“If you are optimistic you run the risk of looking naive.
But if you are skeptical I can guarantee you will end up looking….. skeptical.”
I just received what I think is my favorite piece of hate-mail yet. I get antagonistic emails every now and then. Some are constructive and try to point out the flaws in Spot.Us. Those are always welcomed. I never claim to know for certain if Spot.Us will work – but I am 100 percent confident that it is something we should explore. Otherwise we should stick our heads in the sand and hope the storm ends soon (hint: it wont).
But every now and then I get an email that just makes one so angry the only descent response is to laugh. In this day, at this hour, in this moment of crisis for journalism somebody thinks the best use of their time isn’t pulling themselves up, but trying to drag me down.
The following email came from an AOL address. I’m not judging – but I know some people who would already date the persons web knowledge with that bit of information. This person is also the publisher of a local publication in New York (a section of Manhattan) with a circulation of 15k. This is precisely the type of person that can use Spot.Us to double their freelance budget!
In searching through my email history (AOL can’t do that!) – I also see this person emailed January 18th saying that he had interest in my projects (this was before Spot.Us) but that his real problem was “I am looking for reporters, that is what I need – somebody who can stick to a story.” Through a quick back and forth in that January 18th email – the conclusion was that he could not pay any reporters. The irony gets better.
Twelve months later I send a large email trying to fundraise for a Spot.Us reporter who will investigate what is ailing the Oakland Police Department. The very type of fundraising this individual needs. The response…
now, at last, I see your pitch
give me money and I will do investigative reporting
not nice
and a little strange
I think you should have talked it over with an adult before you started.
this will not succeed on this planet I give you a guarantee signed in blood
but it is so arcane, so crazy, I think I will print it
don’t you have friends that you can talk with to stop you from doing such a nutty thing?
Signed
XXXX
“If you are optimistic you run the risk of looking naive.
But if you are skeptical I can guarantee you will end up looking….. skeptical.”
Skeptics tell me that people will never donate to journalism.
My response: “If I had a small $5 donation every time I heard that, we’d have funded hundreds of investigations by now.”
“Yes we can.”
Novelty Words of Encouragement
1. Unlike the guy who wrote you that email, I am an adult, as are the people who disperse the grant money, and we support your idea.
2. You have a hater, which is a very good thing for you, but a very bad thing for your hater. While you solve old problems with new methods your hater will make you look even better by clinging stubbornly to outdated traditions (read: AOL) which will ultimately fall into disuse.
3. You are also exemplary for being able to elicit a gem of a hate letter from the sea of The Internets. I would suggest you put up a page where we can view your treasure-chest of haterisms, but it may run contrary to your ethics. (Personally, I would do something that petty, but you mustn’t tarnish your pristine journalistic facade.)
David: Sounds like you have a good attitude about the hate mail. I’ve gotten my share over the years as I’ve written about new ideas for the news industry. For me it’s typically been traditional editors and publishers (occasionally reporters) who see the “radical” ideas that I’ve presented in my columns and blogs and think I’m out to destroy the newspaper business. One guy became sort of an e-mail enemy for a while (publisher of a small paper). All part of the fun of being on the bleeding edge. Keep on! You’re doing great, and you’re not alone in getting the hate mail. That one is particularly nasty; some of mine have been similar. You just have to laugh and know you’re right. 8^)
“On résiste à l’invasion des armées; on ne résiste pas à l’invasion des idées.”
Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.
Victor Hugo
Dave — Don’t assume that just because this guy’s job title is “publisher” that he’s a journalist. Odds are, he’s probably never been a reporter. Most publishers rise through the ranks on the business side and wouldn’t know how to “stick to a story” because they’ve never reported one.
Thanks for all the encouraging words everyone. Steve Outing – You rock! I am a big fan.
I think today I’m going to try a Gary V inspired video rant post.
…three fingers pointing back…
Admittedly though, there is one major problem with Spot.us –
it’s addictive.
Props for including that he still uses an AOL.com e-mail address. And yes, I cannot help but judge him for that, especially when asserting knows more than you.
Very suspect considering he’s never discovered a better e-mail client.
Thanks for this Dave. You just convinced me to create a filter in Gmail to auto-delete anything from the AOL domain (one time Cal Thomas was checking his email behind me–he uses AOL, too).
Spot.Us is one of the most refreshing ideas in news, whether ends up being a great success or not.