By Carlos Miller
Not a word has been heard from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since social media editor Kurt Greenbaum penned his explanatory post Wednesday afternoon where he tried to justify getting a man fired for writing the word “pussy” on the newspaper’s blog.
Meanwhile, more than 345 comments (as of this writing) have been left on his follow-up post by readers who are utterly disgusted by his initial actions and for his meager excuses.
And 151 comments were left on the initial post before the Post-Dispatch shut them down.
The story has generated the same disgust from various sites throughout the internet, including at least two sites in Canada, but it has yet to be addressed by the mainstream media in this country, other than a few paragraph’s from St. Louis’s alternative weekly.
But there is no doubt the mainstream media is watching this closely because this is a perfect example of what happens when Old Media and New Media collide.
Perhaps Rick Sanchez, who is CNN’s self-proclaimed social media guru, will eventually address this issue because it’s right up his alley.
But perhaps he is still recovering from last week’s blunder where he came out in defense of a cop who blatantly violated a citizen’s First Amendment rights.
The bottom line is that Greenbaum, despite the claims he makes on his resume, is completely unqualified to be the newspaper’s social media editor.
In hindsight, he probably should have registered his own domain name. Now somebody has done it for him. And it’s not pretty. Although it is funny (but I am beginning to feel sorry for the guy).
At this point, there is no turning back. There is no way he can continue operating the newspaper’s blog with any sense of credibility. There is very little he can do to regain his readers’ trust and respect.
And the longer the newspaper goes without addressing it, the more credibility it loses.
The issue, of course, has spawned it share of skeptics and conspiracy theorists, including some who believe the whole thing is a hoax .
I don’t believe that’s the case, but if it was, then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch might as well shut down because that would make them deliberate liars instead of self-righteous snitches.
The one thing this incident has proven is that the readers are the ultimate deciders, not the editors. That’s the difference between the New Media and the Old Media.
The Old Media frequently complains that there is very little editorial oversight in the New Media. And in some regards, that is true.
I might not have an editor who reads my copy before I post it, but I have thousands who read my copy after I post it and who do not hesitate to point out inaccuracies.
The New Media is all about interactive communication. It’s about listening to your readers and respecting your readers, even if you don’t agree with your readers.
But the New Media must also retain the values that made the Old Media successful for so long. And that is mainly the journalistic principles of trust and credibility.
Greenbaum failed on all accounts.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Related posts:
Support Photography is Not a Crime by buying your electronics through this ad.
Fernandez, as I mentioned in a 
This is funny stuff. The 1st amendment only applies to the Old Media Gods, not to us little people, I guess.
As to this getting into MSM?
I would not hold my breath that those pussies will do that.
Look man, Rick Sanchez can only have his producer reading blogs for him so many times a week looking for stories.
Plus, he’s busy finally catching on to the Maricopa deputy court thing that you and Balko and Tuccille have been covering for ages.
That’s true. Maybe he’ll get on this in a couple of weeks
This one is by far the funniest one yet.
http://www.kurtgreenbaum.com/
Which points to -
http://www.kurtgreenbaumisapussy.com/
Man, am I glad I registered my name, but now I’m tempted of registering the .net, .biz and all the others as well.
But I did include that link in the post.
Sorry Carlos – didn’t see it and wasn’t paying attention. We’re getting slapped around pretty good today/tonight
I posted it after you posted it here. Hadn’t seen it before. So thanks.
Wow, the mainstream is ignoring this. What a shock.
I happen to like being able to post to a blogger and help them catch a mistake. It has happened to me on my blog and I appreciated it.
Mainstream media writes about drivel and the online articles are full of typos and grammatical errors. Who the hell cares if there is an eggo shortage.
I e-mailed my local newspaper, also owned by Lee Enterprises. The response:
“We would probably not report on this issue, but it has nothing to do with ownership. It has no ties to Madison, and although somewhat interesting, it is probably not significant enough to report on.
Sincerely,
Bill Johnston
Publisher”
Aaaaand not finding online social media “significant enough” is a major reason newspaper media is dying.
You bring up some interesting points about Journalism 3.0. And what this story demonstrates is “legacy media’s” faulty understanding of the new paradigm.
The MSM finally allows comments – but they don’t respond to the commenters. If there are questions or even inaccuracies, the newspaper, NPR or TV does not respond. ONce a story is posted, end of story.
But that is unacceptable. In this day and age, the writer can post, but the editors are the readers. They are who you have to respond to when they challenge your posts. Or you will no longer have readers.
Hi CM,
I’ve frequented your site in the past, it’s so interesting I come upon your comments to this whole situation on the Saint Louis news site.
This man is a travesty to journalistic integrity. He says that he is sick of the vulgarity he sees everyday and he wanted to make an example out of someone? What a fuckin prick.
This is the internet, you have to have a little bit of patience if you want to be conversing on here, what he did was so shitty but I am very glad people like you and pretty much everyone has called him out on it.
Someone posted his actual GPS coordinates, extracted from his cellphone somehow, that showed where he was today. (reckless, if you ask me)
Interestingly, he was at the Midwest Messianic Center most of the day. NOT work. Fired?
Maybe prayer is a little late…I think a legal name change is the only thing that is going to help this guy now.
This has to be a hoax, the more I think about it the more ridiculous it is.
First off, how did Greenbaum find out that the person from this school got fired? That would require him to keep up to date on the situation.
Second, is anyone that much of a coward that they would resign on the spot when confronted with misconduct of internet usage? I know most people would deny it, minimize it, or fight it.
Third, I dunno how this mystery school is, but my teachers were not on a tight leash at the schools I went too. When the teachers got angry at students the vulgarity would come out and nobody made a fuss over it..
There is no way to corroborate this until the person who was fired steps up and tells his story. All the outrage that is being felt by the internet community may be for nothing.
“Someone posted his actual GPS coordinates, extracted from his cellphone somehow, that showed where he was today. (reckless, if you ask me)”
That’s pretty scary. How can someone do that?
Hazy,
I’m thinking this was perhaps a Christian school where the rules are a little different. Perhaps Kurt is one of these devout Christians who feels he has to to punish the sinners who say vulgar words.
Another good comment from Greenbaum’s last post.
This has all probably worked very well for this site, their page-views are through the roof, and those banner ads are ticking over some good revenue for the paper!
And all it cost was the paper’s integrity. Oh, and someone their job.
What I’m surprised about is why no one here has turned the heat on the paper, the rest of the editorial staff, and the paper’s owners.
Surely an explanation from someone other than Kurt is warranted here?
Kurt is a representative of the paper, which makes his actions the actions of the paper.
Perhaps someone (other than Kurt) could respond and tell us:
* Does Kurt have the support of STLtoday?
* Does STLtoday believe this was the correct way to handle this ‘vulgar’ posting?
* In the event such an incident occurs again, what guidelines are in place – will the same course of action take place?
* If not, will the paper see this as a ‘teachable moment’ and use it to educate their staff on the complexities and sensitivities of privacy and integrity?
* Will any action be taken against Kurt and the rest of the editorial team?
So far, it seems Kurt remains unrepentant with the support of the paper. If people REALLY have an issue with what Kurt has done, hold STLtoday accountable.
Instead of a Kurt witch hunt, perhaps a really good look at STLtoday’s policies and ethics is in order – then at least readers and forum participants can know what to expect in the future.
Kurt’s an idiot, but STLtoday is ultimately responsible.
— Nik
7:22 pm November 20th, 2009
it is probably not significant enough to report on.
This is exactly what I mean when I say the readers are the deciders, not the editors. Google doesn’t lie. This is a very significant story.
It’s possible that this was a Christian school. But just because you work at a Christian school does not mean you relinquish your employee rights, and I would hope anyone that works at such a place would understand that.
Until this story is verified by someone other than the Greenbaum and the sham newspaper he works at I am holding back my fury.
I just don’t understand what would be the point in creating a hoax like this.
Whatever it was, it totally backfired, if it was indeed a hoax.
I agree that it’s ridiculous whether or not it’s a hoax. The man’s lack of compassion reveling in another human being’s misfortune is just disgusting. You cannot fake something like that. Greenbaum seems like an imp. I bet he’s laughing his stupid face off right now at all the controversy he’s causing.
Has anybody been able to contact the person Greenbaum got fired/resigned (whatever). Getting his side of the story would solve whether this is a hoax or not. It would also answer a number of nagging questions.
I would love to interview him.
The St. Louis alternative weekly is trying to contact him.
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/11/unreal_surveys_stltodaycom_pussy_fallout_and_asks_whos_the_pussy.php
And the TV segment said they asked who he was and what school he worked for but the newspaper wouldn’t give that info up (ironic, isn’t it?)
http://www.kmov.com/video/featured-videos/Man-fired-over-Post-Dispatch-Web-posting-70667577.html
But I also imagine he might be hesitant to come out publicly because he wouldn’t want this to interfere with getting another job.
That said, if that person is reading this, I would love to interview you and I’ll guarantee you anonymity, if you want.
Kurt Greenbaum reminds me of a kid I knew growing up who would tell us to get off his property if we weren’t doing what he wanted to do. If we upset him he would take his ball and go home, without fail, every time. Everybody hated him but they used him for his trampoline.
I imagine that’s what Greenbaum’s childhood was like.
Yes, he’s definitely a Christian, it’s all over his blogs and flickr photographs. What a surprise eh?
Isn’t it amazing how so many “Christians” rate what they consider “vulgar” language over the livelihoods and wellbeing of their fellow human beings?
According to this report on KMOV’s website, at least one of Kurt’s bosses think he’s just hunky-dorry and did absolutely nothing wrong. The arrogance is mind-numbing.
http://j.mp/8EEXoI
Greenbaum has protected his Twitter account. Circling the wagons?
If his bosses think he’s hunkey dorey and did nothing wrong, then they may well be in line for the same kind of internet skull-f*cking that he’s getting right now.
http://punchingkitty.com/2009/11/20/the-internet-hate-machine-turns-on-kurt-greenbaum/