For example: "When was the last time the US Senate got involved after you went on a rant at a party?"
I am not a SVP of a company valued in the billions working in a highly regulated industry. I also didn't do the rant at a private "party" designed to improve relations with prominent members of the media that covers my particular industry.
Also, the Senate sends letters on all sorts of mundane matters. That is not the issue of proportion here. The issue is the media giving undue emphasis to stories involving the media.
So you may think it's overblown, but I'd like Uber to feel that this is not OK, so it got me to finally install the Lyft app which I'll be giving a try.
I think it's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I don't know if you read Sarah's actual article, but it reads as if this guy called her up and told her that he was going to murder her children. It is that sentiment, not facts about what actually happened, that has carried this "story" so far. She is exploiting others' fears about stalking and sexism for her own personal gain. IMO, that makes her far more evil than anything Uber could or would do.
Nope. ONE exec went on a rant at a party about what HE would hypothetically like to do to a self-declared enemy of the company. Have you ever been really frustrated with someone and said "Ugh sometimes I'd like to ring his/her neck" or similar? Now imagine someone overheard you, took it literally, and called the person you were frustrated with. Sensing an opportunity to exploit the situation, they call the police, contact Senators about you, and write a blog post about how you threatened to eradicate him/her and everyone they've ever spoken to from the planet in the most violent possible way - all in an effort to get clicks on ads on your blog. That is basically what happened here.
You're right about one thing, it is disgusting.
https://medium.com/@petersimsie/can-we-trust-uber-c0e793deda...
How about looking at it this way: even if everyone has had a moment of wanting to "wring someone's neck" as you say down-thread, I don't expect company executives to actually suggest that they might hire some goons to go rough up someone who negatively reviewed their product. An executive who says something like that in public is an idiot, and I personally would seriously reconsider whether I want that person to be in charge of anything at my company, or represent my company in public ever again.
I couldn't stand SL at TC but I'm 100% behind on her this one.
Real journalists give full notice about potential conflicts of interest (especially when they write flimsy attack articles). Exposing that unacknowledged conflict of interest doesn't seem like it puts someone's family in harms way. All it would do is show clear bias in a clearly biased attack article.
There should be no sliding scale for things like this. Period.