OFF-MUTE 🔈
📖 Once upon a time…
🩸 Theranos was a high-flying startup.
💡 Founder Elizabeth Holmes was held up by the tech press as a “genius.”
✨ She was featured everywhere in mainstream media—sporting her signature black turtleneck (like Steve Jobs) on countless magazine covers.
💥 And then Theranos fell HARD.
📕 John Carreyrou, a former WSJ reporter, uncovered flaws in the startup’s claims and “breakthrough advancements.” He broke the story and rose to fame. He even wrote a bestselling book.
🤯 Silicon Valley was shaken. The Theranos showdown caused a few things to happen:
🔥 Many tech reporters felt burned because they had reported inaccurate information based on what Theranos told them. This made the press more skeptical about the startups they were writing about.
👑 Other journalists saw Carreyrou’s notoriety and wanted that too. This made the press more aggressive, hunting for “inside scoops.”
🌹 And the bloom came off the rose with tech companies. It didn’t stop with questioning their claims. Since Theranos, the George Floyd murder, Asian Hate and so many other episodes of racism have made headlines.
📰 Among those headlines has persisted the media’s tougher reporting on the mostly white world of tech.
💥 There is more tension than ever between reporters and the people and companies they cover. In some cases, tech companies are avoiding the press altogether (hint: we don’t recommend this because generally this just turns your employees into sources)!
▶️ Our California General Manager Dan O’Mahony and Assistant General Manager Anne Baker unpack this tech PR debate and talk about why some companies are choosing a direct communications approach in this video. Watch it now (or during your lunch break).
