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Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

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Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#191

Post by Edmontonian »

The most recent Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism (Glenn Greenwald) says journalism is an "adversarial" process. However, adversarial is by nature a two way street. Journalists who go digging into the lives of people and businesses need to be prepared for adversarial response.

If I'm a business owner that's being investigated by a journalist, I want to find out the who, what, where, when and why.

I am entitled to investigate the people who are investigating me.

journalism startups are businesses. they make money by investigating businesses like uber. Uber is entitled to investigate in return

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#192

Post by nailer »

thesystemis wrote: post #91
nailer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not in any way 'like' blaming people for being raped.

sorry I respectfully disagree -- here a SVP of a company is essentially saying, "by recommending people to not use my product, you are responsible if they get assaulted" -- it's essentially shifting the blame around a sex crime in a way that to my eyes really minimizes who is responsible for such crimes, the perpetrators. It's also such a flippant remark that it seems to me to show a callous indifference to what it m…

Lacy says Uber make her feel unsafe. Using the same deeply flawed logic, doesn't that feel like shifting the blame around a sex crime in a way that really minimizes who is responsible for such crimes, the perpetrators?

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#193

Post by just2n »

wpietri wrote: post #123
nailer wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible he's pissed of at Sarah Lacy for reasons other than that she's a woman.

Well, he's pissed at a woman journalist accusing his company of sexism and misogyny. He said so. This is already a gendered incident. So sure, it's possible that he'd also talk about destroying a male journalist for the same thing. Heck, it's possible that he has the bodies of a dozen journalists, all male, buried in his back yard. But given that this was already about sexism and misogyny, given Uber's notoriously do…

It's not gendered. A reporter discussed supposed sexism and misogyny at a company. The man is frustrated because it's probably untrue, but we don't have a clear picture because the press has been sensationalizing anything anti-Uber for a while now, and no credible evidence is ever presented.

That doesn't make his response or anything about it gendered. It doesn't matter who slanders, it's frustrating when it happens, and joking about digging up dirt to do the exact same thing back to a journalist so they know what it feels like is tantamount to wishing an abusive person would some day get to know what being on the receiving end of that feels like.

Also, you should really check your sources about harassment on the internet. Prominent men are harassed more often and more violently than prominent women. It's a recently constructed myth that's been hyped up by the media over the past few months that the internet is an especially hostile place for women.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#194

Post by just2n »

morganvachon wrote: post #136
just2n wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a major story. It's an out-of-context clickbait dressed recount of a hypothetical story painted by a frustrated man at a private dinner. If there was a criminal suit filed along side the allegations made, perhaps you'd have a major story. This is just another in a long line of hit pieces that seem to have no basis in reality.

I'll respectfully disagree. There's nothing "hypothetical" about it, the guy laid out a budget and a game plan for targeted harassment and intimidation of journalists who dared to write negative press. There were multiple high-profile witnesses, and after it all came to light, he called and then emailed the journalist he threatened, to apologize profusely. This is just one more event in a long history of Uber being a…

Even the author of the story said it was hypothetical. Multiple times.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#195

Post by just2n »

grayarea wrote: post #107
just2n wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a major story. It's an out-of-context clickbait dressed recount of a hypothetical story painted by a frustrated man at a private dinner. If there was a criminal suit filed along side the allegations made, perhaps you'd have a major story. This is just another in a long line of hit pieces that seem to have no basis in reality.

It's OK for frustrated people to threaten children now?

There's nothing in this article alleging that. There is someone in the comments here who has been vehemently anti-Uber on other social media who makes the claim, though.

Let's get facts before we throw around slanderous accusations. Or even apply some basic reasoning.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#196

Post by trevorhartman »

justinv wrote: post #2

Personally, I've stopped using Uber because of the lack of the company/management's lack of ethics. Lyft comes off as a much friendly, consumer-focused company & frankly, my experiences have been better in a Lyft than an UberX. Also - I'm not one to usually browse Buzzfeed, but this was their story to break, so props to them for getting it out there.

I don't want to sit in the front seat and I hate those stupid mustaches.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#197

Post by andy_ppp »

imanaccount247 wrote: post #177
andy_ppp wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber has now been deleted from my phone. I hope others consider doing the same.

I just downloaded it to support them. The more absurd the PC bullshit gets, the more the rest of us will push back just to spite you. I can't wait for my new shirt to arrive.

It's not PC it's called the free market? If I don't like Uber I have the choice not to use them.

Anyway, watch this :-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmsV1TuESrc

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#198

Post by hkmurakami »

potatolicious wrote: post #83
tim333 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should probably fire Emil Michael or similar. The "spending 'a million dollars' to hire four top opposition researchers and four journalists. .... they’d look into “your personal lives, your families,” and give the media a taste of its own medicine" proposal is a bit out of order. The money to throw $1m around that kind of way comes from Google and like investors and they could object that they don't want to be…

Given the Benny Hill-esque series of blunders by Uber in recent memory, I'm not sure it's safe to think that Emil Michael and his behavior is the exception at Uber, rather than the rule, and that firing him would rid them of this type of behavior/culture. And given the publicly documented exploits of Travis Kalanick I think there's a strong case to be made that Uber's toxic culture comes from the top.

>I think there's a strong case to be made that Uber's toxic culture comes from the top.

Culture always comes from the top, toxic or otherwise, imho.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#199

Post by nailer »

Asparagirl wrote: post #146
DontBeADick wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uber explicitly talked about going after reporters' families. > The obvious implication is that they were going after her kids. Obvious implication? I think it's more of a convenient assumption you're making to suit your own personal grudge against Uber. The comments he made were clearly idiotic, but your eagerness to interpret them in the most extreme and sensational way possible is no better.

Please explain the NON "extreme and sensational" way to interpret comments talking about spending one million dollars to target, intimidate, and smear the press and to dig up dirt on their families. What's really cute is that even Uber doesn't even deny that this happened. No, that's all on you, dear HN commenter.

Didn't the parent post already explain? The journalist writes details about people personal lives for a tech gossip site. The Uber person is non seriously (even accordion to the article) musing over what would happen if the company was to do the same thing back. No conspiracy theory needed.

Re: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt on Journalists

#200

Post by hkmurakami »

schuman wrote: post #71
tim333 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should probably fire Emil Michael or similar. The "spending 'a million dollars' to hire four top opposition researchers and four journalists. .... they’d look into “your personal lives, your families,” and give the media a taste of its own medicine" proposal is a bit out of order. The money to throw $1m around that kind of way comes from Google and like investors and they could object that they don't want to be…

App was a great step forward, but it's clear they have a poisoned culture. Emil isn't a bad apple, he's the same as the rest of the barrel.

Perhaps this is not a case of a barrel full of rotten apples, but a barrel full of durians.
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