Pittsburgh Media Thread - Still the Worst

[Jacob]

Sara = Katie? I'm confused.

 

[Pancakes]

Sara = Katie? I'm confused.

I'm confused too, and also confused about what texts she's talking about. DK was being a creeper in texts to his other employees about Katie Brown?

I don't doubt it mind you. Sex harassment reporting is almost always true, as I've mentioned before.

 

[Fordy]

my assumption is they're two separate employees

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Sara = Katie? I'm confused.

Sara Civian another DK ex employee

 

[Rossi Rat]

I’m starting to wonder if this Deadspin article will ever even see the light of day.

 

[EVGENIMERLIN]

Apparently there was all this drama on twitter among Pittsburgh Sports Media, but I can't figure out what happened

 

[The Shovel Penguin]

Someone else who worked with DK also had a late night rant last night directed towards them in part related to DK owing him money (allegedly) but he deleted most of the tweets. DK and the DKPS twitter accounts started protecting their tweets and blocking people left and right.

A few vague tweets out there seem to suggest that some legal threats are what's delaying the Deadspin article. I don't know how true any of this is but legal delays wouldn't surprise me.

 

[The Gobfather*]

Something is coming soon from reading what Matt gatjka said

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

I usually dont get into the hate hardons that people have for writers but Dk seems like a complete ***hat that deserves anything that comes of this stuff. Ive read the KAtie Brown and Sara Civian stuff but i know he has had other issues with at least Coolong, Kingerski and A. Saunders. I just dont know/ cant remember the details

 

[bigG]

Something is coming soon from reading what Matt gatjka said

quotes?

 

[tom_servo]

Somehow the Sara Civian post hits home. She's simultaneously disgusted by her treatment at DK, the type of dude DK is, and the fact that these types of stories -- instead of her hockey writing -- will be what end up at the top her dad's Twitter feed (thus the "half-measures" in not volunteering all details).

She's describing a too-common dilemma of professionals (mostly women) in her position. And if DK really was casually referencing her tits and whatnot among other employees... I mean holy f***.

DK doesn't seem to have a lot of defenders who aren't on his payroll.

 

[Shrimper]

Where's this Civian article about DK?

 

[The Gobfather*]

Must be something coming real soon I got a notification for it from dks app saying about the deadspin article

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Neal Coolong seems like such a little turd

 

[Winger for Hire]

Must be something coming real soon I got a notification for it from dks app saying about the deadspin article

What did the notification say?

 

[The Gobfather*]

Said all you need to know about the upcoming deadspin article but now the app isn’t working

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

The site's down but it was a pre-emptive address of the coming dead spin article. Basically denied that he engaged in any sexual harassment - apparently someone made a comment about one of the female reporters' breasts and he was adamant it wasn't something he said. Also something about a request for threesome in exchange for better article placement that he adamantly denied.

He admitted to critical business blunders like not making his employees full time employees (instead they are contractors) and not managing the staff well in general. Apparently someone claimed he charged them for travel expenses but DK is saying the guy spent a few hundred dollars at a spa while out of town on business and several hundred more on personal shit.

Called the article a hit piece, addressed Coolong's claim that they owe him money (dude is more unstable than DK), apologized in general.

 

[zero8771]

The site's down but it was a pre-emptive address of the coming dead spin article. Basically denied that he engaged in any sexual harassment - apparently someone made a comment about one of the female reporters' breasts and he was adamant it wasn't something he said. Also something about a request for threesome in exchange for better article placement that he adamantly denied.

He admitted to critical business blunders like not making his employees full time employees (instead they are contractors) and not managing the staff well in general. Apparently someone claimed he charged them for travel expenses but DK is saying the guy spent a few hundred dollars at a spa while out of town on business and several hundred more on personal ****.

Called the article a hit piece, addressed Coolong's claim that they owe him money (dude is more unstable than DK), apologized in general.

He's such a piece of shit its unreal. Karma is being served finally

 

[Winger for Hire]

Should be interesting read, I'm assuming, tomorrow

 

[KIRK]

He's such a piece of **** its unreal. Karma is being served finally

No subscriber firewall: Kovacevic: About the coming Deadspin article

I’ve heard from so many readers that they’re sick of the drama here, that they just want to read about sports. I respect that. If you’re one of those, by all means, feel free to tap or click elsewhere. We’ll keep delivering sports.

That’s all we ever want to do.

This company’s under attack.

That’s not dramatic. That’s not exaggeration. I wish it was.

[Mod Edit] You can not post entire articles. Please refer to site rule #6 here. For those who wish to read the article, please click the link to the article itself. Thanks!

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Uh huh.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

As usual with DK, he hits some of the right notes, but at heart he's an asshole, and he just can't hide it that well.

 

[Shady Machine]

He’s never hurt or mistreated anyone? Seriously dude?

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I think beyond him being a douche and him writing his second (?) essay about his behaviour, it’s about what he admits to vs what he doesn’t admit to after re-reading the Brown article and reading the Civian article. It’s interesting and in what I would describe as a very carefully worded work in a very controlled environment with a lot of rallying language.

Also, him no longer being in charge and this

will portray me as both a bad boss and even as a bad person. As I wrote a month ago, both have been the case far more often than I’d like. I’ve really messed up on both fronts.

But I’ve also never hurt anyone, never mistreated anyone —not at this company, not anywhere — and, above all, nevercame close to disrespecting women. (I’ll get to that in aminute.) I’ve made rash hires, uncomfortable firings, andpeople have come and gone too often at this place. Butthere’s never been any suggestion, much less an allegation —and there won’t be one in this article, either — of anything remotely resembling misconduct. (source)

You have contradictory statements. He says he’s been a bad boss and a bad person but that he’s never hurt anyone. How? There are allegations of misconduct now, they may have not been done to whoever in his questionably run business but there are now.

 

[billybudd]

Welp, this confirms his site is a Mickey Mouse operation. It's not even what he's being accused of, much of which is not really worth publishing in any national sports publication; it's what he admits to not knowing long after he should have. If there was ever any doubt about that, the 1099/W2 confusion combined with the hiring of this Coolong quack leaves no room for doubt ("stealing DMs"? What on Earth does that even mean? Is he expecting me to believe Dejan Kovacevic is capable of hacking a twitter account?).

Was Kovacevic doing no background or social media checks of any kind? He'd have to not be to end up with someone like this on staff. He was just reading a sample article then accepting anyone who agreed to his financial terms, wasn't he?

So I guess the next question is whether he protected himself against a class action suit by "lunatic" subscribers when his site inevitably closes prior to their expiry (when you name your company after yourself, the only way it can continue after you leave is if you've died. A rebrand is possible in some cases, but probably impossible in this one).

If not (and I'll bet a dollar he didn't), he's looking at some form of bankruptcy unless the Athletic bails him out by "buying" the company and crediting DK subs as Athletic subs (common practice with memberships in health club mergers). If the Athletic does, they're not going to be offering very favorable terms. Maybe $1 and a transfer of the funds associated with the remainder of those subscriptions.