Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An upcoming story about Coinbase

blog.coinbase.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 320 posts

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#91

Post by whakim »

drewbug01 wrote: post #27

Well, the whole press release / internal email smells of a company desperately trying to spin what they expect to be a very, very bad article. But this line jumped out at me twice: > To be specific: Although the story will likely allege that a number of Black employees and contractors referenced in the story filed complaints with the company, only three of these people filed complaints during their time at Coinbase.…

Agreed. The entire post is filled with vague language, such as talking about what the story will "imply".

Also, I think it goes without saying that there are plenty of very understandable reasons why people don't file complaints even though they have very legitimate grievances (which allows companies to stand on such technicalities). So we'll see.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#92

Post by peteretep »

roenxi wrote: post #69
peteretep wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when you get accused of racism, what can you even do? Make sure nobody has any examples of you being racist

That is unlikely to work. You may have heard of implicit bias [0]? A case can be made that you were born a racist and you have to prove that you have shaken yourself free from your racist beginnings. I personally think it is a silly case, but 'well, just don't be racist' is a silly defense - so maybe they'll work well together. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_stereotype

Anybody can accuse you of anything, it’s true, but accusations of racism without specific allegations of racist behaviours or actions are rarely reported in NYT.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#93

Post by nullc »

nlh wrote: post #38
gpm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how the nyt feels about them posting it publicly? Is that something that's going to make them reconsider sharing details in future stories? (I think it was probably the right choice either way given how serious the allegations appear to be, so this is just idle curiosity on my part).

> Is that something that's going to make them reconsider sharing details in future stories? It's a fair question, but I doubt it. While getting a hot scoop and dropping it with a bang is something that feels good (and sells papers, so to speak), it's not the driving force behind how a professional news org works. The NYT is a professional news org. One of the things a professional news orgs does is fact check, get st…

The New York times is not a professional news org. They do not, in fact, fact check, get statements, or give their subjects a chance to respond, at least not consistently.

When Nathaniel Popper wrote a hit piece substantially targeting me personally he (and NYT's fact checkers-- if they exist/were-involved at all) diligently avoided having any communication with anyone who could possibly contradict his narrative, including, of course, those he targeted. Not even the classic "email to an unmonitored mailbox 20 minutes before going to print to accompany a 'could not be reached for comment'" so often used in the industry and it isn't like he didn't know how to reach me.

The subsequent apology I got from a times board member was only a small consolation.

My experiences are not dissimilar to others I've talked to that have been the targets of hit pieces in the NYT.

In my view the NYT is a garbage venue that is callously indifferent to the truth at best.

At least coinbase knew this was coming, often NYT targets don't enjoy even that small piece of human decency.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#94

Post by ovao »

flowerlad wrote: post #73
ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #10

It's really really hard to prove your not racist. If anyone has any clue as how to do so, please share. They could have waited until the story was published I guess to share this statement, but publishing it preemptively makes sense too I believe (it's an always open entity that is incredibly easy to switch away from). But truly, when you get accused of racism, what can you even do?

> It's really really hard to prove your not racist. If anyone has any clue as how to do so, please share. If you have been accused of racism that's because somebody has an example of you being racist. If you did not have racist intent you can clarify your intent. Simply claiming you're not a racist won't do because pretty much everyone accused of racism makes that claim (example: central park dog walker, or any other…

That’s not accurate to say. A person may be accused of racism due to a misperception (or even fabrication) from another person’s perspective, and in such a case that’s not “an example of being racist”.

Anyone can accuse anyone of anything; that’s not sufficient to suggest that the accused must be guilty on some level.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#95

Post by jolux »

roenxi wrote: post #69
peteretep wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when you get accused of racism, what can you even do? Make sure nobody has any examples of you being racist

That is unlikely to work. You may have heard of implicit bias [0]? A case can be made that you were born a racist and you have to prove that you have shaken yourself free from your racist beginnings. I personally think it is a silly case, but 'well, just don't be racist' is a silly defense - so maybe they'll work well together. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_stereotype

Implicit bias is extremely hard to argue in the absence of other examples of racist behavior. In the court of public opinion, well. I think you're doing well as a baseline if the only arguments someone can make are about implicit bias. An accusation of implicit bias is far easier to defend against than one of racial abuse.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#96

Post by barry-cotter »

QuinnyPig wrote: post #44

I’m skeptical. I’ve worked with the NYT on a few stories; they’re incredibly thorough, and don’t publish unsubstantiated trash.

> If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. Cardinal Richelieu

There’s no need to lie in a hit piece. You can select your material, shade the truth and quote people who hate your subject on their opinions. Lying leaves you open to libel and slander too.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#97

Post by wonderwonder »

wilg wrote: post #46
rlt wrote: post #34

Seems like someone at NYT wasn’t happy with Coinbase’s recent rejection of the politicization of the workplace ( https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-a-mission-focused-comp... )

I would argue that your framing of that situation is itself politicized!

He is probably correct though. Often times a company or person will do something that catches attention, this then provides an opportunity for a story on a subject that people are already aware of and drives interest.

If Coinbase had not published the prior memo, this article would likely have not been written. Was it written by someone with an axe to grind, I don't know (maybe) but the odds of the article being greenlit were definitely juiced due to coinbase garnering attention and most critically, divided attention via their publication.

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#98

Post by chipotle_coyote »

rlt wrote: post #34

Seems like someone at NYT wasn’t happy with Coinbase’s recent rejection of the politicization of the workplace ( https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-a-mission-focused-comp... )

It is also possible that someone(s) at Coinbase, having complained about what they perceived as poor treatment back in 2019 and been blown off, decided to go to the NYT after Coinbase made lots of noise about "not being political."

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#99

Post by [deleted] »

flowerlad wrote: post #73
ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #10

It's really really hard to prove your not racist. If anyone has any clue as how to do so, please share. They could have waited until the story was published I guess to share this statement, but publishing it preemptively makes sense too I believe (it's an always open entity that is incredibly easy to switch away from). But truly, when you get accused of racism, what can you even do?

> It's really really hard to prove your not racist. If anyone has any clue as how to do so, please share. If you have been accused of racism that's because somebody has an example of you being racist. If you did not have racist intent you can clarify your intent. Simply claiming you're not a racist won't do because pretty much everyone accused of racism makes that claim (example: central park dog walker, or any other…

[deleted]

Re: An upcoming story about Coinbase

#100

Post by CyanLite4 »

hnracer wrote: post #33
ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #22

> Let’s keep focused on building an amazing company together; we are hitting amazing new records on users, volume and revenue, and we have so much great work to do together. Ignore any potential negativity, everything we do is great, all that matters is revenue, nothing bad ever happens hear, blah blah blah. Don't focus on the bad part, those are all lies! The NYTimes article isn't released so I can't comment on the…

Let's assume that CB is really the entirely innocent and maligned party here. In such a world, how would their response have differed?

TBH, this blog post from CB sounded like something you’d hear from the Trump campaign. Everything’s fine, we’re making lotsa money, it’s all fake news...
Post reply on HN