There is, of course, no way of knowing that the gossip in the bitter Twitter feed of @ExMediaMan is accurate. There is no way of knowing if this man really exists and/or really worked for these organizations. But in the 14 hours since he began posting incendiary comments about today’s biggest viral news sites, his anger and disgust have seemed quite genuine.
Forget Whisper and Secret. This dude, whose résumé apparently encompasses Gawker, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Daily Mail Online, has enough dirt to bury the entire Internet, and it’s not going to fit on some dinky postcard image. After 10 years in the industry, he’s “had enough,” his bio states. Hence this slew of bracing Real Talk™:
“Viral Media” is all White People. Sometimes sites let black journalists write for them, but they never really feel included.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Watched several young “writers” (aggregators) cry as they stared at barely nudging view/share counts. Two I heard calling their parents.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Once sat in a room where we inked millions in vc funding, walked out and took part in conversation on getting more free content from users.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
There’s a reason nowhere I worked listed their telephone number. Once writers find out how little we pay, they might call up and complain.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Just FTR: @brainpicker is a narcissistic sociopath who tweets through movies in order to make more $ off amazon referrals. Not a journalist
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@TheAtlantic is basically a front for a lifestyle/advertising company, as if WiedenKennedy started news site. All their content is sponsored
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@Slate staffers are not very discreet about their sexual indiscretions with one another.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
4/10 at @Buzzfeed take adderall, concerta etc. Trying to hold a conversation with them off of gchat is like playing checkers on a horse
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@sullydish was one of the most irritating blowhards I ever worked with. Advocated the Iraq War then said AIDS was over. Now has own site.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@Gawker writers, @hamiltonnolan in particular, really disliked @neetzan because he took the model to its logical conclusion: farming @reddit
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Several former colleagues say they hope the #Malaysia flight isn’t found for a few more days so they can squeeze 15-25 more #viral headlines
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
A very well known politics writer (more than 50k followers) has a long history of passing genital herpes to young DC reporters.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@Vice is basically being run by early twilight-years Marlon Brando.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
If you want several million, just include “millennial” in first line of investor pitch. AARP could do it these VCs are so dumb.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Editors at @PandoDaily regularly field calls from their VCs who want to pitch stories about their other investments.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Always got a kick out of SEO meetings weakly disguised as “Editorial Strategy.”
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
The secret to all the sites I worked at was one thing: @reddit
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Phone calls with @DailyMailUK always with Eton Nazis with no shame. Somewhat refreshing compared to Americans who lie to themselves, though.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Surprising number of under-35 writers take Viagra.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
@HuffingtonPost, and this isn’t really a secret, is a complete shit show.
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Although we’ve had no luck so far in deducing who @ExMediaMan might be (BuzzFeed does occasionally fire people, and it’s unclear whether this man’s career followed the editorial or business track), we expect an unmasking in due course—whether self-performed or at the hands of Web sleuths.
Until then, we’ll be cackling over here in the corner. And awaiting our turn to get burned.
The funny thing is would it really matter if this was a parody account?
— Media Man (@ExMediaMan) March 14, 2014
Photo by Eirik Solheim/Flickr
