Mob Justice, an Article about Bullshido

[Tom Kagan]

Also, many of the legit investigations are headed by people easily found and contacted. Hell, Milton spent his entire time harassing Tom Kagan.

While I suppose I could see how others might consider his ire as harassing, at no time have I ever considered what he was doing as harassment towards me.

BTW, the guy who wrote the article didn't seem to have any problem contacting me directly. I even gave him permission to give my personal phone number to Milton directly. Nothing so far.

What I found most interesting about this saga is it was I who specifically clamped down on the bullshit going on here because I felt it was unwarranted for MABS. I was also the one who outed the trolls who were pretending to be him and making him look worse. It was only then that I became the subject of his online public persona rants.

The author could have and probably should have mentioned, at least in passing, the successful investigations the site has participated in. Surely with the article being 12 pages, there was ample space and time to do. It would have added to the article, but didn't detract from it. I found the author over-attempt to appear overly fair to both.

Give'em a break, he wrote it to get a grade in a class.

Would it be a good idea to contact the original author and point these things out?

He already knows.

The author would eventually like to expand the article. Unfortunately, the outlets he tried to shop it around to has not had any bites, so he seems to have abandoned it for now.

[colonelpong2]

I'm printing it out and am taking it home to read. Just had a real quick flip through it.
I see a few of you guys get a special mention.

Briefly noticed the phrase "as evidence he produced a battered business card daying 'secret service"
Or something like that. Can't wait. This is gonna be awesome!

[Tom Kagan]

I still have the number for the author somewhere. I should probably dig it out and let him know about this thread.


Edit:
I found his email address first. I sent a link to this thread.

[streanor]

I had no idea the article was even available online.

I thought my thesis committee, myself and the various editors who have so far failed to recognize the win were the only people who had seen it.

I'm really pumped that most people on the forum seem to like it.

I do think that most of the critics here are right: It does focus more on anonymity than it would if I had just written it for the story. It also gives equal space to Bullshido and Milton, who are NOT morally equivalent factions. :)

My defenders are right too, however. I wrote it for a grade and the assignment was to write something about the future of journalism. I had wanted to write something about Bullshido since I discovered it 2 or 3 years ago so I shoehorned it a little bit into the assignment. I really don't think it's wildly inaccurate but a story that takes in the full scope of the thing would be a lot more than 12 pages and would read more like an academic paper.

If I do manage to sell it to a literary, news or sports magazine there would be less focus on anonymity. Some, but less. In terms of giving so much time to Milton ... well ... you have to admit he makes fucking PHENOMENAL copy.

He still calls me, by the way, and sends videos to my youtube account, usually of mob executions from old movies. I'm not sure what he means by it and I don't think he knows what he means.

I'm sorry I never did call you Tom. If I hadn't had four other classes to pass I would have been a better reporter :)

[Sam Browning]

Hi Sean:

Hopefully you are familar with what 4chan does, verses what we do. We would never order or condone the use of "pranks" or harassment towards a subject of an investigation. No late night phone calls, COD deliveries, unsolicited pizza delivery, or printing of someone's social security number.

For this reason I don't consider us to be carrying out "mob justice".

Secondly, if I mispoke during the interview you have my apologies. There are prescreened, edited investigative articles over on or encyclopedia, but anyone can submit a front page article.

http://www.bullshido.org/Category:Investigations

Here are our "journalistic quality" articles.

[Sam Browning]

If you are now in the Washington DC article you should read the Blythe thread.

[colonelpong2]

I thought my thesis committee, myself and the various editors who have so far failed to recognize the win were the only people who had seen it.

I'm really pumped that most people on the forum seem to like it.

I do think that most of the critics here are right: It does focus more on anonymity than it would if I had just written it for the story. It also gives equal space to Bullshido and Milton, who are NOT morally equivalent factions. :)

My defenders are right too, however. I wrote it for a grade and the assignment was to write something about the future of journalism. I had wanted to write something about Bullshido since I discovered it 2 or 3 years ago so I shoehorned it a little bit into the assignment. I really don't think it's wildly inaccurate but a story that takes in the full scope of the thing would be a lot more than 12 pages and would read more like an academic paper.

If I do manage to sell it to a literary, news or sports magazine there would be less focus on anonymity. Some, but less. In terms of giving so much time to Milton ... well ... you have to admit he makes fucking PHENOMENAL copy.

He still calls me, by the way, and sends videos to my youtube account, usually of mob executions from old movies. I'm not sure what he means by it and I don't think he knows what he means.

I'm sorry I never did call you Tom. If I hadn't had four other classes to pass I would have been a better reporter :)

Hi Sean,

An excellent and most enjoyable article in my opinion. I printed it out, took it home and read it twice through.

Good work.

Can I ask what grade you got for it?

[Phrost]

Thanks for the follow-up Sean.

I just sewed on my "Internet Vigilante" merit badge before making this post.

In all seriousness, if you decide to rework that article for commercial publication, you might want to look at how the phenomenon we're a part of has significantly expanded since you originally wrote it, specifically with regards to WikiLeaks (a site to which I've donated my own money to support).

We started as a group of cranky people taking advantage of the freedom of expression the Internet provides, to do some good. I'd like to think that our philosophy of brutal transparency has caught on, and we've played a part in furthering the use of the Internet as a sort of "Neighborhood Watch" whereby members of a given community can help police it themselves.

Then again, I'd also like to think I look like the main character from the God of War video games, but the bathroom mirror refuses to agree with me.

[Sam Browning]

I was reading the other articles Sean's classmates finished. Why couldn't we be investigated by hip hop chick? :(

[Cy Q. Faunce]

I'm not surprised that a journalism student would make much ado of the anonymity and alleged lack of editorial oversight on the part of a new media organ. He's appealing to the prejudices of professors who are advocating that he dive head-first into an open grave of a career, and probably shares those prejudices himself.

Vaya con Dios, Mr. Treanor, but watch out for that first step -- it's a lulu.

It's the standard "pajamas" criticism -- mere citizens can never equal the careful layers of fact checking and oversight in a "real" publication. The irony is that the Internet has made it much easier to de-pants that particular emperor. Look at Dan Rather, one of the most respected journalists in the medium, who got punked by a forgery that wouldn't have convinced any intelligent adult. That seething mass of "anonymous" critics, like the mysterious Meryl Yourish, proved the documents on which the story was based to be amateurish forgeries.

I'm obviously no friend of this line of thought. Our investigation guidelines show that we are about verifying and publishing facts, not spreading made-up tattle or enacting petty vengeance, and our standards are, if anything, stricter than those of the legacy media. However, I doubt any of the remaining major media organs would buy an article that was overly favorable to their evolutionary successors, so perhaps the current slant is the way to go.

Just make sure to cash the check ASAP.

[Sri Hanuman]

What do you think would happen if I brought the pamphlet to a TD? Would the problem of free will finally be solved, or would I just get an ice cream?

Both.
Krishna demands ice cream.

[Hiro Protagonist]

You all, the win.

Just me stopping to waste my energies on Wing Chun was worth more than I can ever repay you.

[karma2343]

Both.
Krishna demands ice cream.

Then I have no choice, I must bring it to the next SoCal throwdown.

[Conde Koma]

It was a good article, and I'm glad I read it. Sean, did you write for the Stanford Daily? I think they probably could have used your writing skills, haha.

[FickleFingerOfFate]

This article is several shades of awesome,

it brought back some excellent memories of the shitfest that was the seafood walrus threads.