Randall Kennedy, Unapologetic, Claims Microsoft Ordered ‘Hit Piece’ Against Him and That InfoWorld Knew What Was Going On

Kennedy has posted several comments on the ZDNet exposé, including this one:

Would you people please get down off your high horses, remove your blinders and realize this was a “hit piece” order [sic] by MS?

(I’m always wary of believing that commenters really are who they claim to be, so I’m hoping that ZDNet has verified that the comments in this thread from “Randall C. Kennedy” truly are from him.) More damning for InfoWorld is this one, however:

1. IDG knew. Galen Gruman, Executive Editor of InfoWorld knew. As did Eric Knorr. And several others. But poor Gregg Keizer — hey, the man was looking for an anti-Microsoft angle at every turn, and he let his zeal get the best of him. I honestly never meant any harm, especially to Gregg.

2. InfoWorld didn’t let me go. I resigned. In fact, up until Saturday afternoon they were still trying to salvage the situation. They didn’t want to lose 2+ million page views per year, which is what the shock jock persona they developed for me delivered.

Take all of his claims, including his accusations of IDG’s complicity, with a large grain of salt — quite obviously Kennedy’s word isn’t exactly good. (Gregg Keizer is the Computerworld reporter who frequently cited Kennedy’s alter ego “Craig Barth” as an expert source on Windows performance issues.)

Last, Kennedy claims to be semi-retired at the age of 40 and living on Mauritius, a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, famous as the only known home of the dodo.

★ Monday, 22 February 2010