4 ms·

Well then in that case, can we ask the likes of Pando and Gawker to disclose at the beginning of their accounts that they were not actually at the dinner and al

by dkrich 12y ago

Well then in that case, can we ask the likes of Pando and Gawker to disclose at the beginning of their accounts that they were not actually at the dinner and all information is based on second-hand accounts? Maybe if they are feeling extra generous admit that they have a vendetta and personal bias against Uber because the CEO made a reference to "boobs" in an interview? Something that most people in the real world, I have to tell you, probably don't actually care about.

mattmanser 12y ago
Uh, news stories are based on accounts. Are you saying every news story should start "I wasn't there, but a reliable source told me'? Because that would get tiresome very quickly.
- dkrich 12y ago
  Uh, no, it was a rhetorical question. I'm saying that if we want to make some special case that the author must disclose that she knows the subject of her article before describing what she witnessed first-hand, then we should maybe recognize the fact that all other people reporting on this topic with so much certainty as to what happened weren't actually there. If you read pretty much any Pando article you will find that all citations to past articles seemingly supporting the main thesis are actually other poorly-researched stories written by other Pando authors. After all, how reliable is a source who is a writer for BuzzFeed? Here's one example of sensationalist headlines masquerading as journalism from a cursory scan of the front page (yes, he is citing a BuzzFeed article that is apparently citing an internal memo that despite some crafty sensationalist language, is doing nothing more than outlining plans to hire an internal research department). Is this somebody who has a less-biased view of the situation that the HuffPo author? http://pando.com/news/uber-sought-to-hire-opposition-researcher-to-weaponize-facts/ http://pando.com/news/uber-sought-to-hire-opposition-researc...
  - mattmanser 12y ago
    Nicole Campbell is not a journalist, so yes, very different standards apply to her when she is given a voice in a newspaper. She has no career to lose and so must be far more open about her relationship. It's bizarre that HuffPo thought it was even appropriate to publish the story given that relationship, in traditional newspapers you would expect it to appear in the letters section not as an article.

by dkrich 12y ago

mattmanser 12y ago

Uh, news stories are based on accounts. Are you saying every news story should start "I wasn't there, but a reliable source told me'? Because that would get tiresome very quickly.

dkrich 12y ago
Uh, no, it was a rhetorical question. I'm saying that if we want to make some special case that the author must disclose that she knows the subject of her article before describing what she witnessed first-hand, then we should maybe recognize the fact that all other people reporting on this topic with so much certainty as to what happened weren't actually there. If you read pretty much any Pando article you will find that all citations to past articles seemingly supporting the main thesis are actually other poorly-researched stories written by other Pando authors. After all, how reliable is a source who is a writer for BuzzFeed? Here's one example of sensationalist headlines masquerading as journalism from a cursory scan of the front page (yes, he is citing a BuzzFeed article that is apparently citing an internal memo that despite some crafty sensationalist language, is doing nothing more than outlining plans to hire an internal research department). Is this somebody who has a less-biased view of the situation that the HuffPo author? http://pando.com/news/uber-sought-to-hire-opposition-researcher-to-weaponize-facts/ http://pando.com/news/uber-sought-to-hire-opposition-researc...
- mattmanser 12y ago
  Nicole Campbell is not a journalist, so yes, very different standards apply to her when she is given a voice in a newspaper. She has no career to lose and so must be far more open about her relationship. It's bizarre that HuffPo thought it was even appropriate to publish the story given that relationship, in traditional newspapers you would expect it to appear in the letters section not as an article.