michaelpavelich

A great read from David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster" from Gourmet magazine

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_l...

Sadly, it is somewhat disappointing how this situation was handled. It is understandable that Techcrunch is attempting to cover their own ass in terms of journalistic integrity but the fact that the individual at hand was a minor complicates the situation. When Arrington writes in "An Apology To Our Readers", anyone who is even remotely familiar with Techcrunch can deduce who screwed up from the information provided.

Yes, Daniel made a lapse in judgement, but being a minor (and clearly are hard and dedicated worker) he should have at least been given the opportunity to let this go down silently. When a minor gets into some trouble before they are 18, typically their record is wiped clean as they enter adulthood. Sadly, this is a permanent public record and could prevent him from getting hired or having a career in journalism again (whether thats deserved or not is up in the air).

As an intern, should he have been given so much responsibilty? Who knows really, it just kind of feels like they took advantage of Daniel and threw him to the wayside when he first faultered. Clearly that much spotlight and attention for someone that young might have been too much (at least without some protectionary measures). Losing his intern position and having to deal with that personally and with his family should have been punishment enough. If he wanted to make that a public issue, he should have at least gotten the choice. Instead he was forced publicly to disclose what happened to the world and might have to live with that small error in judgement his whole life. Ahah, it's almost the internets version of the story of original sin. I guess the temptation was to great for someone so young and naive and now hes been branded a bad seed.