Free Software Mag Interviews Sys-Con Publisher

NW writes "Tony Mobily, editor of the Free Software Magazine recently interviewed Fuat Kircaali, founder and publisher of Sys-Con Media. The interview revolves around the recent controversy surrounding the article written by Maureen O'Gara attacking Pamela Jones of GrokLaw."

Comments

Re:A Chilling Effect

[Anonymous Coward]

An opinion piece is something that lists the name of her mother (not PJ) and also gives a street address along with pictures of the outside of where she lives? Get real.

O'Gara's piece was an attempt at a smear job by painting PJ as a crazy elderly Jehovah's Witness. Those in the SCO camp/pro-SCO people must be incredibly desperate to be resorting to tactics like that.

Not much for an apology

[heli_flyer]

From reading the article, apparently it's not the complaints from the readers, nor the complaints from the advertisers which prompted him to pull the articles. The only reason he pulled the article is the DDOS attacks. He still doesn't seem to understand what he did wrong.

What an ass

[instantkarma1]

To paraphrase..."There was nothing ethically or morally wrong with the story. It was factual. However, many of our idiot readers.....errr..customers, got their panties in a was about it. I see no problem publishing personal attacks against people, including their physical address and making fun of their religion, but I'll be damned if some of our readers aren't prudes."

This guy is absolutely classless. I think I'll pass on anything put out by them in the future.

MOG did not know it was the *right* PJ

[One Louder]

Even in the "article" itself MOG admits that she didn't know for sure if she had tracked down the actual PJ, and even implied that this "Pamela Jones" might have been the victim of identity theft.

Given that, why plaster the address and pictures of a potentially innocent party across the Internet?

What about the mother? She's not a party to Groklaw in any way, she's not a blogger, a reporter, or anything, yet her address and pictures of her house ended up in the "article".

I'm sorry - I see nothing ethical here.

Big time.

[khasim]

From TFA:

The "editorial board members" of LinuxWorld are appointed from among the leading professionals and participants of the Linux community at large.

Well, that's just sweet. But what does it have to do with anything?

LinuxWorld's independent advisory board and the core editorial team(s) have full editorial decision-making authority in everything that goes to print.

But MOG doesn't appear in print. Her articles are posted on your web site.

So what does anything about "print" have to do with this story?

They funnel that passion into the accurate and unbiased editorial content that you look for in the pages of our magazine(s) every month and in every new issue.

Still, not in print so why are you talking about this?

We believe that a magazine such as LinuxWorld, supported by hands-on participants and leading industry experts, offers real-life editorial content that you will not find elsewhere.

Hey! I can write this "note" and try to turn it into a free ad for my wonderful magazine.

Our compensation and deep satisfaction is in knowing that we are providing a valuable service that benefits Open Source, Linux, and everyone in the industry.

Yep. If I ever need to find PJ's mom, I'll know the site that provides that "valuable service".

This is how LinuxWorld differentiates itself from other venues.

Yep. Linux Journal certainly wouldn't publish that, even on its web site. Nor any other technical publication.

On the pages of LinuxWorld you read articles written by the most knowledgeable and experienced professionals in the world.

Did I mention the part about turning this into a free ad?

Last but not least, we are pleased to announce that with the launch of our new Web site, we now made all our archived content and past issues available online.

Thanks for having me on the show, did I mention my new web site? Can I do a quick plug for it?

Please be sure to take a look at the "LinuxWorld Topics" section of our new Web site to explore our archived content grouped under a rich number of categories.

I'm real sure I mentioned the free ad time. Right?

Before I end my note, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you our publishing guidelines.

End your note? You haven't even gotten to the subject.

We believe in the Golden Rule.

Give us the gold and you make the rules.

In all our dealings we strive to be friendly and courteous, as well as fair and compassionate.

This was not a single article. Read the past ones. You'll see an ongoing stream of hatred.

But those were okay to put on your sites.

We treat sources, subjects, and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect. We show compassion, show good taste, and avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.

Hmmmm..... You might need to check this page then - http://linuxbusinessnews.sys-con.com/read/49228.ht m?CFID=39636&CFTOKEN=75BBE516-14D5-139B-BC4011A448 3558B3

Yep, Linux Business News on the sys-con.com site. And if I may post some of the hate there:

Whatever you think of his politics, McBride may have a point or two. How come such an influence peddler is so mysterious?

So, PJ is "mysterious".

The name PJ is apparently a nom de plume or, in this case maybe it's a nom de guerre.

Maybe it stands for "Pam Jones".

Re:Interview summary:

[Anonymous Coward]

the story was perceived as offensive by a group of the readers

I'll never purchase any publication by them again. Doesn't sound like there's much understanding there about the difference between right and wrong. Instead of a believable apology, we're presented with weasel-words.