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When Staff Writers Attack (and Retract)

August 11, 2005 by Shawn Collins

Back in the day, there was a “reality” show on Fox called When Animals Attack.

It was typical reality fare – fantastic, over the top stuff that targeted the lowest common denominator.

I couldn’t help thinking about that show when I came across a post by David Utter on WebProNews yesterday.

The post by Mr. Utter was titled “Lockergnome Meltdown At SES 2005” and it included the following snippets intended to damn luminary, Chris Pirillo:

According to a Jupitermedia rep, Pirillo of Lockergnome and TechTV fame was “extremely nasty” when he was asked for a sample of his work. It seems that the unfortunate rep didn’t recognize the diminutive diva of daily discourse, and that set Pirillo into a paroxysm of rage …

As if that characterization were not enough of a broadside, the author felt inclined to further criticize Mr. Pirillo’s physical appearance:

A photo of the miniature media mogul shows a smiling face that obviously belies the fierce warrior within. Perhaps he could avoid future inconveniences by stamping his Lockergnome logo on his amply-sized forehead before attending another convention.

The posting from Mr. Utter was accompanied by a link to discuss/fan the flames on the issue in a forum.

But there was one problem – the whole attack on Chris Pirillo was apparently one part exaggeration, and two parts fantasy.

pirillo.gifThe “story” even included a parody of Pirillo’s kindly cartoon likeness.

As Pirillo explained on his blog, “Nothing happened – certainly not something nasty, and certainly not from my words or actions.”

Jake Ludington, David Lawrence, Jim Kukral and others weighed in on the coverage, and what do you know – the story and forum thread were vaporized.

Today, there was something of a retraction from Mike McDonald, Site Admin for WebProWorld.

It seems there was no “ill intent” with the characterization of Chris Pirillo. Just a slow news day, I guess. A little character assassination, I mean ribbing, for fun.

At least when they animals on Fox maul somebody, they don’t speak out of both sides of their snout about it.

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