PressEthic

In an interview in The New York Times Magazine last Sunday, Lee Siegel, cultural critic for the New Republic, answers questions regarding his unethical behavior on his blog at the magazine, using an anonymous name to answer blistering criticism for his work. Siegel also used the nom de plume to praise his work as well.

When asked about what he did, Siegel says, "Of course it was wrong, and I am sorry I did it. I lost my footing and foolishly answered my anonymous detractors with misplaced satire." While initially admitting blame for what he had done, Siegel’s tone changes rapidly.

In the piece, Deborah Solomon asks, "Did you feel that you were doing something ethically questionable when you posted, for instance, a comment by Sprezzatura that carried the headline 'Siegel Is My Hero'?"

"Every man is a hero to his alias. No, it never occurred to me at the time that I was doing something wrong. There are other people who appear anonymously on Web sites; they do battle with their detractors. Anonymity is a universal convention of the blogosphere, and the wicked expedience is that you can speak without consequences. What was wrong about it is that I did it under the aegis of The New Republic, as a senior editor of the magazine," Siegel replies.

Two things standout immediately. First, that a senior editor of magazine had no idea of what he had done was wrong, and, second, he claims everybody does it. After this, Siegel then blames his brilliant mind and witty repartee: "Look, putting a polemicist like myself in the blogosphere is like putting someone with an obesity problem in a chocolate factory."

Rather being ashamed, Siegel is amused.

Solomon asks, "The title 'Falling Upwards' (Siegel’s new book) seems to have acquired an additional and unintended meaning now that you yourself have taken a professional fall."

"Just a couple of feet. I didn’t fall out the window. I fell off my chair. I fell from my chair onto the floor," Siegel retorts.

With a book coming out, it is no big deal for Siegel.