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A comment on BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down entire newsroom. Parent comment

Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by okino on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @03:29PM (#30770384)
Regardless of thoughts on Thiel, the second link feels like a hit piece —- the entire article hinges on one paragraph “BuzzFeed News can reveal that in at least one instance during the summer of 2016, Thiel hosted a dinner with [white nationalist]… And then Thiel emailed the next day to say how much he’d enjoyed his company.“ How many other people were at the dinner? How many other people received this email? What were the contents of the email, i.e. was it a generic thank you? Left to suspect these details would make the story less interesting
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by elliekelly on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @03:40PM (#30770511)
Does it matter? You couldn’t pay me enough to dine with a known white nationalist and I certainly wouldn’t be sending any thank you notes as a follow-up. I can’t imagine I’m unique in this regard.
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by rhino369 on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @03:54PM (#30770682)
The article doesn't establish Thiel knew the guy was a white nationalist. Guilt by association is weak by itself, but if the two just attended the same party unbeknownst to Thiel and then Thiel spammed a list-serve of attendees with "THANKS EVERYONE I ENJOYED ALL YOUR COMPANY"--that's not association. The article is so threadbare its impossible to know whether that happened or whether Thiel purposely hosted a dinner specifically for the white supremacist. Or something in between.
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by elliekelly on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @05:04PM (#30771521)
What are the odds the person at your table widely known for founding "Youth for Western Civilization" turns out to be a white supremacist? Talk about bad luck, Pete. It could happen to anyone, really. And it's not like Thiel has access to troves and troves of personal data on just about every person with an internet connection and a program specifically designed to identify "extremists" by analyzing patterns in their social network and interests. Oh wait...
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by rhino369 on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @06:14PM (#30772282)
This analysis is based on many unfounded assumptions like he knew that the guy founded Youth for Western Civilization or even what that was. I traveled in right wing circles on colleges campuses in 2006-2008 and I never hear of them until today.

If Thiel was getting into bed with this guy, then yea, you can probably impute some knowledge b/c Thiel would do some diligence. But we are talking about a dinner and an email.

I met a new person this weekend under similar circumstances. You shouldn't take that as a a sign I agree with that person's politics.

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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by s1artibartfast on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @05:26PM (#30771779)
What exactly would your objection be?

Personally, I would be open to such an experience. I am not so insecure in my beliefs that I would worry on that front. I might learn something about them and the nature of the world, and maybe they would too.

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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by exolymph on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @05:22PM (#30771740)
Shrug. I would — and have — had dinner with all kinds of people whose beliefs and behavior diverge sharply from what I think is advisable or ethical. Having dinner with someone is not an endorsement of their worldview, full stop.

Maybe this will sound corny, and I guess it probably won't land with non-Christians, but I'll offer my heuristic anyway: What would Jesus do? I don't think shunning is the answer.

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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by OkayPhysicist on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @11:10PM (#30774444)
WWJD also entails vandalizing unethical businesses rather than operating them, so let's not get too self-righteous here.
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by exolymph on Thursday March 24, 2022 @04:13PM (#30794799)
Moneychangers in the temple don't funge with other businesses. The issue was blasphemy.
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by IfOnlyYouKnew on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @03:35PM (#30770455)
"Hosting a dinner for" means the white nationalist was the star of the event, a proud Thiel introducing this fellow to his contacts.
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Re:BuzzFeed investors have pushed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut ... by ApolloFortyNine on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @04:20PM (#30770983)
Using quotes when the quote doesn't exist should be enough to get this comment deleted.

I know nothing about Thiel, but the actual quote is "hosted a dinner with" which like the one you responded to here said, could easily mean there were 50 guests at a party and one of them was this guy.

Your made up quote is something entirely different.

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