
Gawker can’t hide its bad behavior behind press freedom - jackgavigan
http://www.cjr.org/criticism/gawker_cant_hide_its_bad_behavior_behind_press_freedom.php
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theaustinseven
Look, I understand that Thiel may have been on a kind of personal vendetta,
but I can't really argue that what he has done is wrong. Gawker regularly does
what a number of other journalistic outlets do as well, that being: printing
these ridiculous and false stories and then some time later printing a
correction in fine print at the bottom. There needs to be more accountability
for these "journalists" because in some cases they ruin others' lives and act
as if they have done no wrong because they "eventually" published a
correction...

~~~
pbreit
But this particular case is the opposite: they got in trouble for publishing
the truth.

~~~
internaut
The truth about what? Hogan/Terry's cock or Thiel being gay? Is the Freedom of
the Press flag supposed to be wrapped around those?

I'm curious. Can you find one of Gawker's character assassinations that
targeted somebody with political convictions that they shared? And FYI that is
the radical left but you get half points for conventional leftists too.

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sharkjacobs
The title of this article doesn't seem to accurately represent the contents of
the article itself.

~~~
pbreit
Agreed. I generally lean towards freedom of the press but I'd like to see an
outfit like this go into more depth on the privacy issue. Does it matter it
wasn't his house? Does it matter it was in the other person's house? Does it
matter he probably knew there was video recording in progress? Does it matter
the other party definitely knew? Does it matter that the other party or the
other party's spouse leaked it? Does it matter that only 3% of the "tape" was
published? Does it matter that it revealed key events such as the presence of
the husband? Does it matter that the really incendiary content was never
published (Hulk commenting on his daughter's boyfriend)?

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meira
Thiel can't hide its bad behavior behind wealth freedom.

~~~
strathmeyer
If you can't describe what it is, nobody will ever know.

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1024core
I don't see how they equate Thiel's participation with Gawker's gutter
journalism. Whether Thiel is funding the lawsuit or not is irrelevant; a
lawsuit is won/lost not by who's funding it, but by what are the merits of the
case[1]. If Gawker had done nothing wrong, they would have won.

[1] The exception being defense, when government is suing. With enough money,
you can usually buy your way out of jail from the government's lawyers.

~~~
adevine
> a lawsuit is won/lost not by who's funding it, but by what are the merits of
> the case

I think I have a bridge to sell you...

Your statement implies that the quality (and cost) of the legal team does not
matter with respect to winning cases, and that's just not true. More
importantly, DEFENDING against cases, even if you are not in the wrong, is
extremely expensive. It is very possible to use the legal system in the US as
a weapon if you have enough resources.

~~~
internaut
Right. And is that Thiel's fault? No. No it isn't.

The reality is that Gawker abused that particular caveat of the system far
more than Thiel ever did.

That is part of the reason why this is so delicious. Beating them to death
with their own weapon.

This was good old fashioned Western frontier style justice.

"We're not just going to shoot the Bastard. We're going to cut out their
living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks!" \- The Warrior
Song

[https://youtu.be/2Xo3fwddONA](https://youtu.be/2Xo3fwddONA)

~~~
PlainsWight
No greater indication of tribalism than someone salivating over "Western
frontier style justice."

~~~
internaut
We're a great tribe. The best tribe. You'll never see a tribe like this I tell
you. Wait until you'll see what we do next. Every other tribe will be jealous
of us. - Trump-naut

I am aware of the downsides of tribalism.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11797803](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11797803)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11774588](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11774588)

But everybody is in a tribe (they were doing it too mom!). Some people just
don't know it yet. There is no getting rid of bias, only modest adjustments
for it.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11780770](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11780770)

And play the Warrior Song! It's so great! The Best Song.

~~~
PlainsWight
You're aware of the downsides of tribalism, but seriously lack self-awareness
like most people who complain about tribalism. Especially if you think you've
already made adjustments for it.

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internaut
In response to the article:

It's a news outlet.

They can use/abuse their position to make hay in ways nobody else can.

