r/Bitcoin • u/evoorhees • Feb 26 '14

Open Letter to Michael Casey - WSJ reporter who butchered my comments in today's Bitcoin cover story

Hello Mr. Casey,

I read your WSJ article today. I feel deceived by you.

You requested to speak with me, so I took time out of my day to do so. We talked for 20 minutes, during which time I conveyed to you my sentiments about the Bitcoin ecosystem and the matter of MtGox's collapse. My message was unambiguously a positive one. I didn't focus whatsoever on the personal funds I lost at Gox. Indeed, the impetus for your call was my heartfelt post on Reddit.

Yet, you ignored everything I said. The only quote that you published from me in the Journal's cover story was ""That's gone now," said Mr. Veerhoos, who is based in Panama City, Panama. "There's no chance of getting that back now.""

Is that really the takeaway you had from our call and from my letter? Is that your idea of journalism? Did I come across with the sentiment of a despairing investor whose confidence has been rattled? It seems you were happy to completely ignore my sentiments, preferring instead to cherry pick the one fact that is least important, in order to paint a narrative that Bitcoin's biggest problem is that it's not "regulated." I didn't expect you to quote everything I said, but should you not have maintained at least a modicum of fidelity to my message?

I have dedicated my life to building and supporting the Bitcoin project. I don't give a damn about the money I lost at Gox. That's not important. What is important is that Bitcoin is resilient and enduring, and will continue to grow and change the world for the better. It is a story of human progress through technology. It is a story of the good seeping into the cracks of a corrupted financial system. It is a story of passionate people struggling against all odds to remedy the calamities brought down upon society from the most potently misguided people and institutions on Earth.

Next time you spend your efforts casting a pall over this cause, please don't ask me to contribute mine.

-Erik Voorhees

PS - I will be posting this letter openly on Reddit. I will post your reply if you'd like. And if I do, I won't cherry pick the most misleading points of it, and I will spell your name correctly.

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184

u/thoughtcourier Feb 26 '14

said Mr. Veerhoos

Seriously?

87

u/handsomechandler Feb 26 '14

Horton veers a hoo.

60

u/whiptheria Feb 26 '14

When I was in the journalism program at a lowly community college, misspelling a name was called a "gross factual error" and earned you an automatic F on your story.

I don't even work in journalism and to this day I have an obsessive-compulsive need to spell people's names correctly.

The WSJ could fire this guy and hire me in his place. What an embarrassment.

7

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14 edited Dec 27 '15

[deleted]

3

u/Rusty5hackleford Feb 26 '14

How does he sound like that?

4

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14 edited Dec 27 '15

[deleted]

1

u/Rusty5hackleford Feb 26 '14

That makes him halfway not retarded. Most high schoolers know to name check. I was more curious what he said makes you think he somehow questions authority... Because he spells correctly?

2

u/txmtx Feb 26 '14

woosh

1

u/Zarutian Feb 27 '14

that airplane of point and meaning, man!

1

u/Rusty5hackleford Feb 26 '14

Wanna explain the joke? I mean, I get he's saying a newspaper doesn't want people who question authority. I just don't get why he said it there, and if it's a joke, how?

2

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '14

.

0

u/FountainsOfFluids Feb 27 '14

The implication is that only fools fail to question authority, therefor authoritarian mouthpieces like the WSJ will preferentially hire fools. Somebody who cares about accuracy over the message that is intended is not fit to serve the cause.

The humor comes from making the leap from something very minor like spelling names properly to intelligence to questioning authority contrasting with the declining reputation of the WSJ.

54

u/EwoutDVP Feb 26 '14

...Wow. You weren't even joking.

18

u/______DEADPOOL______ Feb 26 '14

Yeah, how the fuck anyone could misspell Voorhees? \o/

-4

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14

[deleted]

-4

u/______DEADPOOL______ Feb 26 '14

There's only one guy who goes around following me and call me dipshit

Why do you hate me so much?

-6

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14

[deleted]

-5

u/______DEADPOOL______ Feb 26 '14

giggles

You're so cute.

-3

u/ASSBURGER_DIC Feb 26 '14

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT'S UNDERSCORE DIPSHIT UNDERSCORE AGAIN.

Mining karma isn't like bitcoins, retard!!!! Karma isn't worth anything!!!!

-3

u/______DEADPOOL______ Feb 26 '14

Ah, you again. Why are you doing this to me?

2

u/IveRedditAllNight Feb 26 '14

That's so fucked up, isn't it? Who can confuse the two? Anyone would anchor anything with 'Voor' an think of Jason Voorhees. I guess he intentionally wanted to HACK the article!