Widely read media gossip blog Gawker says: Jim Hopkins spent 20 years as a reporter and editor for Gannett before starting a blog about the company, then getting some homophobic comments about himself from internet nuts, which freaked him out so much that he spent $2,000 hiring a bodyguard for one single day when he went to the shareholder meeting.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Press clips | Gawker on those (wacky) ex-reporters
Widely read media gossip blog Gawker says: Jim Hopkins spent 20 years as a reporter and editor for Gannett before starting a blog about the company, then getting some homophobic comments about himself from internet nuts, which freaked him out so much that he spent $2,000 hiring a bodyguard for one single day when he went to the shareholder meeting.
12 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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As long as they spell your name right, huh Jim?
ReplyDeleteMy goodness. Instead of being ashamed of this, you shout hey look at me!
Unbelievable...
Entirely believable: You read my post, and left a comment. Thanks for the page view!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Jim.
ReplyDeleteIf you spent $200 on security, would Gawker pick it up?
I don't blame you... but it does seem to fit nicely into the program.
Love the blog.
Scott
Any time.
ReplyDelete(hopeless. Utterly hopeless)
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ReplyDeleteMy favorite Gawker comment:
ReplyDeletei was once seeing a chick who was a reported, she was cool when she had a job. now she's bat shit crazy and likes to mumble on the phone and hang out with vagabonds and weirdos.... pfff journalists!
First, Gawker probably thought your reaction was silly. Second, we have no proof you actually spent the money. Where are photos with you and your security. If you have a paid receipt how do we know you didn't get a refund?
ReplyDeleteI can understand the security. After Jim posted additional context with comments that the blog had been receiving, I wouldn't want to travel to a city like DC without someone having my back.
ReplyDeleteThanks, 8:39 pm. Here's some more background on why I took the extreme step of hiring a bodyguard. I realize many people think I overreacted. But I would urge anyone reading this to keep an open mind.
ReplyDeleteI am discovering that being a self-employed investigative reporter in the digital age carries liabilities and other occupational hazards that may make this kind of work impossible.
By Monday in Washington, D.C., the day before the shareholder's meeting, it was clear I was being stalked online, and possibly on the ground, by at least one person who seemed seriously unglued. I did not know the extent of the campaign, so I decided to be extra cautious.
After all, there was a lot going on, and some of it went all the way back to that gun incident five months ago.
Over the Nov. 22-23 weekend, the F.B.I. found and questioned a Gannett TV station employee who had left this comment on my blog: "I brought a gun to work but decided not to use it."
A reader posted the comment at 11:02 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19. I discovered it on Thursday or Friday. After some agonizing over what to do, and discussions with friends, I e-mailed Corporate spokeswoman Tara Connell, saying I was concerned. I did not have any more information about the comment, such as location.
I did not provide any additional help, nor was I asked to. Over 36 hours, Connell, Kurt Wimmer, plus Google, the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI, were able to locate the employee and determine that they were not a risk.
Readers here were overwhelmingly supportive.
But one reader, possibly associated with the employee, reported the incident in an open-comment string here -- before I had made any of the information public. I suspected the the reader was the employee questioned by the FBI. I've never revealed the name of the Gannett TV station, and I will not do so now. But it is proximate.
The author, or someone writing in their style, occasionally visited this blog, leaving remarks that while not overtly threatening, sent a clear message: I'm still here.
Then, in March, an anonymous commenter tried to make me think they were physically walking about my San Francisco neighborhood, suggesting they were shadowing a business where I pick up snail mail from Gannett Blog donors. (I think they were bluffing.)
Fast-forward to the week before Gannett's annual meeting. As I was preparing, I was also doing a lot of reporting on a terrible situation in Wisconsin at the Wausau Daily Herald that seems to have gotten lost in in all the annual meeting crappola. It involved a government official who appeared to have bullied the Daily Herald into turning over the identity of a reader who'd been critical of the official. I had grilled the politician aggressively, so assumed he was pissed off; Corporate later issued a memo urging papers to not make the same mistake.
Now, in D.C., I had budgeted for hiring a photographer and an attorney with First Amendment expertise. But all the photogs recommended to me seemed to have ties to Gannett, and I didn't want them to get blackballed. Then, in a disappointment, the American Civil Liberties Union would not recommend an attorney in the D.C. area, citing policy -- even though I said I wanted to pay for the lawyer's time. I did not want to spend any more money than necessary. But I was willing to change my plan if circumstances changed.
Meanwhile, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association said it had no plans to attend. The Newspaper Guild never committed to having a representative -- although I believe two protesters on or near Jones Branch Drive may have been Guild representatives.
Finally, when I approached then-General Counsel Kurt Wimmer about my security concerns, and said I was contemplating hiring Kroll Associates, he assured me that there would be adequate security -- but then (appropriately) told me I was free to bring my own. He did not express any surprise at my considering a bodyguard, which had the perhaps unintended effect of making my concerns seem legitimate.
I'm glad I made the choice. When I entered the auditorium, it seemed clear that I would get no visible or vocal support. Plus, Corporate apparently assigned its biggest security guard to hover near me at the meeting's start -- another bald attempt, I thought to intimidate me. I weigh 142 lbs.; this guy must have been 6'3'' and at least 250 lbs.
In the end, $2,000 was the extra price I needed to pay to get Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow to tell the truth. That's a short-term expense, but I see it as a long-term investment in keeping this blog going.
Here's a short URL to my post on the FBI gun incident in November: http://tinyurl.com/685fh8
ReplyDeleteGawker, circa 1865, a week after Lee surrendered to Grant:
ReplyDelete"The South spent 200 years owning slaves before seceding from the U.S., then got attacked by the North, which freaked them out so much they fought back and thousands died."
C'mon, people.
For this we gave our lives to journalism?
For this Don Bolles died? (Bloggers, look him up)
For this Jim spent two years ripping the lid off Gannett, shining on its horrific practices a spotlight so bright he actually HAS started receiving death threats?
Look.
When Gawker Media folks start breaking some of the year's biggest media stories from a laptop while vacationing in Ibiza -- hell, while sitting in Brooklyn -- they get to be called journalists.
Until then, they're typists who couldn't find their way to a waterboarding story if you stood them outside Gitmo, unlocked the door and said "I hear screaming, better go check it out."
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ReplyDelete