything to do with the Valley Wag stuff. And Valley Wag stories got banned here a few months later. @alaskamiller: My interactions weren't with you. So, no hard feelings. Next one is on me at Hackers and Founders. :)