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One more, Fusion / Felix Salmon: "Peter Thiel just gave other billionaires a dangerous blueprint for perverting philanthropy". Because nuking the blight on modern journalism from orbit is not doing good, according to Fusion. Because in their minds, Woodward and Bernsteins tape that toppled a president and Hogan's grunting on a sex tape are totally the same thing.
Thiel’s tactics in going after Gawker are very, very frightening for anybody who believes in freedom of speech; they’re also extremely effective, in an evil-genius kind of way.
There it is again, the "freedom of speech" dog whistle. The trial was about right to privacy, but a mass of journalists - mainly in NYC - have decided that this is about freedom of speech and they'll keep saying that until it becomes true. Completely oblivious to the fact that the press itself is a branch of power that often beats money. The press is the fourth estate. They can start revolutions, expose corruption and expose government spying, but I guess they're too busy defending revenge porn right now to do any of that.
The argument that citizens (individuals) financially helping other citizens afford lawsuits can bring a "chilling effect" on news reporting and is an attack on the first amendment is delusional to me. First off, judges throw frivolous lawsuits out of court before cases are even heard, be they buddy-sponsored by a billionaire or not. The system is designed to take care of that. What difference does it make if it was Hulk, his fans, his insurance company, or a billionaire benefactor that helped him finance the case that he won? None. Gawker had legal insurance and deep pockets, the playing field was just evened out. It's funny to me how people are upset a billionaire is sponsoring cases, instead of being upset that one needs millions to take a case to court.
Second, confusing free speech and the right to privacy like this is ridiculous. Invading peoples bedrooms for sex tapes is not the hill journalism should die on. Though some Editors, like Nate Silver from FiveThirtyEight seem to think they should. The irony that this is posted on Facebook does not escape me.
Yes indeed, see the update Peter Theil reveals that he did indeed finance the Hulk vs Gawker case where we're trying to collect media tweet reactions in the comments.
Comment from MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
A billionaire secretly suing a publication into oblivion is a million times bigger threat to free speech than 'safe spaces'
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 25, 2016
Pearl clutching (or salt) starts here at Wired: HOW CAN WE MAKE YOU HAPPY TODAY, PETER THIEL?
Did you know Peter Thiel is so great that Chaka Khan once sang an entire song about Peter Thiel? This happened at Jeff Bezos’ 50th birthday party, which took place in space. The party’s theme was “Omniscience,” and the dress code was “Plutocracy Casual.” Anyway, Chaka Khan—a great singer, though surely not as good a singer as Peter Thiel!—sang a version of her 1984 hit “I Feel For You,” and then changed the lyrics to “I Thiel for you.” Peter Thiel loved it so much, he didn’t secretly bankroll a lawsuit against Chaka Khan, nor did he secretly bankroll a lawsuit against Prince, who wrote the original “I Feel For You.”
In fact, he didn’t secretly sue anyone that day!
That's in WIRED, people.
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