So raise your hand if you're surprised: A gross human who enjoys garnering attention by speaking loudly about wholly objectionable things says he's going to do something, then cancels said something amid a massive popular backlash — once the initial announcement has done its job of creating exposure and getting people talking.
This actually has nothing to do with the current GOP presidential race. It has to do with "famous" pickup artist (PUA) and accredited misogynist Daryush "Roosh V” Valizadeh, and his recent announcement that he was scheduling a series of nationwide "meetups" ostensibly in favor of legalizing sexual assault on personal property. Yep, the dude wanted to hold rallies in favor of legalizing rape, if said rape happens once the victim is in your house. That's a sealed deal, right? She came home with you, so she's gotta put out.
Not gross and objectionable at all.
Valizadeh purportedly organized a bunch of civil actions for the coming weekend. The media, both mainstream and social, predictably went batshit, and Valizadeh subsequently "cancelled" the events, citing the threat of violence against his fellow lonely compulsive masturbators. Because of course some folks were going to show up and cause trouble, and a number of men with questionable ideas about relationships were going to be beaten to a pulp — by women. Embarrassing!
In hindsight, this whole thing was almost certainly not going to happen. But we reported it. And when we did, we received several reactions along the lines of "you're just playing into their hands, giving them the exposure that they want."
Well, yes.
The flip side of that, though, is that people who didn't know to what extent this sort of culture exists in our country were made aware. Stories covering the aborted meetups were much more "con" than "pro" — that alone should give readers an idea of how the media functioned in this case with regard to "giving assholes exposure" versus "letting people know there were assholes on the loose." At the end of the day, that's our job — letting people know what's going on. Even an outlet that practices "advocacy journalism" needs to tell you about the bad shit — hoping that more readers find it revolting than inviting.
So did "Roosh V" game the media? Nope — he just used it. Mention a controversial event, get the exposure, then cancel the event, citing the "safety" of the event's participants and positioning one's self as a victim. It's a classic PR gambit, and don't ever kid yourself, there are always forces at work massaging the news they want you to see, and showing it in the most positive light possible. Obviously CL didn't show a pro-rape rally in a positive light, but we did cover it, because we thought it needed to be shared, whether the actual event was ever going to happen or not. Because you need to know that people like "Roosh V" are out there — and you need to make a decision about how you're going to handle them.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2016.