Response from Paul Festa:
>>Dear Readers,
Please excuse the impersonal nature of this email, but because of the sheer
volume of responses I received on yesterday's Iomega "Click of Death" piece
(http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,18622,00.html), I simply can't reply to
everyone individually. Perhaps some of the issues some of you all raised
would be of interest to the group.
The vast majority of you wrote in to share your experiences with this
problem, and to express your appreciation to NEWS.COM for covering the
issue (with some of you complaining that we hadn't covered the story
earlier). A few, however, objected to my reporting methods, particularly
the reliance on information found in newsgroups. "Your article is based on
unsubstantiated rumors," wrote one reader. "If you knew anything about the
Internet, you would know that these forums are breeding ponds for
malcontents and others with ulterior motives," wrote another.
I agree that gathering the news from newsgroups has its hazards. However,
none of the material I used for the article could be characterized as
"rumor." Not one of my sources was claiming that he or she had *heard* that
someone was having this problem; they were sharing their own personal
experiences with it, and asking for advice on how to either deal with it
directly or deal with the company. One could argue that they were all
engaged in some sort of conspiracy to fabricate these personal testimonies,
a scenario I find implausible at best, especially coupled with the fact
that one Web site originally was created specifically to address this
problem, and with my discussion with an Iomega user from a fairly reputable
high-tech company who was willing to go on the record that he had
repeatedly experienced this problem. I felt, and still feel, that I had
more than enough evidence to suggest that the problem was real and
widespread enough to merit a news story.
Many of you undoubtedly will still take exception to the story, and I
realize that even in this long email I haven't addressed all of your
concerns. Hopefully, if and when Iomega gets back to me on this, we will
update the story. In the mean time, I strongly encourage you to submit your
letters, pro or con, to our new letters to the editor section
(http://www.news.com/Perspectives/Letters/0,178,31,00.html).
Thanks very much for writing in to NEWS.COM
Paul
Paul Festa
Reporter
NEWS.COM
(415) 395-7805 ext. 1313
(415) 395-9254 fax<<
I just tried calling Paul and tried to explain my thoughts on his article. He told me that while he had included his phone number in his email, that he didn't have any time to talk to me. He asked that I email him again.
Philip |
