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Some things need to change

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Re: Some things need to change

#201

Post by brandnewlow »

Ok. Here comes another opinion.

Maybe Arrington should not work from his home to save money. He can't secure it. It's unsafe.

Maybe it's ok if Arrington has to hire security for his workplace. Every newspaper in the country does this because they publish things that would get people shot, maimed, kidnapped or worse. Arrington's stuff runs in the Washington Post and is very influential in a major industry sector. Why is he surprised that people would come after him? He's got money and can make or break people's careers.

Is the spitting lame? Sure. But welcome to the big leagues dude. If you want to call yourself a news organization and play hardball, there's a price that comes with it.

Perhaps this is more about bloggers coming up against the problems that face traditional news organizations rather than a new problem in the industry.

Re: Some things need to change

#202

Post by Harkins »

smhinsey wrote: post #149
Harkins wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally Arrington hasn't been respected by the journalists I've met. He covers companies and fields he has a direct financial interest in, he's OK with posting rumor and innuendo, and he can be sensationalist. The first one is a big problem, the others are mostly style things. Faking photos like http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/27/cal-to-offer-course-in-... is totally uncool. (I'm not speaking here about my cowork…

Sounds like we might work for the same news organization with a content sharing agreement with TC. I was appalled/not surprised at all when that happened.

I wasn't trying to keep it secret; I've just already mentioned in other comments that I work at the Washington Post. Most of what I was relating I've heard from other journalists I've met, I just haven't really talked to any coworkers about Arrington/TC.

Re: Some things need to change

#203

Post by redrobot5050 »

xenophanes wrote: post #166
jerf wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not their job. Police respond to things, but they are basically not allowed to be proactive, barring a riot. There's a ton of reasons for this, including that without an actual law broken tailing this guy could be construed as police harassment, would likely involve a violation of some Constitutional right or other, and, of course, the real reason, that they simply don't have time for that sort of thing. Whe…

But making death threats is not a right. It's a crime. I really don't understand all the apologizing for law enforcement that refuses to enforce the law in this case. The victim was harmed a lot, and still no one wants to see the crook stopped?

If they were made over the internet, it might take a Federal Law Enforcement Officer (FBI or U.S. Marshal) to make the arrest or get the arrest warrant. I believe interstate death treats become a federal manner.

And with all due respect to TC and Mike, it often takes "pull" to get Federal law enforcement involved. They handle all the "big fish". For example, if your start up was hacked, they would be the ones to call, but they won't move on anything less than $50,000 or $500,0000 worth of damages.

Disclaimer: IANAL and IANALEO.

Re: Some things need to change

#204

Post by redrobot5050 »

pg wrote: post #124
hk wrote: post #15

Spitting in his face is going a bit far, but it's pretty difficult for me to feel sympathy for the guy. I struggle to think of a more dislikable, arrogant jerk. This belated plea for human-to-human sympathy falls on deaf ears, for me at least. In my group, Arrington symbolises everything we hate about the "Web 2.0" greed culture. He's relentlessly promoted himself as the gatekeeper to this bullshit world of easy VC m…

I know Arrington, and he's much nicer than you sound. Can you give an example where he's said anything even half as nasty about anyone as you've just said about him? From the way you describe your beef with him, it sounds as if you're making up a personality for him-- that you're projecting onto him your bitterness about "Web 2.0 greed culture." You're wrong about that too, incidentally.

Also, "Web 2.0 Greed Culture"...really?

There are a lot of faster, easier ways to make money if you're greedy. Before the crash, I'd say go into finance and become an i-banker.

Web 2.0 start ups -- especially one seeking seed money and boot strapping -- are seeking more responsibility than they are wealth. It still has that "selling t-shirts on the internet" feeling: a) Everyone is doing it. b)It feels like a good idea. c) Its not really known if people can make money from doing it.

Re: Some things need to change

#205

Post by smhinsey »

Harkins wrote: post #202
smhinsey wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like we might work for the same news organization with a content sharing agreement with TC. I was appalled/not surprised at all when that happened.

I wasn't trying to keep it secret; I've just already mentioned in other comments that I work at the Washington Post. Most of what I was relating I've heard from other journalists I've met, I just haven't really talked to any coworkers about Arrington/TC.

Are you in DC? I'm in the Arlington office for the time being.

Re: Some things need to change

#206

Post by JabavuAdams »

jeroen wrote: post #195
zhyder wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actresses, singers and presidents are a little different though. Actresses/singers want much of the popularity, but struggle to maintain the right balance. And presidents -well- many folks have logical reasons to want them dead. I can't see the logic behind wanting Michael Arrington dead though, and I don't think he wants to be popular himself (as much as to make his blog/events popular). And somehow I hope our indus…

How can wanting someone dead ever be logical? I understand not liking someone, or disagreeing with their policies, but wanting them dead seems a bit extreme.

I don't think "logical" means what you think it does. Are you sure you don't mean "moral", or "acceptable"?

Do you believe there are any cases where one could justifiably kill in self-defense, or are you a pure pacifist?

Re: Some things need to change

#208

Post by rivo »

Doing something like TechCrunch in an ever-growing Internet startup world, Arrington is (wrongly) perceived as a deciding factor to success, as a God to some, maybe even. Although it's wrong, I'm not surprised this happened.

Re: Some things need to change

#209

Post by Retric »

yters wrote: post #175
Retric wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is an entertainer in that he leverages popularity to make money.

What company doesn't require popularity to make money? That's an exceedingly broad use of "entertainer."

I meant that as a complement. I think an "entertainer" is not just a random actor, singer, or blogger, but someone who does those things and makes real money from it. To do that generally takes leveraging popularity. Granted you can make a living as a backup dancer, but I think he has separated himself from the herd.
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