Comment by ckastner
8 years ago
> I don't see that as the argument being made, which renders it a strawman.
But that's how I, and apparently others, read the grandparent's argument.
The grandparent made a personal statement about trust in The Intercept, and did not really substantiate this trust other than by mentioning two key players.
> It's possible for someone, without a specific talent X, to create an institution to ensure proper application of some talent X
I fully agree -- one need only think of huge conglomerates who manufacture everything from light bulbs MRI machines to aircraft engines, to use GE as an example.
> when the need for competent execution of X makes itself apparent.
And therein lies one problem as I see it: it has to make itself apparent to the creator (resp. leader).
Because the converse is also true: It's possible for someone, without a specific talent X, to create an institution which fails ensure proper application of some talent X.
From another comment, we seem to agree that there should absolutely have been policies and procedures in place that should have prevented this mess in the first place.
I posit that this is one of the things that should have been apparent from the start (as preserving anonymity is crucial to The Intercept's cause), yet most probably weren't.
I differ on the first claim, though agree it's possible to read it that way, and accept that you have. I see this more as "a need was seen and the initiative was taken" argument, perhaps poorly articulated.
The following arguments you make, here, are actually pretty good. The one you you'd lead with was poor, as I've already addressed.
I'd especially like to emphasise your point on the failure of good intentions. That's highly salient, and something that should probably be kept generally in mind with tech startups -- many of which seem to sprout like mushrooms from the dark and ... fecund substrata of Silicon Valley and YC ... and yet fall short of their respective putative aiming points.
(That The Intercept can trace its roots to start-up culture may also be relevant here, through Omidyar.)
The interesting (and troubling) part of this story is that it involves four members of the staff, working together, none of whom is named "Glen Greenwald", and presumably with the technical support of Micah Lee. And yet we've still seen what we've seen.
Definitely room for improvement.
But it's still a bit rich to pin the fault on Greenwald specifically, and pre-Intercept Greenwald especially.