Bezos' Newspaper WaPo Doxxxed Innocent Partygoer

[Shofercia]

When they're not busy beating the drums of warfare or begging for more taxpayer dollars for corporate welfare queens like Amazon, the Washington Post's into going after people who did something dumb, admitted their mistake, and successfully completed their therapy.

Not all of us are born smart, or physically able, and I salute those who recognize their limitations and seek treatment. Back in 2018, a woman came to a WaPo cartoonist's party dressed as a blackface version of Megyn Kelly. Was she acting like an idiot? Yes. Was she an idiot? Perhaps. But she admitted her mistake, and proceeded to get therapy, which caused her to not be an idiot. She did something dumb, got called out, genuinely admitted it, got treatment, and tried to move on with her life.

As a "reward" for her candor, WaPo doxxxed her in their story: https://reason.com/2020/06/18/washingto ... l-culture/

A few years ago, something mildly embarrassing occurred at a Halloween party hosted by a Washington Post cartoonist: A white woman painted her face black and wore a name tag that read "Hello, My Name is Megyn Kelly," in reference to the TV host's controversial defense of white people wearing blackface. The intended butt of the joke would appear to be Kelly, not black people. Regardless, several guests approached the woman and explained to her that it was still not OK to wear blackface. The woman reportedly left the party in tears.

Suffice it to say, this is not a story that needed to be told. The woman is not famous, she does not appear to hold any power, and is not seeking public office. But because two of the aggrieved guests—a pair of young, progressive women—are still raw about it, and because we are living through a moment where no single person's humiliation is too trivial to earn them a reprieve from the forces of cancel culture, a pair of reporters have exhaustively chronicled the incident in a 3,000-word article for…The Washington Post.

Rising's Video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlhTADPM0dw

So what does NSG think?

I am sickened by this bullshit. I understand if she didn't realize that she was wrong, but she did. I fail to understand how doxxxing and destroying the life of a powerless human being is vital to America's news conversation. I think it's beneath any sane journalist to write such an article, knowing full well what the result will be. The doxxxed woman was fired.

The duo who felt so very offended by the Megyn Kelly in blackface are Prince and Gruber. As the link points out, Gruber is a 27-year-old management consultant, and Prince is a 36-year-old artist. As the article concludes:

Reading between the lines, I imagine that someone may have decided that writing the story was a means of getting out in front of it, ensuring that the villain would be [the 54 year old lady making a poor choice] rather than a Post staffer who allowed a white guest in blackface to enter his Halloween party. By valorizing Prince and Gruber—who, let us recall, told an older woman she was ugly and think that they were harassed—and castigating [the lady] the Post ensured that it would not be deemed complicit in her crimes. If this doesn't call for a Reign of Terror metaphor, I'm not sure what does.

It's astonishing that this article—a story about a long-ago Halloween party attended by the Post's own staff and principally involving three private persons—made it to print, and everyone involved in its publication should be deeply ashamed. That includes Prince and Gruber, but also Fisher and Trent, and their editors. As far as cancel culture goes, this is a new and depressing low point.

I agree. Does NSG?

[Esotyrica]

bezos sucks, wapo sucks

i feel like doxxing people isn't going to do much to change systemic racism or racism at all, just be like "it's not funny" and move on

[Rojava Free State]

Reminds me of when some CNN reporters got doxxed after they went after that guy for that one Trump meme. They were whining about "our lives are in danger," but all I could think was "look at these fucking hypocrites. They go and hunt down a man for making a meme and imply they could release his address if they want, but when it happens to them then it isn't fair." One can admit that Trump is a jackass while also simultaneously understanding that alot of newsreporters are dickbags who dont deserve even a quarter of the respect society gives them (and imo the real reason folks like CNN don't like trump is he hurt their over inflated egos when he called them fake and trash). The WaPo committed a hit job against basically Jane Doe, and it could be you or me tomorrow that these gossiping, tragedy exploiting cockroaches come for. So while I support the first amendment right for a free press, I also support my first amendment right to tell several different newspapers, newssites and TV stations to shove their heads as far up their asses as they'll fit.

Certain jobs just seem to attract the lowest of the low. No cap.

[Esotyrica]

Reminds me of when some CNN reporters got doxxed after they went after that guy for that one Trump meme. They were whining about "our lives are in danger," but all I could think was "look at these fucking hypocrites. They go and hunt down a man for making a meme and imply they could release his address if they want, but when it happens to them then it isn't fair." One can admit that Trump is a jackass while also simultaneously understanding that alot of newsreporters are dickbags who dont deserve even a quarter of the respect society gives them (and imo the real reason folks like CNN don't like trump is he hurt their over inflated egos when he called them fake and trash). The WaPo committed a hit job against basically Jane Doe, and it could be you or me tomorrow that these gossiping, tragedy exploiting cockroaches come for. So while I support the first amendment right for a free press, I also support my first amendment right to tell several different newspapers, newssites and TV stations to shove their heads as far up their asses as they'll fit.

Certain jobs just seem to attract the lowest of the low. No cap.

journalists are snooty

the only journalist i like is piper from fallout but she doesnt exist

honestly watching national media is pointless just watch the local news if you want things that are relatively unbiased

[Rojava Free State]

Friendly reminder btw, because this is related to cancel culture, that when you cancel people, they don't just disappear. They still are alive and out there, and I guarantee you that you don't want a society full of angry, bitter, vengeful and jobless people with a feeling of persecution. That's literally a recipe for disaster. I dont think I need to go into detail as to what kinds of things can happen when you basically kick everyone out of work and run them out of town because "at age 12 they gave a banana to a black kid at lunch who was sitting next to them, and while it may have not even been racist and they're 39 now, we're still gonna get them fired from their job and have their kids taken from them."

[Esotyrica]

Friendly reminder btw, because this is related to cancel culture, that when you cancel people, they don't just disappear. They still are alive and out there, and I guarantee you that you don't want a society full of angry, bitter, vengeful and jobless people with a feeling of persecution. That's literally a recipe for disaster. I dont think I need to go into detail as to what kinds of things can happen when you basically kick everyone out of work and run them out of town because "at age 12 they gave a banana to a black kid at lunch who was sitting next to them, and while it may have not even been racist and they're 39 now, we're still gonna get them fired from their job and have their kids taken from them."

yeah i know a few girls from my area who got cancelled at like 17-20 for dumb shit they did at like 14-15 and now they can't get into any college

[Gravlen]

Readers within the Post newsroom were asking the question, too. “No one I’ve spoken with at the Post can figure out why we published this story,” said one prominent reporter at the paper. “We blew up this woman’s life for no reason.”

Employees at “Style” — the paper’s premiere location for long-form storytelling — were confused and displeased to see the piece running on their turf, two Post employees with knowledge of the situation said. Neither Fisher nor Trent works for the “Style” desk, though as newspapers have gotten increasingly focused on digital distribution, the walls between newspaper sections have become more porous.

Why Did the Washington Post Get This Woman Fired?

The choice to run the story seems to have violated internal guidelines, and was a astonishingly poor decision in its own right as well.

[Rojava Free State]

Reminds me of when some CNN reporters got doxxed after they went after that guy for that one Trump meme. They were whining about "our lives are in danger," but all I could think was "look at these fucking hypocrites. They go and hunt down a man for making a meme and imply they could release his address if they want, but when it happens to them then it isn't fair." One can admit that Trump is a jackass while also simultaneously understanding that alot of newsreporters are dickbags who dont deserve even a quarter of the respect society gives them (and imo the real reason folks like CNN don't like trump is he hurt their over inflated egos when he called them fake and trash). The WaPo committed a hit job against basically Jane Doe, and it could be you or me tomorrow that these gossiping, tragedy exploiting cockroaches come for. So while I support the first amendment right for a free press, I also support my first amendment right to tell several different newspapers, newssites and TV stations to shove their heads as far up their asses as they'll fit.

Certain jobs just seem to attract the lowest of the low. No cap.

journalists are snooty

the only journalist i like is piper from fallout but she doesnt exist

honestly watching national media is pointless just watch the local news if you want things that are relatively unbiased

I really believe that the news media is responsible for America's mass shooting epidemic. I can imagine some rando loser would wanna go shoot a school up if he sees the news turning shooters into celebrities every five seconds.

I swear we hear more about Eric Harris and Dylan Kleybold than we hear about their victims. The media fuels the flames because they're disaster artists who make money and earn their ratings through violence.

[Ostroeuropa]

Enemies of the people. When they can't find a public figure to lynch to maintain their narrative, they'll do it to private persons. We see it time and time again, merely more blatantly this time. Those Covington kids are another.

[Rojava Free State]

Enemies of the people. When they can't find a public figure to lynch to maintain their narrative, they'll do it to private persons. We see it time and time again, merely more blatantly this time. Those Covington kids are another.

I still remember when an employee at CNN edited George Zimmerman's phone call to police to make him sound racist. Zimmerman is far from a Saint and I wouldn't wanna meet him in person, but that's still some crooked bullshit.

[Dresderstan]

Why do we need a free press again?

[Vassenor]

I find it interesting that of all the things y'all could have gone for over the years, this is the one that makes you scream about enemies of the people and how the free press needs to die.

[Gravlen]

Enemies of the people.

Yeah, no. Drop the Trumpian bullshit.

Why do we need a free press again?

Because a functioning free press is integral to a functioning democracy. If the system breaks down, like in this case, we need to fix it, not discard it.

[Ostroeuropa]

Enemies of the people. When they can't find a public figure to lynch to maintain their narrative, they'll do it to private persons. We see it time and time again, merely more blatantly this time. Those Covington kids are another.

I still remember when an employee at CNN edited George Zimmerman's phone call to police to make him sound racist. Zimmerman is far from a Saint and I wouldn't wanna meet him in person, but that's still some crooked bullshit.

Or how they're editing out all context to that woman defending herself from that Black mother and teen. Confiscate their property, blacklist them, and punish the companies that have supported these outlets.

I find it interesting that of all the things y'all could have gone for over the years, this is the one that makes you scream about enemies of the people and how the free press needs to die.

There's plenty of other examples too. This is merely one where a glimmer of self-awareness was found in the press.

[Ostroeuropa]

Enemies of the people.

Yeah, no. Drop the Trumpian bullshit.

Why do we need a free press again?

Because a functioning free press is integral to a functioning democracy. If the system breaks down, like in this case, we need to fix it, not discard it.

Hardly an apt response. Engaging in psychological warfare against the public makes them enemies.

As for "Fixing it", this is not merely a fuck up. It is structurally designed to behave this way, and the people who have participated in that system need to face consequences. Banning the press from behaving this way is not much different to how it is banned to behave in other ways. We don't give the press carte blanche to do whatever they want. This would merely be another thing they are prohibited from doing.

[Prosa]

Why do we need a free press again?

You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious.

[Ostroeuropa]

Why do we need a free press again?

You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious.

What use do they serve exactly? They seem to be destroying society. It's like being incredulous when someone asks "Why do we need free markets again" as the flood waters rise to swallow up our homes. Anarcho-Journalism as a meme is catastrophic and akin to anarcho-capitalism in terms of its ludicrous and axiomatic assertions that "It just works and you're dumb if you think otherwise". they need to be reigned in and prevented from advancing their own interests at the cost of society.

A society where cops, journalists, and billionaires are free to do whatever they want, and the first one is going out of style.

Why not the other two?

[Vassenor]

Why do we need a free press again?

You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious.

But someone fucked up and a white person had problems as a result so the free press is evil and needs to die.

[Prosa]

You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious.

What use do they serve exactly? They seem to be destroying society. It's like being incredulous when someone asks "Why do we need free markets again" as the flood waters rise to swallow up our homes.

I guess the “freedom of press” part of the First Amendment just suddenly stopped existing. I’m not a fan of certain news outlets, but if one source of information can be controlled then eventually they all can.

[Vassenor]

You’re joking, right? There’s no way you’re serious.

What use do they serve exactly? They seem to be destroying society. It's like being incredulous when someone asks "Why do we need free markets again" as the flood waters rise to swallow up our homes. Anarcho-Journalism as a meme is catastrophic and akin to anarcho-capitalism in terms of its ludicrous and axiomatic assertions that "It just works and you're dumb if you think otherwise". they need to be reigned in and prevented from advancing their own interests at the cost of society.

A society where cops, journalists, and billionaires are free to do whatever they want, and the first one is going out of style.

Why not the other two?

And they're destroying society... how, exactly?

[Ostroeuropa]

What use do they serve exactly? They seem to be destroying society. It's like being incredulous when someone asks "Why do we need free markets again" as the flood waters rise to swallow up our homes.

I guess the “freedom of press” part of the First Amendment just suddenly stopped existing.

I'm challenging the notion there should be such a freedom.

[Costa Fierro]

You get what you don't pay for.

[Prosa]

I guess the “freedom of press” part of the First Amendment just suddenly stopped existing.

I'm challenging the notion there should be such a freedom.

So you believe that the government should be able to control what news the people see? Yeah, that’s definitely always ended well.

[Esotyrica]

I find it interesting that of all the things y'all could have gone for over the years, this is the one that makes you scream about enemies of the people and how the free press needs to die.

just call them racist lmao

[Ostroeuropa]

I'm challenging the notion there should be such a freedom.

So you believe that the government should be able to control what news the people see? Yeah, that’s definitely always ended well.

That seems to be the same kind of response we see from anarcho-capitalists on the economy, and it's silly for the same reasons.

There's a difference between the government banning some things, and outright controlling everything. Saying "You can't dump crude oil into the sea" isn't the same as "The government will now own, manage, and control all oil production.". Similarly, regulating the press and punishing them when they break the law is not the same as a state controlled press, or the government controlling everything you see.

The question of how much regulation is desirable is a separate question, but this experiment of "None at all" has produced clearly negative and destructive results.