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

[Dr. Jesus]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 12:53 PM, Hephaestus <hephaestus at antipunk.net> wrote:
> 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.

Last Tuesday I got a call from ABC news in New York, they were looking
for pictures of Assange with any of his accusers.  I guess there's
some kind of bounty for them.  The woman who I talked to was very
polite and professional about it, though.