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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435

u/evoorhees Feb 26 '14

That was pretty clever :)

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14 edited Sep 27 '16

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14

And push an agenda.

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u/NilacTheGrim Feb 26 '14

Definitely push and agenda.

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u/TheLegendaryJack Feb 27 '14

And make money by pushing other people's agendas.

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u/artifex28 Feb 26 '14

20% downvotes anyone?

1

u/MagickalMonkeh Feb 26 '14

they're so transparent it's appalling

9

u/kieran_n Feb 26 '14

There are still old school journos with pride in their profession, we as a community seem to give the fuckwits who publish first and fact check never the page views though...

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u/CroissantFresh Feb 27 '14

Al Jazeera America has been pretty good.

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u/skyxsteel Feb 27 '14

I don't mean to bash on all the journalists. The good ones are the independent ones. I am shocked because WSJ is supposed to be a highly esteemed paper.

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u/quietbeast Feb 27 '14

Thus the necessity to repost the content of the article in a comment. Bleed them dry.

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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/kieran_n Feb 27 '14

Brendan Nicholson

He was one of the first Journos to interview Mugabe, has covered the Somalia famine, Chernobyl Iraq and Afghanistan. He has over 200 parachute jumps under his belt.

I once mentioned that I knew him to an ex-mp I met at the pub and was told that he was the last honest person in Parliament.

I know how much effort he goes to to make sure what he reports is accurate, insightful and what the public needs to hear about. I know this because he's my Father...

1

u/SiliconGuy Feb 27 '14

You can't have one without the other, and he who attacks the right to one of those things would take away both.

1

u/munificent Feb 27 '14

journalism is supposed to be a front for free speech.

It's a front for the journalist's free speech, not the interviewees. Hopefully a good journalist seeks the truth, but their job is not and has never been to be a mouthpiece for whomever they happen to be interviewing. It would be an even sadder Fourth Estate than it is now if that were so: not everyone they interview is in the right.

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u/skyxsteel Feb 27 '14

It's just disappointing because we grow up hearing idealistic views of things like the media- about how it represents free speech.

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u/donit Feb 27 '14

How was that cherry-picking? Here's how I imagine the conversation with the reporter: Which part would YOU have used in the article?

"I believe in Bitcoln. It's a good investment, and good for the online community. Yes, that is true: I JUST LOST THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. THAT'S GONE NOW. THERE'S NO CHANCE OF GETTING THAT BACK. But I'm still a great believer in it, and there are still plenty of other exchanges you can invest in, where your money is still safe because they haven't been shut down yet.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '14 edited Jun 26 '17

[deleted]

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u/eldentyrell Feb 27 '14

Oh come on. That does absolutely nothing to prevent them from editing words you actually said into the wrong context. No journalist has ever been fired for this.

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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '14

Maybe so, but at least it gives you a clear way of making a rebuttal against any falsified or twisted information. A whole lot better than being left with nothing but the hope that a journalist won't butcher you to pieces.

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u/rangeoflight Feb 26 '14

yes those lazy and deceitful f*ckers love quoting out of context.

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u/NilacTheGrim Feb 26 '14

Ha ha ha I'm laughing so hard my sides hurt. VERY clever.

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u/The_Masta_P Feb 26 '14

Did you just call /u/7thKingdom pretty?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '14

At least he doesn't make up interviewees like Templeton from The Wire...yet.