Dept. of Dragging Things Out: Ape Responds
An apology to our regular readers. I don’t want to make this whole situation anymore protracted than it need be. But I feel the need to respond to a few things.
First: that my getting fired from The Post was some sort of publicity stunt. It was not. While it is true that I was interested in leaving my job, I had applied to other positions within The Post and was not interested in being fired.
My intention for revealing my identity touched upon something the newspaper, all newspapers, hold dear: full disclosure. A lot of KSK’s content involves taking shots at other writers (Bill Simmons, Peter King, Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, etc.) and doing so anonymously is all well and good until you build a considerable audience and start getting paid to do it.
Second: this story from Editor & Publisher, which takes pains to detail The Post’s position on employee conduct, but notes at the end that I could not be reached for comment. I could not be reached because no attempt was made to contact me.
I sent this e-mail to the writer, Joe Strupp:
“Mr. Strupp:
Kindly explain to me what effort you made to contact me for this piece.
I’m not difficult to find. My email is posted on my blog, to which you linked in your story. I’m sure someone at The Post, who you made sure to reach, could have even supplied you with my phone number.
This is journalism at its laziest and it’s a testament to why I’m glad to be out of that profession.”
He replied:
“My apologies, I did not see an e-mail on your blog, but my mistake. I also tried to find a home number, but could not. Post folks would not give your number.
If you want to offer comment, I may be able to add it in.”
I appreciate the apology. But even if he is able to add my comments to the story, the majority of the people who are going to read it already have, so here are my comments in full:
“There was no conflict of interest between my writing for Kissing Suzy Kolber and my work for The Washington Post. The blog is not a journalistic endeavor and it is not something I was paid for until I revealed my identity. It is a humor blog about the NFL, whereas my job for the paper was to cover local news in a suburban county outside Washington, D.C. It is beat that has nothing to do with a professional football league.
I also find it troubling that I was summarily fired for engaging in something that is core to the spirit of The Washington Post: full disclosure. Even if editors had a problem with the language used in the blog, they should have been able to respect that my goal was not to defame The Post, but to be forthcoming with my readers.”
There you have it.
Again, sorry regular readers. The Romenesko crowd can go fuck themselves.
/dick joke
Tags: germalists, sorry folks the funny will return, wapo is mediabistro gay, xmas ape
April 18th, 2008 at 9:57 am
See, the problem was he was looking for the “email Christmas Ape” button, and was misled by the “email Ape” button. How was he to know how many Apes you have working here? Simple mistake on his part.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:59 am
The WaPo is dead to me. First they fire you and then they let some halfwit write an article asking the NHL to crack down on solid defense so that Ovechkin, the NHL’s “Kobe” (or he may be the NHL’s “LeBron”) can score “pretty goals.”
DEAD TO ME!!!
April 18th, 2008 at 10:19 am
This is journalism at its laziest and it’s a testament to why I’m glad to be out of that profession.
A redundancy. I started out as a reporter and left the field with the same frustrations Ape seems to have. Although it wasn’t the Washington Post. It was a weekly paper in Indianapolis. So I guess it was a bit different. Although I really miss writing the “Pet of the Week” piece. That was always awesome. Anyways, I too was a young idealist with grandiose visions from Maupassant’s Bel Ami that all reporters did all day was catch a ball in a cup and make some shit up…oh wait, that was pretty accurate.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
When I was in college, I was the (female) sports editor of the university’s newspaper. I also had a blog on the side, which no one outside of the staff really read. It never came up as a problem (as we were all clearly nerds and all had blogs), not even when I started banging the new assistant football coach. The Sports Information Director, my editor, and our faculty advisor all knew what was going on. If sleeping with the coach and covering the football games wasn’t an issue… how can combining KSK and the WaPo? I don’t really work in journalism anymore, and shit like this is a good example as of why.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
/starts slow clap
April 18th, 2008 at 10:25 am
So if I have this right, the WaPo won’t stand by their writers if they disclose what they do in their free time but they will issue “cease and desist” orders to prevent their articles from being read (thereby defending a true no talent assclown like Mike Wise).
April 18th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Haha, I was thinking exactly what that sign said when I saw people start turning on you Ape. You weren’t doing it for pub, you were just informing the readers of KSK what was going on. Updating your blog with going’s on in your life never happens though. Blogs are strictly sports news, rumors, and Marmalard.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Did they take issue with you posting during the work day? Presumably you are allowed to do things like personal email as long as you’re getting your MoCo coverage done, so I’m guessing it wasn’t, but just curious.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:43 am
My email is posted on my blog, to which you linked in your story.
I like how you used “to which” there properly, so as not to end the sentence with a preposition.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I’m trying to figure out how you’re monetizing this blog. T-shirts and a ticket company ad? Judging by Compete, Quantcast, and Alexa, you’ve had about 2,000 unique visitors per month (until just these past few days). We have 400,000, and we’re only making $5,000 per month — before expenses. Hardly enough to live on. How is it that you’re making “the same amount you made at the Post” writing this blog. Maybe we should look into T-shirts. Are they that lucrative? By the way, our expenses include paying writers — $15 per post.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
the washington post aint what it used to be. i remember a time when the washington post stood for something. back then… men were men. if you wanted to do something private with another man, it wasnt gay. it was just 2 men celebrating each other’s strength
April 18th, 2008 at 10:55 am
@ lt winslow
and we used to call this the ‘jew room’
April 18th, 2008 at 10:58 am
With some of the admitted proclivities of your fellow bloggers at KSK, aren’t some of you guys bummed about not being on the “hip hop/urban lifestyle” portion of Uproxx?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
“When reached for comment, Jean Grey said “‘Mike can has new job plz? kai thx bai!’”
April 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Ordinarily my comments consist of nothing but shit talk (and awesome draft picks) but getting fired sucks for whatever reason, and there’s nothing I hate more than kciking someone when there down which is why I have kept my fingers shut thusfar. But, how can you possibly say that revealing your identity to thousands upon thousands is not a publicity thing? For example and out of curiosity, how many friend request did you get on facebook? I guess what I’m trying to say is: I feel like you knew this was going to happen and all day yesterday I was reading the comments on homeboy’s olympic blog thinking everyone was so misguided and kicking a horse that you yourself shot in the face. Now it almost sounds like you’re whining. If any of our bosses found a lascist note we had written they’d be hard pressed not to take action and the fact that yours were read by so many people only makes it worse.
I’m a huge fan and I’d hate to hurt your feelings but I’m pretty sure you’re an asshole, but don’t take that the wrong way, so am I and so are most of my best friends.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Mike, your numbers are way off.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am
ps reading your boy’s article now, shouldn’t “profane-laden” be just profane or profanity-laden?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Keep at it ape. We love you.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:40 am
[...] somewhat followed this sports blogger getting Dooced by the Washington Post. Apparently he got fired for this post. It does raise [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Facebook friend requests don’t pay the mortgage. I figured there would be some heat from the company for coming out, nothing as swift and extreme as what happened.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
inre: “The Romenesko crowd can go fuck themselves.”
you just became my personal jesus.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:48 am
“Facebook friend requests don’t pay the mortgage.”
They do for the guy who created Facebook.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Dancer for National Ballet secretly works weekends at Kitty Klub = might get fired.
Dancer for National Ballet announces to world her weekend gig at Kitty Klub = fired.
Fired sucks, Ape. But let’s not pretend we don’t understand how the world works.
And all you simps raging with righteous indignation can all go home now. Show’s over.
Big media sucks/is dying has no correlation to Ape getting fired. Two completely unrelated issues.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Fair enough,
And all you simps raging with righteous indignation can all go home now. Show’s over.
Big media sucks/is dying has no correlation to Ape getting fired. Two completely unrelated issues.
is what I meant to say, I’m pretty douche-y when I’m hungover.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:56 am
That whore Katharine Graham had links with those scumbag elitist douchebags the Rockerfellers for years. All journalists and newspapers sold out long ago. I always have the Post in my bathroom for those days when toilet paper just ain’t enough. Long live blogging.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Not seeing how having a blog on an unrelated topic constitutes a fireable offense. I know that’s how news orgs are rationalizing it, but it’s bullshit. Someone who works for a newspaper blogging for a competing pub, sure, conflict of interest. Someone who works on sports stories blogging about sports, less clear-cut, but at least understandable how that could be seen as a conflict of interest. Someone working for a publication who blogs at “My Publication Sucks.com,” OK, asking to be fired. I don’t believe Ape’s activities fall under any of these categories.
The idea that I, as a reader of WaPo (online) would think that Ape’s musings on a sports blog are a reflection of WaPo is ridiculous. The crap WaPo has published damages it far more than any off-hours blogging by its employees ever could.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Sorry, dude. ‘Nuff said.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Ape
This is silly. We are at a time when your boss can decide what you do after you leave work. He can even tell you not to smoke after you leave. Yes, this was coming but it sucks, big time. and screw everyone who hasn’t been there.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Oh, my bad. Didn’t realize we were all still stuck in “rebelling against our parents” mode.
If Ape’s under 25, I apologize for my harshness. He actually might not have expected a firing. Tough way to learn that lesson.
The rest of you, grow up. Dude jumped out of a plane with no ‘chute and you’re all pissed that the ground rose up and smacked him.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
And you’re stuck in your “I’m better than you because of how indignant I am that you’re indignant” mode. Congratulations.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hate it when that happens.
/unstuck
April 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Ape says he was “summarily fired,” but one Wash Post editor said he resigned (and another editor refused to say). In situations like this, it often happens that the employee is given a choice: resign and receive severance money, or be fired and get nothing. It’s kind of technical, but there IS some money involved. So how ’bout it, Ape: Did you agree to resign to get the severance bucks, or were you actually sacked outright?
April 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
3 words:
God Save the Blogger
Well, 4, but you get the point
April 18th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Down with the Mediabistro blogs, while we’re at it. Their “funny” post about Ape’s post could have at least been funny. And their health care’s crazy expensive too. Bitches.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
How was he to know how many Apes you have working here?
+1 Snowflake the Dog
You made me laugh out loud in class, much to the chagrin of my professor and the guy sitting next to me.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Dude, Douglas, I was just going to post something along those lines.
Thing is, Wise wanted the Flyers to hand out copies of their article to the fans last night, but the WaPo “feared for his safety” because us Philly barbarians who summarily drink the blood of other teams’ fans and actively root for decapitations to happen on the field/ice/court would have murdered him for dare criticizing us. Please, if Wise wasn’t afraid, why should the Post?
We got the last laugh though.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I for one applaud the Washington Post for sacking this young roustabout. The boy posted a picture of himself carousing with a known dealer of the cocaine. Perhaps he will now seek an actual job, I’ve heard that Annapolis Amalgamated Linen and String are looking for a new bobbin boy.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
[...] So, one of the guys over at KSK came out from anonymity only to receive the “Chez Pazienza treatment” — in other words, getting canned from the Washington Post. Damn, it is just not safe for us bloggers out there. (KSK) [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I was a reporter for a total of 11 years — not at WaPo but at different papers, including a national news organization whose name you’d all recognize. I saw something on-line about all of this and followed the links here. I thought I’d post a few words about it.
I both sympathize and empathize with Mike. Journalism is the ultimate low-morale line of work, and that goes triple for someone stuck in a suburban bureau. I honestly think the average fast-food clerk likes his job more than the average reporter. It’s impossible to convey just how depressing journalism is until you’ve been there.
I remember a conversation with a colleague who, when I somewhat eagerly asked whether his old paper, Newsday, was a good place to work, looked at me with some of saddest eyes I’d ever seen and said, “Jim, this isn’t a happy business.”
Reading Mike’s story, I think, “There but by the grace of God go I.” I can easily imagine that, if the Internet had existed when I was a reporter, I’d have flamed out just as spectacularly as he did.
That said, The Washington Post was in the right on this one. Mike, it’s not about “full disclosure” or any other high-minded happy horseshit, it’s about misconduct and common sense. You seem to forget that your employer was just that: an employer. You can’t run around in your off time and degrade the enterprise that signs your check.
Let me rephrase that. You can, in fact, do exactly what I just say you can’t do. But if you do it, you can expect said enterprise cease signing your checks. Or direct-depositing them. Whatever.
Journalism has never been a good business in which to burn bridges, Mike. These days, with journalism shrinking so fast, it’s a horrible place to burn bridges. I do wish you the best, but next time be sure to retain your anonymity.
The good news, Mike, is that your next career, whatever it might be, will be more satisfying than your last one. When I left journalism, my life went steadily upward. I’ve known a bunch of reporters and editors, and every last one of them was happier after leaving. Good luck to you.
p.s.: So you know, I have no current or formal connections to The Washington Post, formal or otherwise, beyond having subscribed to it when I was in Washington working for that household-name news outlet.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
This issue seems to be dying. I applaud the efforts of Ape in regards to perpetrating this method of action in response to all the hatred. I think non-readers are overlooking the fact that KSK has offered excellent programming (?) for the past years and now will continue to offer this entertainment. It seems rather silly to perpetuate some grand scheme that Ape has been creating this as a publicity stunt or that he is a liar or a thief or an individual lacking in morals. I do not think he even needs the sympathy. I have not seen any grand rants and court litigation yet to warrant such an outrageous response from others.
This site has grown a lot in the last few days and I hope the new readership will embrace the changeover and perhaps participate in the hilarity.
Ape has a job, he has notoriety, he has readership. People should try to emulate this if they want, rather than criticize. Let it go and enjoy the site. Although, in regards to the Washington Post peoples, write more articles slamming Ape for his efforts. Vilify him, make him the anti Christ. Send the mob with pitchforks. KSK has more than likely enjoyed the efforts.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Looks like its your own fault, asshat
April 18th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
100% with you Devil. Getting blindsided with a reality check as deepreaching as loosing your employment and possibly damaging opportunities of working in a field that you invested a lot of time, energy, and money(college) is a lot to process initially. I for one can only see a bright future for Ape, for the reasons you listed. Writing about craft fairs and pets of the week is for the birds when you have creativity and talent as Ape clearly does.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Devil and Eli, a couple things.
Mike wrote the following to Joe Strupp of E&P, scolding Strupp for not trying hard enough to contact him: This is journalism at its laziest and it’s a testament to why I’m glad to be out of that profession.
So, what is Mike doing now? Writing for a blog. Which is still journalism, but with a crucial difference. Fortunately for Mike, he’s young enough to take a new direction, and to finish growing up.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Sorry, screwed up the HTML code. Try this version:
Devil and Eli, a couple things.
Mike wrote the following to Joe Strupp of E&P, scolding Strupp for not trying hard enough to contact him: This is journalism at its laziest and it’s a testament to why I’m glad to be out of that profession.
So, what is Mike doing now? Writing for a blog. Which is still journalism, but with a crucial difference. Fortunately for Mike, he’s young enough to take a new direction, and to finish growing up.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
If I am reading into your link properly, you are criticizing Ape for the level of stress and possibly the unlikelihood of him being successful?
Analyzing the construction of the American political structure, I would contend that the stereotypical expectation of society to force individuals into positions where they would have the highest likelihood to earn the maximum dollar value at the lowest level of stress is diminishing. The country is undergoing a significant shift in expectation on the individual, due to a number of uninteresting factors, to pursue his own experiment in living. It would appear than Ape was not enjoying working for such a medium so he chose a different path due to the circumstances. Singling him out as lack in guidance seems to be, in this case, less compelling because he happens to enjoy working and providing entertainment in a different medium. It is apparent that his disconnection from the larger and seemingly oppressive system of values inherent in the expansively communitarian journalistic segment of society reflects a positive endeavour rather than something to be lauded for.
But what do I know.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Sorry not lauded at the end, but criticized.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Am still wondering whether Ape was summarily fired, as he wrote, and gave up any severance dollars, or agreed to resign (though under massive pressure, obviously) in order to depart with some cash.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Basically, here’s how journalism works: if you have a column, you’re an opinion writer and you can basically do whatever you want as an outside endeavor.
When you write news, you have to maintain journalistic objectivity. THAT is the concept Ape missed. Of course we know that football has nothing to do with suburban news. We also know that many “news” writers do express opinions. Remember, though, that “talking heads” are not really doing news, they are the equivalent of columnists in the opinion section.
I think Ape failed to realize the extent to which management–and older journalists–take the idea of “objectivity.” Enough of what Ape has written on KSK is controversial enough (and not just the profanity and dick jokes) about issues beyond football that once he outed himself (with helpful links) he simply could no longer be a news reporter. “Lacist shoes?”
Maybe he really HATED the reporting he was doing so much, he figured outing himself was a good way to ensure he wouldn’t be on suburbia any more. I don’t think he really thought he’d be fired (let alone escorted out of the building), but it was a hell of a gamble.
Ape, you put your cards on the table, you showed them you can do a lot more than lost dog writing, but instead of moving you to one of the other jobs you’d applied for, but you lost. You knew it wasn’t going to work anyway, because you basically flipped the Post the bird when you outed yourself.
It’s not about being pictured drunk or profanity, really. If you are going to write news, you can’t have an opinion (not under your real name). Not even if your opinions are a LOT tamer than your very inspired work on KSK.
So let’s be clear about why you were really fired. I DO admire the sense of duty Ape showed in “outing” himself once KSK went paid and was no longer a hobby. It took a lot of courage, and the fact that he gave Full Disclosure says a lot about him as a person and as a journalist. But there were mistakes in judgment here about a reporter keeping objectivity–or, just as important, the appearance of objectivity. AS they say, you report the news. When you BECOME the news, very quickly you lose your job reporting the news.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I forgot to add that the restrictions placed on reporters is Reason #1 that I decided NOT to go into journalism. I wanted to be a columnist and write opinions and humor, but first they make you toil for years as a reporter. I could have handled the overnight beat or the lost dog stories, but not expressing an opinion for years would have killed me. No way I could keep my mouth shut that long.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Just another example of the old guard (papers) not trusting the new guard (blogs). This site has never defamed the Washington Post in anyway. In my opinion, this dismissal was sophomoric on the paper’s part. I don’t see how Ape could have damaged the Post with this blog. He was fired for having a hobby his bosses didn’t approve of, plain and simple. Shame on them.
And my professors told me journalism was a noble profession…
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
If I am reading into your link properly, you are criticizing Ape for the level of stress and possibly the unlikelihood of him being successful?
You’re not “reading into” it correctly. I’m not criticizing Mike for anything other than his behavior vis a vis The Washington Post. In my opinion, Mike is no hero. I feel sorry for him; he flamed out, and that has to feel bad. If he can make a go of it as a blogger, more power to him. It’s not something I’d want to attempt, but to haul out a couple old chestnuts: different people are different and it’s a free country.
Am still wondering whether Ape was summarily fired, as he wrote, and gave up any severance dollars, or agreed to resign (though under massive pressure, obviously) in order to depart with some cash.
My guess, and I stress that it’s only a guess, is that Mike got two weeks severance pay. Life in a suburban bureau of any newspaper is pretty close to the edge.
Just another example of the old guard (papers) not trusting the new guard (blogs). This site has never defamed the Washington Post in anyway. In my opinion, this dismissal was sophomoric on the paper’s part.
I disagree. Newspapers, including The Post now have blogs of their own. They are adapting, albeit slowly and likely too late. Mike most certainly defamed his employer, which responded as you’d expect an employer to respond. The only “sophomoric” thing here was Mike’s behavior. I seriously doubt that he’ll ever repeat such mistakes.
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