Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media • Hacker News Board

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#41

Post by savanaly » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

I was a very loyal reader of SSC and thought I followed the "doxing" incident and fallout rather closely. I read numerous related blog posts about it and followed the discussion on the main remaining discussion space the community has, /r/slatestarcodex.

Never once did I see the comments of said "Bay Area attorney" or Srinivasan, or see them discussed. It's certainly possible they were there and I missed them, but they weren't so important that it was impossible to miss them either. It's these ones the article focuses on because they went overboard in striking back at the NYT in a way not really consistent with the principles of Scott or SSC, in my opinion anyways.

A shame this article is basically trying to use those few hotheads to tar and feather the whole community.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#42

Post by dvtrn » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

cwp wrote: post #26

This is fascinating. It's a New York take on the Bay Area take on New York. It's the Media take on the Tech take on Media. It's illuminating, and frustrating. I keep looking for some reflection, some attempt to learn something from another point of view. I'll have to read it again more closely.

I had a very similar take (probably not precise), and like you I'm about to start a second reading, to say "this is a fascinating read to me, personally" must come with the caveat lector that I'm not making any value judgements.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#43

Post by mc32 » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

isoprophlex wrote: post #6

NYT can talk a big talk but... if your source wants to remain anonymous, why still expose them? What a sorry excuse for journalism.

Yes and there’re examples of their making exceptions to their “rule” when they want to.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#44

Post by samirillian » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

Am I the only one who feels like this is just posturing on both sides?

SSC seems to want both fame and anonymity. The New York Times calling him controversial is more self fulfilling prophecy than truth. Both sides seem pretty absurd.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#45

Post by NicolasGorden » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

tripletao wrote: post #28

What an ugly article. A couple quotes: > It remains possible that Alexander vaporized his blog not because he thought it would force Metz’s hand but because he feared that a Times reporter wouldn’t have to poke around for very long to turn up a creditable reason for negative coverage. The reporter is unaware that the Internet Archive exists? The content is obviously still readily available, so the reporter is either…

It's disingenuous, he knows the blog posts are compiled into an ebook and says as much.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#46

Post by mrkurt » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

NicolasGorden wrote: post #38

mrkurt wrote: post #4

Watching people who hate cancel culture try to cancel the NYT is hilarious. Watching them try to cancel individual NYT writers is gross. All because Scott Alexander retroactively decided his last name is private information and threw a tantrum.

I feel motive is important. Was there backlash because the NYT published an opinion some disagree with? Or was PPI going to be exposed that hurt a medical professional maintain his practice? I think one carries a very real reason for backlash. The other, not so much. Also, what was being requested? Did Scott make this personal and ask for someone to get fired? If he did, equating this with actions like that makes sen…

Personal information that Scott Alexander _already published_ was going to be republished. He's published all his own personal info repeatedly for years.

Deleting a site you've posted on thousands of times is a quality tantrum.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#47

Post by cinntaile » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

dvaun wrote: post #5

If you enjoy reading SSC and want to show some form of support, consider adding your signature to the petition[0]. It's a small thing to do and only takes a little time to complete. [0]: https://www.dontdoxscottalexander.com/

An additional way to protest against their decision is to block nytimes.com on your devices. If you use adguard, nextdns or pihole this is easy to do. If a lot of people do this it will have a big impact, their links get posted a lot here on HN!

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#48

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

wwright wrote: post #17

mediadude wrote: post #7

>Alexander, whose role has been to help explain Silicon Valley to itself, was taken up as a mascot and a martyr in a struggle against the Times, which, in the tweets of Srinivasan, Graham, and others, was enlisted as a proxy for all of the gatekeepers—the arbiters of what it is and is not O.K. to say, and who is allowed, by virtue of their identity, to say it. Oh, the irony! The same journalists who report primarily,…

Could you point me to an era of journalism where it wasn't largely used to condemn certain figures over their words or actions?

[deleted]

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#49

Post by ajkjk » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

tripletao wrote: post #28

What an ugly article. A couple quotes: > It remains possible that Alexander vaporized his blog not because he thought it would force Metz’s hand but because he feared that a Times reporter wouldn’t have to poke around for very long to turn up a creditable reason for negative coverage. The reporter is unaware that the Internet Archive exists? The content is obviously still readily available, so the reporter is either…

It didn't strike me as ugly as all.

Re: Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valley’s War Against the Media

#50

Post by MattGaiser » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

alex_young wrote: post #13

Can you really be both a public figure and keep your identity hidden by way of asking? There’s a playbook for this. Look at Banksy for example. If you don’t want your identity out there it’s your job to protect it. Not the New York Times.

NYT knows who Banksy is. He gets to have anonymity.