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Big Technology
Tony Hsieh and Brian Armstrong Show Us Two Different Paths Forward for Tech
The tech industry can sideline the press. But should it?
Over Thanksgiving break, a spectacle developed over a forthcoming New York Times story about Coinbase. News of the story first appeared on Coinbase’s blog, where the company posted an email to employees warning of an impending negative article. “The story,” it said, “will allege that several Black employees had negative experiences at Coinbase over the last few years.”
Soon after Coinbase’s post went up, a chorus of tech insiders implored their peers to cut off the press, and tell their stories themselves. “Build your own media arm, hire an [editor-in-chief], and go direct,” Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale tweeted. “The quality of traditional publications is declining simultaneously with our need for them,” said Y-Combinator co-founder Paul Graham. “Better to say your own story than defend the one NYT writes,” said product manager Madhur Chadha.
The allure of “going direct” is simple. Thanks to the social internet, you can now tell your story exactly as you’d like — without any criticism — instead of filtering it through reporters’ and editors’ lenses. Everyone from athletes to politicians have embraced this form of media. And some in the tech industry, after years of easy treatment from the press, are now gravitating toward it too.
Being the target of bad press stings. But for those hoping to develop healthy companies, ignoring it is risky. Journalists can be overzealous, but sidelining their work because it isn’t perfect will only ensure legitimate problems go unaddressed. If Coinbase didn’t agree with the breadth of the Times’ critique, it could’ve used the moment to ask why many of its Black employees felt compelled to speak up. If some in the tech industry believe reporters are out to get them, then a dialogue — not boycott — seems like a good place to start.
We need dialogue now because these movements tend to pick up steam and take on lives of their own. As recent history teaches us, it can be difficult to go back. Even those who’d carry out the “go direct” mission feel uneasy about where it might lead. “I’m the thing that they’re telling people…
