Ryan Block » SXSW http://ryanblock.com Editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: gdgt. Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:38:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Lacy got a raw deal on the Zuckerberg interview http://ryanblock.com/2008/03/lacy-got-a-raw-deal-on-the-zuckerberg-interview/ http://ryanblock.com/2008/03/lacy-got-a-raw-deal-on-the-zuckerberg-interview/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:04:21 +0000 Ryan Block http://www.ryanblock.com/2008/03/lacy-got-a-raw-deal-on-the-zuckerberg-interview/ I was at SXSW during the now-infamous Zuckerberg keynote, but missed seeing it go down live (I think I was out to lunch or something). I’ve only met Sarah once so I don’t know her very well, but having just watched their interview in its entirety I definitely think she some unduly harsh blowback. No doubt about it, as far as interviews go it was on the softball, congenial, not terribly insightful end of the spectrum. But the raw vitriol and abuse in the online aftermath really seems absurdly disproportionate to what actually happened on stage. Maybe you had to be there, I don’t know, but I don’t think the whole thing was as awful as it was made out to be. Too casual for a big-name keynote interview, sure, but it’s not like SXSW has some stuffy atmosphere that reporters play to, else risk being crucified.

Sarah’s reactions, though, were what seemed to seal the deal in the ensuing wave of criticism. Her on-stage comment (“You try doing what I do for a living, it’s not as easy as it looks.”), her follow-up tweet (“seriously screw you all guys…”), and her post-mortem commentary (“I’m one of the only women reporting on tech…”) were far more defensive and damning than whatever happened on stage. Sarah, happy to introduce you to some of the many, many other extremely talented women I know who report on tech — especially my pal Kara Swisher, whom I’m sure would be more than happy to impart a few tips on how to conduct a kickass executive interview.

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