Monday, April 02, 2007

Updates on the "disturbing day for bloggers" story

The firestorm that erupted last week over threats received by blogger Kathy Sierra has taken an interesting turn. Today, Sierra and Chris Locke (one of the people mentioned in her original post) published a joint statement (read it here) about the issue.

According to Sierra:
When I was first bombarded by the media about this story, I refused to answer questions. Having no media experience, I found that when you don't answer a reporter, they'll tell your story without you, so I agreed to speak with a few. When I was asked for a short CNN interview, I said that I would do it only if they would let me invite Chris Locke as well. Needless to say, everyone including Chris was stunned to hear this.

But these stories should not be about me... I am simply one of a gazillion examples about what's happening today both on and offline. Nor is it a simple Nice Vs. Bully story, and I thought having us come to an understanding would encourage others to stop fighting on either of our behalves and try to listen first, and then talk, and maybe something good and useful really will come of this.

They both appeared on CNN Monday morning to talk about what's happened, but they wanted to issue a statement to ensure that their story got out in full.

There has, of course, been a lot of stuff written on this issue. One that I'd recommend you read is a story from Salon editor Joan Walsh (which appeared before the news broke about the joint statement) that looks into the whole question of whether women are receiving more abuse online than men.

I had been considering letting my Salon membership expire, since I hadn't been reading it as often as I used to. But Walsh's post reminded me why I like the publication. It's feature-length stories are well-written and usually interesting. Worth the price, I figure, so I'm going to renew.

Update: Here's the CNN report from Monday morning. (You'll need Quicktime to view it.)


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