Fox News Channel’s “Media Buzz” host Howard Kurtz has slammed Uber and its executive Emir Michael over the story first reported by BuzzFeed, that Michael suggested “digging up dirt” on journalists, specifically Pando Daily’s Sarah Lacy:
Leaving aside the mendacity of targeting someone’s personal life because you don’t like what she’s written, how clueless do you have to be to talk about going after journalists at a table full of journalists?
AdvertisementWhat’s more, the reason this is chilling is that Uber has personal information on where and when its passengers go. There’s an assumption that this info remains private, but a corporation out to smear someone could certainly misuse it.
The backstory is that Lacy, an aggressive journalist who once worked for Business Week, has been torching Uber. She has accused the company of “sexism and misogyny.” She said she was deleting her Uber app after BuzzFeed’s report that the firm appeared to be working with a French escort service.
Kurtz notes Uber has swiftly traded its hip image for a far more sleazy one:
This is ugly, ugly stuff.
But here’s an unintentionally funny line from the piece: “His remarks came as Uber seeks to improve its relationship with the media and the image of its management team, who have been cast as insensitive and hyper-aggressive.” How’s that workin’ out for ya?