Exactly. Writing “Sethi actually said he would kill Wilkins” is straight up yellow journalism, so MA can just change the background color and we’re all set.

If you found a email from Mark Zuckerberg saying “if OpenSocial takes off I’m gonna jump off the Golden Gate Bridge”, would the TC story be “Facebook founder is suicidal”?

I kid, I kid (no I don’t). This thread makes my brain hurt, though. On the one hand you have the usual crowd who believe that journalists should be tame little puppies. If they read Private Eye, which makes its name from reporting embarrassing conversations and correspondance between the people who own us, I think their heads would explode.

On the other, you have Michael’s stupid attempt to characterise Sethi’s comment as a “death threat” because of the kneejerk reaction that word gets (it belongs in the same category of overused thought-terminating terms like “national security” and “terrorist”). “I will rip your head off” is not a death threat, in the same way that “Michael Arrington is a sophisticated robot programmed to hype Web 2.0 startups and microwave chicken” is not libel, because they’re both patently ridiculous statements. (I don’t know if this would hold up in court, I’m speaking logically rather than legally.) It’s a very silly and childish thing to say, yes… so say that, instead of trying to make someone out to be a murderous criminal when they’re not.

I cant believe you have ruined your own credability, just to try and get back at Sam Sethi, or maybe its a little more sinister than that and you view him as a direct threat - just trying t nail him early!

Either way you have blown your standing in this community, the article is clearly just a smoke screen to vent your own petty insecurities.

How many more of the articles that you have posted in the past - that we took to be balanced and impartial - are actually biased and scewed for some personal reason?

Shame on you

MyKinda is an interesting startup, but it would have been virtually impossible to cover, credibily, without mentioning its history. If you don’t like it, move on to the next post, don’t spend the next 5 minutes whining.

“He goes through the trash to find important documents, he pays informants, he tries to get his hands on private and confidential information at all time… all in the name of getting info that´s not available to the public.”

You’re absolutely right. Except for one detail. You’ve confused journalist with blackmailer/identity thief. A journalist has a responsibility to the reader to set aside their personal grudges, examining both sides of a story to get to the truth.

“Without this kind of journalism, Watergate would have never happened.”

Again, just one detail off. With this kind of journalism, Watergate would have happened but the only source would have been one of Nixon’s former lovers. As a result noone would have believed it. The analogy is hilarious, though. Well done.

I’m not taking sides here - I’ve met Sam a few times and he seems like a decent chap - and he hasn’t ever threatened to rip my head off - but I have no idea the story behind the emails or who is right and who is wrong when it comes to him or Wilkins.

What I do know is that we’ve all said things in emails, while angry, that we don’t mean. And we’ve all been frustrated by business partners from time to time, sometimes to the point of wanting to lash out. But publishing an argument between two people, even with VCs copied in, doesn’t pass any kind of public interest test I can think of. Especially not with a single source and with everyone else involved apparently declining to comment.

The frustrating thing here is that what could be a legitimate story here about how Blognation is doing, and the launch of MyKinda, has become totally undermined by the *appearance* of bias and one-sidedness and the use of someone as a source who has a clear motive to want to trash a former colleague and now a rival.

And an extra irony is that, if Techcrunch did want to run a story attacking Blognation then you could have just stuck to the payroll allegations (assuming the source was good) and it would have been perfectly justifiable as news.

I’m a huge fan of Techcrunch, but the increasing number of comments on this and other stories that liken TC to Valleywag must surely indicate a worrying decline in perceived authority.

do you know what a real journalist do? A real journalist seek news with every mean. He doesn´t sit there waiting for a press release. He goes through the trash to find important documents, he pays informants, he tries to get his hands on private and confidential information at all time… all in the name of getting info that´s not available to the public. In that sense, what Micheal is doing is, absolutely, journalism. A journalist must bite and hurt when needed.

We can discuss if Micheal is doing it for the sake of information or because he has a personal grudge, but remeber that without this kind of journalism, Watergate would have never happened.

Apparently, MA requires the government to help determine what is right and what is not. Anyone that requires a law for that is in need of psychiatric help.

What a true philanthropist MA must be by saving Wilkins’ life by telling everyone about the horrible homicidal tendencies of this Sethi guy. Who would take this emotional email seriously? Only the learning disabled or someone trolling for attention.

Please do not insult our intelligence Michael. This is ridiculous.

There’s a difference between what is legally allowed and what is ethical. Do us all a favor and learn more about ethics. Contrary to what you think, it is possible to be both ethical and interesting.

I loved his email your setup and take down piece was great. Reading cut and paste emails provided for great out of context drama.

You’re the KING

If this Sethi character sent me that email, cc’ed his prospective VC’s and requested I forward it to my lawyer, I’d would not be expecting to see them on the next flight. I would see it more; boy has he lost the plot and whatever I’m doing is working.

Is the sanctimonious Mr Arrington saying he has never threatened someone in anger? Perhaps we should send it out to Blogsphere. “has anyone ever heard Michael Arrington threaten to physically harm someone?”
What if you have, will you berate yourself publicly on Techcrunch.

Someone mentioned Valleywag. This was much worse, your post was pure gutter press.

p.s. I don’t know either of you.

Attacking a rival by publishing private emails you obtained through a third party is wrong.

Try to decide if this is a private blog or a news organisation. You’re undermining serious bloggers with this sort of activity if you want to be taken seriously as the latter.