[Noisebridge-discuss] Reporter from Mission Local last Thursday night asking about Julian Assange

Hephaestus hephaestus at antipunk.net
Mon Dec 20 20:53:26 UTC 2010


Good morning, Hackers.

I wanted to let you know about an experience I had after 5MoF last
Thursday, when a reporter from Mission Local started asking me
questions about Julian Assange.

The tone of the questions was telling. In our conversation she used
the phrases (in reference to Mr. Assange) "I expect he's been here
shilling for money" and "looking for girls to sleep with." These
phrases indicate her article was likely to simply feed the drama
surrounding the person, Mr. Assange, which has successfully spread to
any organization with which he's become affiliated. I don't have any
stake in the Wikileaks/Assange drama cycle, but I have a stake in
Noisebridge. I know we're all being mindful of our words regarding the
situation so that any mud which gets slung doesn't stick to our
community, but this personally disgusted me because it was a 5MoF
night, where we get many new visitors to the space, including several
protesters from the Bradley Manning protest earlier that afternoon. I
have little hope that any article she writes doesn't reflect
negatively on Noisebridge.

Unrelated to the Julian Assange drama, having majored in Journalism,
this kind of 'reporting' disgusts me. If you're going to write with a
heavy angle, you can at least be subtle about it when questioning
potential sources.

--
Heph



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