Widely read blogger Michael Arrington of TechCrunch (left) went on self-imposed exile in February after spending $2,000 daily on private security to protect his family from an angry reader -- foretelling my experience hiring a Kroll bodyguard to interview Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow at last week's annual meeting. I hadn't heard about Arrington's problems until Boaz Berkowitz of Seeking Alpha alerted me today. From Arrington's Jan. 28 post, Some things need to change:
I hope that some of my peers will realize that competitive pressures do not give them carte blanche to accuse us and others of literally anything that pops into their head and repeat it publicly or privately. I want them to compete hard with us, but fight clean. I want them to realize that their words influence others who may be inclined to "take matters into their own hands" under the mistaken impression that threatening to kill someone, or physically attacking them, is somehow righteous. And I hope that my peers who tend to sit on the sideline while others attack will start to take a stand against it. We write about technology and entrepreneurship. These things are important, but not so important that we should fear for our safety or the safety of our families.Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Photo: BusinessWeek]
Jim,
ReplyDeleteYou truly need to get over yourself. Protecting self and/or family from an angry reader has no comparison to your actions - were you afraid Dubow was going to shoot a straw paper at you and thus the need for a bodyguard?
Your lack of response to this self-serving posting is rather telling, wouldn't you say?
You made yourself look worse, rather than better - nobody cares, ok? There is nothing you can do to make yourself whole after your idiocy at the Big Scary Meeting -
Give it up, and close down this blog today if you are going to keep trying to justify your actions. It's over.
A Gannett TV station employee said he brought a gun to work. I gave minor assistance in their identification and questioning by law-enforcement authorities, including the FBI. I started receiving increasingly threatening comments afterword, suggesting I was being stalked.
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