Uber vs. journalism?

Berit Anderson

Berit Anderson Jul 4, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Uber vs. journalism?</h1>
                <h2><p>Yesterday, on my bus ride home, I tweeted BuzzFeed's now-viral article about Uber senior VP Emil Michael. Michael, who apparently didn't realize he was on the record, told an influential audience of dinner attendees Friday in NYC that Uber should consider hiring a team of opposition</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/berit-anderson-crosscut-com/">Berit Anderson</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Yesterday, on my bus ride home, I <a href="https://twitter.com/berit_anderson/status/534539733913726976?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">tweeted BuzzFeed's now-viral article</a> about Uber senior VP Emil Michael. Michael, who apparently didn't realize he was on the record, told an influential audience of dinner attendees Friday in NYC that Uber should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to discredit journalists (specifically <a href="http://pando.com/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">PandoDaily'</a>s Sarah Lacy, who has written critically about the company). Perhaps not surprisingly, journalists generally did not take kindly to this idea. Flash forward to this morning, when I found myself late for a meeting with a friend. Needing to get downtown faster than my typical bus route, I called an Uber. The first driver accepted the ride and then, moments later, dropped it. Then another driver accepted the ride. Moments later it was dropped again. This had never happened to me before. The next accepted ride, third time's the charm, finally stuck. Surely, it was just a busy morning. — B.A.<br><br></p>
          </article>

Yesterday, on my bus ride home, I tweeted BuzzFeed's now-viral article about Uber senior VP Emil Michael. Michael, who apparently didn't realize he was on the record, told an influential audience of dinner attendees Friday in NYC that Uber should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to discredit journalists (specifically PandoDaily's Sarah Lacy, who has written critically about the company). Perhaps not surprisingly, journalists generally did not take kindly to this idea. Flash forward to this morning, when I found myself late for a meeting with a friend. Needing to get downtown faster than my typical bus route, I called an Uber. The first driver accepted the ride and then, moments later, dropped it. Then another driver accepted the ride. Moments later it was dropped again. This had never happened to me before. The next accepted ride, third time's the charm, finally stuck. Surely, it was just a busy morning. — B.A.

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By Berit Anderson

Berit Anderson was Managing Editor at Crosscut, following tech, culture, media and politics. She founded Crosscut's Community Idea Lab.   Previously community manager of the Tribune Company’