Mat Honan Calls This Blackmail

Mat Honan, on Mike Arrington’s creepy AOL/TechCrunch piece yesterday on Caterina Fake’s new startup:

Explicitly, it’s clear what he’s saying: If you, Mr. or Ms. Startup founder, don’t play ball with us, we will fuck you over. But the implicit stuff is more insidious to me.

Arrington is acting as if he’s above the mudslinging by not revealing details. But the problem with that stance is that had he not brought up the “sordid situation,” how would anyone have even known there was mud to be slung?

The piece was bizarrely personal, even by Arrington’s standards.

★ Tuesday, 21 June 2011