How Thiel’s Gawker battle could influence Silicon Valley coverage

Vivek Wadhwa writes for Inc. about how Peter Thiel’s legal battle against Gawker could influence Silicon Valley coverage by other media.

Wadhwa writes, “Other than Gawker’s tech website, Valleywag, which was shut down this year, there are few publications in Silicon Valley that will confront its tech moguls and overhyped start-ups. Witness theethical breaches committed by Theranos; lives were put at risk. Yet it took an exposé by John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal to uncover its corruption. And he had to withstand ugly threats by the company’s lawyers.

“Technology businesses should be focused on their credibility and building trust by making their executives more accessible to journalists, not battling media organizations.

“As Nick Bilton wrote in Vanity Fair, the valley’s system ‘has been molded to effectively prevent reporters from asking tough questions. It’s a game of access, and if you don’t play it carefully, you may pay sorely. Outlets that write negatively about gadgets often don’t get prerelease versions of the next gadget. Writers who ask probing questions may not get to interview the CEO next time he or she is doing the rounds. If you comply with these rules, you’re rewarded with page views and praise in the tech blogosphere. And then there’s the fact that many of these tech outlets rely so heavily on tech conferences.’ Investor Jason Calacanis added, ‘If you look at most tech publications, they have major conferences as their revenue. If you hit too hard, you lose keynotes, ticket buyers, and support in the tech space.’

“Technology is the industry of disruption — and that makes people wary. There is growing anxiety everywhere over what will be next to change. As it becomes a greater part of the economy, checks and balances are needed more than ever. The risk is that Thiel’s attempt to quash a reprehensible publication will only weaken what little exists.”

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