• Animortis@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I agree with Steve on everything, this was a huge blunder and fail in messaging from Linus. But you are supposed to reach out and ask for comment before running a story. I was a news reporter and have a master’s in public relations.

    Edit: Called Linus “Linux”

    • Bobert@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      But you are supposed to reach out and ask for a comment before running a story.

      In certain cases yes. This is not one. What comment could Linus have given that would contextualize the story in such a way to excuse factual information?

      Steve was absolutely vindicated in refusing to ask for comment due to Linus’s behavior. Had he asked for comment, Linus would have contacted Billet prior to the release. Instead, Linus makes a statement that heavily (if not outright) implies that had Steve asked for comment he would have context to know that an agreement had been made between LMG/Linus and Billet Labs before the video dropped. Because Steve did not reach out for comment we now know that this was a lie or an attempt to obfuscate the truth.

      If you are extolling factual information you do not owe the subject a comment. If your work could be damaged (see above) by doing so you do not owe the subject a comment. If a person has already commented publicly you do not owe the subject a comment.

      Steve reported objectively factual information that cannot be excused with any context. The story that was written at the time would have been damaged had he asked for comment. Linus has a public presence and has made his feelings known about previous scandals before, and his actual response was entirely telegraphed in tone, if not also content, by long time viewers.

      There is not some ethics masterclass that would have come to the conclusion that Steve violated journalistic integrity by running this story without comment from Linus. You may not like it, but you’re also not some ethics in journalism arbiter.

    • BlinkAndItsGone@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I agree it’s generally good practice to ask the subject for comment, and Steve seems to know that because he explains at length why he didn’t here. I criticized him for this when the last video came out, but I thought his explanation in this new video for why he didn’t contact Linus first is pretty good; I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted here, but since you are a former reporter I’d be interested in hearing specifics on why you disagree with it.

    • Vlhacs@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      Yea, I think that and a few other nitpicky things are the only flaws in GN’s argument. Otherwise, the testing results and Billet’s response speaks for itself. LTT is going too loose and fast and while that’s bad, it’s understandable if you’re a fledging company. That’s all LTT had to point out. And instead of being humble and retrospective they put out this PR nightmare of a response.

      I used to be a regular watcher of LTT, but really noticed their latest videos have declined in quality and it’s apparent that they’re just pumping out as much videos as possible.