The new sin

September 5, 2006 by Jeff Jarvis

In the old days, journalists were canned for a few too-frequently committed sins: lying, plagiarism, fudging the expense account. It’s amazing how many have now found the new sin of sock-puppetry. I’ve said before that this comes out of some fear of facing people eye-to-eye, to have opinions and to state them like any normal human being. So there is this strange instinct to hide behind a fake identity just because other people do it online. In the end, it’s just another form of lying.

  • http://www.laist.com tony

    dude shoulda got fired.

    i dont know about your place of work, but if i ever got caught lying, repeatedly, to the cutomer, id be shtcanned in a second.

  • http://www.dotcom-monitor.com website monitoring man

    Another form of lying, isn’t it? That’s right. But journalists do lie all the time, so I’m not surprised at all.

    After all, they are paid for their lies, despite what the editors say.

  • http://none alan macleese

    Not to defend this latest dipshit from NRO, the Siegel person, but Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe used to draw the long bow in print, lauding their effoirts, but then they had something going for them and cannot be dismissed like Siegel, the flying carp. And, it should be noted, that remarking on his misdeeds will merely encourage him. alhallowell

  • sp

    Another form of lying, isn’t it? That’s right. But journalists do lie all the time, so I’m not surprised at all.

    Don’t you mean”
    “Another form of lying, isn’t it? That’s right. But bloggers do lie all the time, so I’m not surprised at all.”

    The guy is a blogger after all. full out pajamas.

  • Pingback: Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation and the Web » Blog Archive » Social Media, Dual Identities, and A Gift to Advertisers

  • Pingback: Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation and the Web » Blog Archive » Discovering the Balance: Social Media and Marketing