Straight Writer Blasted For ‘Outing’ Olympians In Daily Beast Piece; Huffington Post, 8/11/16

Curtis M. Wong, Huffington Post; Straight Writer Blasted For ‘Outing’ Olympians In Daily Beast Piece:

"The backlash from other media outlets, predictably, was swift. Blasting Hines’s article as a “dangerous disaster” and “a wildly unethical train wreck,” Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern wrote, “Hines may view his Grindr-baiting as all fun and games. For the victims of his unprincipled journalism, however, his nasty little piece has the power to ruin lives.”

Many were specifically concerned that Hines’s piece was outing athletes, especially those from countries like Russia and Jamaica where it’s dangerous for people to be openly LGBT. Added Mic’s Mathew Rodriguez: “Sure, queer sexuality can be a fascinating topic for journalism — when it’s done respectfully and, hopefully, by someone with ties to the community. But just booting up an app and seeing that people like sex isn’t journalism, and the tone stigmatizes gay sexuality even further.”...

After the story was published, a note by Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avlon appeared at the bottom of the piece, noting that “all descriptions of the men and women’s profiles that we previously described” had been removed."