[leroy_masochist]

On the one hand, Sarah Lacy's reporting on Uber has been the gold standard in terms of her paying attention to specific events and their significance, and explaining it all to readers -- especially with regard to ongoing litigation.

On the other, it seems like she has developed a persecution complex with regard to Uber; since Nov 2014, every article I've read of hers that covers Uber (I'm a Pando subscriber) has at least partially been about her and her relationship with the company. Yes, the fact that Emil Michael casually floated the idea of doing oppo research on her / her family to her face is really fucked up. However, to say she's taken that ball and run with it would be an understatement. I do hope that this is actually her last Kalanick-related story (doubt that will turn out to be the case), because she's a great journalist who is tremendously good at sniffing out what's really going on, and she should be training her sights on a more diverse target set.

[throwaway40483]

Just to be clear. Emil Michael never floated the idea about doing oppo research to her face. This was done during a gathering with some journalists where Ben Smith from Buzzfeed was present and reported on it:

"Michael at no point suggested that Uber has actually hired opposition researchers, or that it plans to. He cast it as something that would make sense, that the company would be justified in doing."

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/uber-executive-suggests-di...

[Upvoter33]

Saying something "would make sense" could easily be construed as a threat.

[monkeyprojects]

It's worth emphasizing that Sarah ended up hiring body guards for the weekend following the comments on the advice of others.

There was definitely more to it than just an idea

[leroy_masochist]

Correction: it wasn't "to her face", it was in front of another reporter, who had not agreed to off-the-record terms for a group dinner including Michael (who had thought that was the case), and who published Michael's comments nearly immediately.