An Open Letter to The Daily Beast
A writer from the Daily Beast, Nico Hines, who is a straight man, wrote a terribly homophobic article about using hookup apps at the Olympics, like Tinder and Grindr. In this article, they published identifying information about gay athletes from countries where they will likely face persecution. After hearing the community outcry, The Daily Beast wrote an “apology” and removed identifying information from the article, but the damage is already done, and the apology was anything but. It was a statement of denial of any wrongdoing on the part of their Olympic media staffer.
Here is my open letter to The Daily Beast editorial staff, and I encourage anyone who cares about protecting the LGBTQ community, especially in the light of the recent massacre in Orlando, to voice your concerns as well.
The Daily Beast editorial staff can be reached by email editorial@thedailybeast.com
An Open Letter to The Daily Beast Editorial Staff
I was absolutely furious to read this morning that your straight, and apparently homophobic, male writer Nico Hines had posted identifying information about Olympic athletes from countries where they will likely face persecution.
While I appreciate the expediency of your response to community outcry, it has only made things worse. It is clear that your editors do not understand the gravity of this situation.
Good for you for taking down the identifying information, but the damage has already been done. Outed athletes will now have to go home and face the persecution of their oppressive governments. The blood of any outed athlete that faces punishment, which can in some cases mean execution, is on your hands.
But the Editor’s note makes me even more furious. In this note, you claim to be sensitive to the oppression of the LGBTQ community, but then proceed to write a letter of denial of any wrongdoing.
“It just so happened that Nico had many more responses on Grindr than apps that cater mostly to straight people, and so he wrote about that.”
That is fine, I can give Nico the benefit of the doubt on this, even though he did seem to embellish these findings. However …
“He never claimed to be anyone he was not, did not offer anything to anyone, and immediately admitted that he was a journalist whenever he was asked who he was.”
This is a lie. As a straight man using Grindr, Nico was already claiming to be something he wasn’t. It’s called Grindr-baiting, and it is never used for good purposes. Some have even used Grindr-baiting to target and murder LGBTQ folks:
http://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crime/death-grindr-swipe-right-murder/
Your denial of any wrongdoing on Nico’s part makes any trite statement about your “fight for full equality and equal treatment for LGBT people around the world” complete malarkey. This is not an apology, and in fact, after doing irreversible damage to gay athletes around the world, this is a kick in the teeth to those who have been hurt by your publication.
I would recommend that your editorial staff get in contact with G.L.A.A.D. for sensitivity and media training on how to cover LGBTQ people and issues, and to fully understand the top-down failure of your staff to protect the lives of the LGBTQ community, as well as your failure to atone for these wrongdoings in a meaningful way.
You have hurt a lot of people today, and for that your entire staff should feel ashamed.
Please also consider revising your non-apology with recognition of everything that Nico did wrong.
-Norman Witte III
Edit: I want to recognize and thank The Daily Beast staff for doing the right thing and removing the article. Reluctance to remove the article, in the meantime, caused even more harm, which they have clearly recognized. The next step is healing. The best way to heal is to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and training staff with the GLAAD Media Guide is a great place to start.
