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What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

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Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#11

Post by at-fates-hands »

forgottenpass wrote: post #9

This is written by Jay Carney. Yes, that Jay Carney. Apparently he's working for Amazon now. Two months after Bezos' internal memo is "leaked" to the press saying that the Amazon in the NYT peice isn't the Amazon he knows, and that employees should email him directly if something like that happens. Now it's time for the offensive. Apparently two months is the amount of time you no longer have to pretend to care about…

>> This medium piece attacks the character of the NYT's source, which is comedy gold coming from someone who was paid to be a lying weaselly bastard, performing active disservice to the citizenry.

I started reading and got halfway through and went back to see who the author was and stopped at that point.

The one guy who doesn't have a shred of credibility attacking sources as less than credible? Unreal.

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#12

Post by whatok »

forgottenpass wrote: post #9

This is written by Jay Carney. Yes, that Jay Carney. Apparently he's working for Amazon now. Two months after Bezos' internal memo is "leaked" to the press saying that the Amazon in the NYT peice isn't the Amazon he knows, and that employees should email him directly if something like that happens. Now it's time for the offensive. Apparently two months is the amount of time you no longer have to pretend to care about…

Former Minister of Propaganda aside, if his account of one of the key sources of the story is true, it kinda affects how it should be perceived, right?

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#14

Post by chishaku »

whatok wrote: post #12
forgottenpass wrote: post #9

This is written by Jay Carney. Yes, that Jay Carney. Apparently he's working for Amazon now. Two months after Bezos' internal memo is "leaked" to the press saying that the Amazon in the NYT peice isn't the Amazon he knows, and that employees should email him directly if something like that happens. Now it's time for the offensive. Apparently two months is the amount of time you no longer have to pretend to care about…

Former Minister of Propaganda aside, if his account of one of the key sources of the story is true, it kinda affects how it should be perceived, right?

Right. How do we properly discern between professional bullshitters?

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#15

Post by CaptainZapp »

ams6110 wrote: post #5

Goes back at least as far as the 1980's, remember the Pulitzer Prize the Washington Post had to give up after one of their reporters literally made up a story about an 8 year old heroin addict. Just because it's in a major newspaper, don't believe reporting is evenly balanced or without an agenda.

Well, let's put it this way:

When I compare the credibility between the NYT and Amazon's chief PR flack, who does not hesitate to share internals from personnel records in order to smear former employees then I know who gets my vote.

Most certainly not Mister Carney, who I think can be rightfully described as a paid liar.

And I don't mean to imply that even the paper of record is free from problems (remember Jayson Blair?)

[edited for clarity]

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#16

Post by forgottenpass »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #8

While selective storytelling has been a staple of traditional news media for ages, this article does tempt me to ask: why Amazon? Of all the workaholic culture tech companies of the last 20 years, why did the New York Times choose to center the exposé on Amazon.com? My entirely baseless suspicion is that unlike many other tech companies, Amazon is a direct competitor in its ability to drive information to their custo…

The motivation you speculate on seems, uh, awfully complicated compared to "Newspaper airs dirty laundry of Fortune 29 company."

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#17

Post by whatok »

chishaku wrote: post #14
whatok wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Former Minister of Propaganda aside, if his account of one of the key sources of the story is true, it kinda affects how it should be perceived, right?

Right. How do we properly discern between professional bullshitters?

I would probably have to side with Amazon's account since it would be pretty easy for the person who resigned to sue for libel if it were not true. Don't think Amazon would want to expose themselves like that.

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#18

Post by enraged_camel »

dekhn wrote: post #10
ucaetano wrote: post #6

It's actually weird to see a company firing back this publicly, releasing performance data (no matter if positive or negative) on previous employees, and it all being posted not by the CEO or a HR VP, but by the head of PR. [Edit: Not only it smells of whitewashing, but it also looks deceptive. And PR? Seriously? Not only it's a sleazy piece, but Amazon chose the worst possible position to convey the message. Get som…

I predict they will take down this article and issue an apology.

It would be deliciously ironic if the apology also came from the PR department.

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#19

Post by jobu »

Even in job interviews, Amazon touts itself is an intense, high-energy place to work, and that was exactly what I saw in the NYT article. Some people can't handle that, and they were fired or left disgruntled. The fact that many of the quotes were from disgruntled workers was completely obvious, and going into the dirty details of their firings is pretty low.

The most damning claim of the NYT article that isn't addressed here is the lack of caring and support for people on parental leave, FMLA, and people going through major health issues (cancer, stillborn child). If the authors embellished on those claims then that would actually hurt the original article.

Re: What The New York Times Didn’t Say About Amazon

#20

Post by cryoshon »

"Senior Vice President for Global Corporate Affairs at Amazon. Previously, he served as White House Press Secretary and spent 20 years as a reporter for TIME."

A spin doctor doing his best to protect the people that pay him. Pay this article no mind; unrelated assaults on a source's character have no bearing on already established facts.

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