Bonum Certa Men Certa

Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part VI — Lessons Learned on Moral Depravity

Series parts:

  1. Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part I — Bishops in Rooks
  2. Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part II — Justifying a Career as a Microsoft Mouthpiece That Destroys Lives of People With Actual Facts
  3. Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part III — Attacking Real Security, Promoting Lies and Fake 'Security'
  4. Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part IV — “Same Sort of Journalistic Bias Infecting Russia at the Moment”
  5. Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part V — In Deep Denial About One's Harm
  6. YOU ARE HERE ☞ Lessons Learned on Moral Depravity


“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”

--Andre Gide



Summary: So-called 'journalists' who are in fact Microsoft spinners are a truly toxic bunch; they're allergic to truth and dangerous to truth-tellers; they're better off avoided and exposed, not informed (or shown hard evidence) because their covert allegiance means they're simply a trap rather than genuine agents of truth in reporting, thinly disguised as "objectivity" (to better parcel the lies Microsoft tells)

A previous part showed a rather lengthy attempt at justification from a so-called 'journalist' (Microsoft "asset") who is burning sources, including Microsoft whistleblowers. The "asset" or "mole" or "operative" (or whatever one calls it; the behaviour matters, not the term/label) has no remorse. This led us to a safe-to-reach conclusion that it can be rather pointless trying to enlighten such people. They're too close to Microsoft, too financially tied up, and simply unwilling to change their ways.

The last word on the matter comes from the burned whistleblower, who lost the job over the shoddy 'journalism'. Protecting sources may not be easy, but it wasn't an act of sloppiness but mean-spirited intent. It wasn't neglect but virtue-signalling to the Microsoft aristocracy. It's just the "cost" of Microsoft cover-up.

Congrats on the interview [with Microsoft's Brad Smith] and sorry I didn’t have the cycles to get back to you. I definitely would have some fun ones; oh well. Between you and me, I actually have a sincere respect for Brad Smith. I view him among the best attorneys in the country, among the likes of David Boies, and hope to have a opportunity to have a beer and a laugh with him off the record some time down the road.

Likewise on perspective. I’m not emailing you because I want to make you feel bad or think that I have the moral high ground; that would be hypocritical of me. Although it’s not a competition, even on your hypothetical worst day as an "evil Microsoft shill” or whatever (kidding) you’d be hard pressed to shade out the mountain of work I’ve done for them in 10 lifetimes 🤣. I just have genuine concerns about the state of tech journalism.

With regard to criticality and while I think it’s a fundamental of journalism, I don’t think it’s definition can be comprehensive of journalism itself; only in-part. I tend to agree with you on #1 under most circumstances and as a component of journalism though. While critique is usually reserved for experts and polemicists, there are plenty of circumstances when journalists are dealing with something asinine that runs contrary to common sense and conventional wisdom and doesn’t need the same level of dignity as it’s more rational counter-argument. So far as I understand, this is especially the case when there is potential for individual and societal harm and can see this in covering involving our environmental and financial catastrophes; all of which intersect with technology; correct me if this is inaccurate.

Case in point, if I wanted to just throw radioactive waste from Hanford into the Columbia and let nature handle it, journalists wouldn’t dignify that for a moment or need an expert for a counter-argument because they know that the outcome is most likely catastrophic. There’s no, “what about all of the good things radioactive waste does in a fresh water supply?” because you know it to be universally horrible by default. The same is true for murder, war, rape, torture, puppy kicking, pyramid schemes, leaded fuel/water, CFCs, tide pods, flat earth theories, cryptocurrency, ransomware, and…monopolies by default.

Just as no one is going to argue with me about puppy kicking being bad, no one is going to argue with me when I say that competition is the single greatest consumer protection and driver of innovation and that monopolies are bad because they impede said competition. Alternatively and if I were to tell you that I wanted to run an anti-competitive software monopoly and liquify all competition, you’d also probably advise against it. This is because we all know that monopolies are bad for society by default; not good or even neutral.

Despite substantial historical precedent and no viable economic, environmental, ethical, or evolutionary model in existence advising us to meet monopolies with anything other than critique and skepticism, we can consistently find most tech journalists doing the exact opposite of this and giving tech monopolies the benefit of the doubt instead a shrewd awakening; Microsoft or otherwise. Most won’t even call them a monopoly despite their convictions; only behemoths, giants, and other powerful euphemisms instead. Monopolies being bad is especially the case in free markets that are predicated on ample competition; different in monarchies etc.

With this in mind though I can’t really go with you on #2 at least with respect to journalism and monopolies, at least in outcome. After all, what am I left to rationally infer besides something between bias, conflict, and ignorance when veteran journalists consistently do what no credible economist would do by giving monopolies the benefit of the doubt, let alone likening my stance to that of biased-overly critical for mirroring conventional economic wisdom instead of whatever fringe hypothesis they’re operating on? Or am I behind on the times and is there some emergent economic theory that exonerates monopolies from the fundamentals of economics, history, and nature? Should I also un-read Merchants of Doubt, Manufacturing Consent, and Dark Money? Is Jane Mayer and Noam Chomsky full of shit now? I didn’t get the memo?

All joking aside, I’m genuinely left scratching my head as to how anyone, journalist or otherwise, can speak with any amount of integrity on highly technical matters pertaining to the forefront of STEM without possessing significant expertise and capacity for root cause analyses among other traits obtained from the rigors of decades of engineering that naturally escape most journalists without the same experiences. While some may see it as curse, a thin veil of unbiased objectivity is all that one can rationally expect from from such a dynamic non-experts and conflicted PR people before us. Nor can I see how placing non-experts in such positions that they cannot possibly account for fully doesn’t groom them for failure and society by proxy as an unintended consequence.

As far as fairness to journalists is concerned, I also agree with you to an extent and try to be decent but thick skin is implied with journalists and if they can give it then they have to be able to take it just the same. It’s also important to remember that one must accept the very likely risk of offending a lot of people whenever they're brokering hard truths.

In present form, I honestly don’t think that most journalists are anything distinct from a coal miner from an ethical perspective. Many journalists can name countless instances where they’ve been given no choice but to treat a paycheck like an ethics waiver like the rest of us; none of which is a worthy of shame until journalists try to package every day work for integrity.

This isn’t to say that I don’t empathize with journalists at all, I do, hence this discussion. I’m sure they’re overworked and underpaid like the rest of us too. I just can’t rationally prioritize either over net effect and outcome when it comes to societal catastrophes such as big tech at the moment for which they are a horcrux of as I see it. I realize that no one set out to be stenographers for the powerful as children but it’s hard to deny that industry makes it really easy to do just that, that many end up doing just that as a consequence (I can relate), how beneficial it is for industry, or how detrimental this dynamic has been to society.

Journalists like to project that there is this code of conduct and rigorous dedication to integrity and that just isn’t the case. Sans medical and science journalists, most journalists aren’t really obligated to follow a formal set of rules like doctors or lawyers and lack the protocols to guarantee the integrity they project. Journalists can’t be disbarred or have their non-existent licensees revoked. They employ the same 1st amendment that anyone else does and are held to the same libel/slander laws when publishing as well. And if you were to ask 100 journalists to define ethics or integrity then you’d likely get 100 conflicting answers besides “I don’t know”.

I fully realize of journalists may have the best of intentions but I also realize that the road to hell is paved with good intentions just the same. Ultimately, nothing that I’m saying would offend the likes of Noam Chomsky or Ralph Nader nor am saying anything that journalists haven’t already said about journalism themselves behind closed doors or even in books that both of us have referenced in this thread. So I’m quite comfortable with my views.

In all, the individual feelings of journalists, let alone journalists that were fine with doxxing me and didn’t care about my feelings, life’s work, or career, is of no consequence to me. If the truth kills them let them die. If it triggers them, then they need to get a doctor. And if they can’t handle the truth then they have no business being in journalism or any professional setting for that matter. Plus you seem to be handling the nature of this discussion just fine.

I digress, but I also realize that hard truths tend to pass through three stages. First they are ridiculed and/or labeled as offensive and treated like heresy, then retaliated against, and only after that will they be accepted as being self evident if the bearer remains persistent enough. I’ve already endured the ridicule. I’ve already endured retaliation to the point of reputation destruction and loss of my career. And if I’m not mistaken, I’m not really getting much of an argument back from you on the core of my arguments, from my assessment on Microsoft to the state of tech journalism, so much as I’m seeing you slowly accept and concede something about your industry that you and other journalists and intellectuals have been pondering and writing about long before me. I have nothing to lose by pushing this theses to their logical conclusions and plenty to gain if they end up holding true and being well received.

That said though and if you value my perspective and wish to incorporate it with deadlines and such then I think it’s only fair that you extend a formal offer to accomplish this.

Good chat!


Here ends this mini-series. We still have two ongoing series. As always, feel free to contact us with any information that's suppressed by the corporate media.

Recent Techrights' Posts

LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
Sabotaging Linux on Behalf of Microsoft With UEFI 'Secure' Boot (De Facto Remote 'Kill Switch'), Then Defaming, Stalking and Harassing Critics of 'Secure' Boot for 12 Years, Then SLAPPing Their Spouses and Them
The sorts of stubborn lunatics we've been dealing with
 
Links 01/08/2025: Health, Conflict, and Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by 15.4 Billion Dollars in the Past 9 Months Alone (Despite All the Layoffs)
As of minutes ago, at 6PM on a Friday, the numbers are made public
Meeting (Webchat) With Maria Arranz Gomez, Florian Grundies, Jürgen Janda and Konstantinos Kortsaris Confronts EPO Management About Breaking Promises and Crushing Workers
The lack of consistent messages suggests plans other than what's advertised and the lack of consultation (secrecy) likewise
Links 01/08/2025: "The Great British Firewall" and U.S. Army Sponsors Palantir
Links for the day
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025
Moving on in Techrights, Geeks Gonna Geek
In the coming weeks we plan to focus (as we explained last week) on patents, GNU/Linux issues, and the occasional philosophical essays
Slopwatch: Google News Has Lost the Plot
Almost the majority of articles returned for "Linux" are fakes
Links 31/07/2025: Australia Restricts YouTube Access, Personal Privacy at Risk
Links for the day
Links 31/07/2025: Spotify Collapses and Spotify Now Forcing Some Users to Undergo Face-Scanning
Links for the day
A Lot of Supposedly "Successful" Businesses Are Just Debt-Racking Vessels Without Any Prospects of Financial Sustainability
The probability of bankruptcy of any business is more than 0%
theregister.com: The Voice of Microsoft US?
It basically sold out
Yes, You Can Love and Adore Things Whilst Also Criticising Them
Is society being divided and groomed/primed to be resistant to constructive criticism?
Links 31/07/2025: War in Ukraine, Security News, and Cyberattacks Against Journalists on the Rise
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/07/2025: Fake Money and Gemini Diaries
Links for the day
An Illusion and Cult Worship of Magnitude (Ubiquity as "Victory")
GNU has been around for over 40 years and it'll likely continue to exist for another 40 (in some form)
Google: From Pointing to Relevant Sites to Pointing to Social Control Media to Actually Parroting Social Control Media as "Facts"
Google has become a misinformation company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 30, 2025
How to Report Apple Layoffs Without Saying the "L" Word
don't look for the "L" word
Wall Street Does Not Care About Microsoft's Impending (August) Layoffs, It Believes Lies From Microsoft, Whose Debt Grows Rapidly
If Microsoft is doing so well and swimming in money, why so many cuts (about 29,000 layoffs so far this year)?
Wayland Considered Harmful (to GNU/Linux Adoption)
it's not limited to games
My Experience With Judges Has been Positive, But We Must Still Pursue SLAPP Reform in the United Kingdom
We believe it'll be a "feather in the cap" if we can help change laws in the UK to better protect investigative reporters
Slopwatch Makes the Web Better
Remember what happened to BetaNews?
Slopwatch: Google News is Pumping in Lots of Web Traffic Into Fake Sites That Say "Linux"
somewhere between 30% and 40% of today's "news" about "Linux", as seen by Google News, is LLM slop
Links 30/07/2025: Climate Calamities Highlighted, Kyrgyzstan Crackdown on Expression/Freedoms
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Watson’s List of Limits, Lysenko 2000
Links for the day
Riot for peace & Love: Catholic Influencers and Digital Missionaries welcome Jubilee of Youth
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Some People See What Others See... But Only 40 Years Later
When people deviate from "the norm" they typically get ridiculed and dismissed as "crazy"
Links 30/07/2025: Tea Class Action and Google Killing the Web With Slop
Links for the day
Last Month Our IRC Community Turned 17
Funnily enough we never missed a single day when it comes to logging
"The Unix Kernel"
Linux was inspired by MINIX
The Register Relays Microsoft Marketing, Dubs That Marketing "Research"
Hours ago they did a "Microsoft sez" piece
Dealing With Sociopaths, Liars, and Cranks
A dysfunctional society such as this would never develop
Not Owning Mobile Phones
It's not about resistance; it's common sense
Google 'Search' is Fast Becoming No Better Than Social Control Media Infested With Bots
Google emerged almost 30 years ago as a company looking to organise the Web and direct people towards informative pages. That Google is dead.
PCLinuxOS Had Functional Backups Before the House Fire, the Site Will be Restored in New Webhost
This is the direction we want for GNU/Linux, not some IBM sales strategy
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Two Sides of Me and "Hooked on Cosmic Voyage"
Links for the day
Microsoft Will Continue Resorting to Crimes in Order to Keep GNU/Linux Usage Down
It is a real problem and we'll revisit it later this week
GAFAM 'Revolving Doors' at The Register and a "Bribe Price List"
"an analyst at Microsoft"
Microsoft Rapidly Shrinking (No, It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Unbearable Debt)
We'll soon see how much debt grew in the past quarter
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Corruption is the Standard Operating Procedure at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The EPO is a dictatorship that stains Europe
Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office
This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt
Slopwatch: Fake 'Linux' 'Articles' and Spamfarms/Slopfarms
at least 5 fake articles in one day