09 February 2019

Raunchy Reporting: "Bezos Exposes Pecker" > Tabloid Trash Take-Down by Kara Swisher

Funny how powerful words are > Spoiler Alert where this is going the fight to protect everyone’s privacy and digital dignity 

A female reporter working for "The Old Gray Lady" The New York Times, has the last name Swisher - that's an epithet used to describe some flamboyant gay people! Sashay-away, Kara Swisher!
She's managed to grab the front-page salacious headlines from trashy tabloids that all started with a dude named Anthony Weiner and use traditional media at the same time to frame her own opinion pieces.
The first one starts with "I can't quite believe I am writing about Jeff Bezos’ sex life for the second time in two weeks, let alone about his penis. . . "      OK (the first time was about his divorce and "an affair")
Her byline states that she covers technology
Mebbe too dull a subject for some, but then Swisher realizes sex gets more interest. No doubt about that some men are exhibitionists and so are some women.
Normally the web is a haven for the dark side. This time, the Amazon chief executive used it to let in the light.
Kara Swisher
By Kara Swisher
Ms. Swisher covers technology and is a contributing opinion writer.
A classic headline from The New York Post on Friday about Jeff Bezos' accusations that David Pecker, publisher of The National Enquirer, sought to blackmail him. CreditCreditStephanie Keith/Getty Images
"I cannot quite believe I am writing about Jeff Bezos’ sex life for the second time in two weeks, let alone about his penis. But Mr. Bezos brought all of himself back into the news on Thursday by writing a blockbuster post on Medium accusing American Media, which owns The National Enquirer, of blackmail. The post is addressed to David Pecker, the head of American Media, and titled, “No Thank You, Mr. Pecker.”
Pun presumably intended by Mr. Bezos, the Amazon founder and chief executive. It’s difficult to not descend into a minefield of them (Jeff Bezos’ Prime and Jeff Bezos’ package are popular jokes on Twitter today, and HuffPost and The New York Post ran with “Bezos Exposes Pecker”) and conclude that it is simply a field day for tabloids . . ."
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"This is true on a superficial and titillating level, of course. Last month, The National Enquirer broke the story about Mr. Bezos’ affair and quoted awkward and somewhat sweet sexts he had sent his girlfriend. There were also insinuations about the existence of photos of his penis.
 
But now the news is about something bigger . . ."
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Kara Swisher: Bezos' next battle
@NatEnquirer
"Rather than struggling with his media foes in the quiet back room of a law firm," Recode co-founder Kara Swisher writes in her N.Y Times column, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos "decided to do it the internet way," much as President Trump does, "and just say it all out loud on Medium and Twitter. . ."
"Bypassing the traditional media, he wrote a highly personal post alleging a shakedown."
  • "By pushing back, Mr. Bezos has taken a deeply embarrassing situation and turned it to his own advantage."
  • "While jokes abound, he’s having a bit of a heroic moment here, as the guy who will not take it anymore."
    • "Bezos is striking a blow for everyone. Regular people suffer data hacks and privacy violations daily, largely from having their information mined and manipulated in order to build enormous advertising businesses, as Facebook and Google do, or to sell us more stuff (hello, Amazon!)."
    His next battle? "Bezos clearly is winning here.
    He should use the opportunity to reflect on how he can lead the fight to protect everyone’s privacy and digital dignity, even as he takes back his own."

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