Dave Pell on Nir Rosen’s ugly “she was asking for it” comments and weird defense of them:
Rosen’s offending tweets were in response to the reports that CBS’ Lara Logan had been sexually assualted near Tahrir Square on the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down. Here is a sampling of his handiwork.
“Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson [Cooper]. Where was her buddy McCrystal.”
via Breaking News: Man Tweets Without Really Thinking About It First : All Tech Considered : NPR.
Slate’s David Plotz finds fault with “new media”
And the problem with a lot of new media is that it erodes the barriers between what it is we are allowed — as our private selves — to think and feel because we are human (and thus flawed) , and what it is that’s appropriate and fine to say in public.…Slate editor David Plotz, during last week’s Slate Political Gabfest podcast
My talk under my breath, or in Vegas, or while playing Rugby, or watching sports with fans of a rival team is not the same talk at meetings or the family dinner table. I get Plotz’s point. It simply doesn’t apply here. I just don’t see where twitter eroded that barrier for Rosen. Yes, we all have ugly private thoughts. The “problem” is Rosen didn’t think his thoughts were ugly. He consciously posted them and stood by them, and then was shamed into giving a half ass apology.
If a person can ever be ashamed of an idea, it shouldn’t become a tweet, blog or status update. They are all a form free autographed billboard that are automatically archived to preserve your stupidity.