SB Nation pulls Daniel Holtzclaw longform piece

The Hannan story is a fine sight better written. I mean, it was.

SB Nation has published some straight up junk.

 

Very true, and point well taken.

On writing quality this is probably like that SB Nation piece we discussed here awhile ago about an utterly forgettable high school football game that the writer thought bore some mystical significance. I'm thinking once it hits 7,500 words, SB Nation's editors wave it on through as awesome.

 

That was halfway (and twice as long as it had to be) towards being an interesting feature. Some decent thesis there about how Holtzclaw might have gone off the rails (CTE, 'roid rage, anger over the earlier-than-he-anticipated ending to his career). But there was absolutely nothing backing up those thesis. Then there's the whole minimizing the fact that A COP, for whom the wheels of justice are always rigged, was found guilty of 18 counts of sexual assault.

In the end, that was a shitshow of historic proportions. At some point someone had to step in and say this wasn't working. But LONGFORM *halos and angels singing* and stuff.

 

This really stuck out to me as well. The victim shaming was off the charts bad.

 

Yes, this, a thousand times this. You done fucked up, deleting the Tweets and the links and turning Twitter accounts private ain't gonna fix it. More real bad form by everyone involved.

 

This is excellent and frankly kind in reference to the story in question.

 

That was awful. And even before today it wasn't even on the short list of the worst stories there.

 

Until it's explained I'll withhold judgment on why the story was pulled. It may be that it was never supposed to appear

 

Doubtful that was the case. Stout touted it multiple times today.

 

That seems unlikely. The top editor's note admitted that "senior editorial staff" who did not want the story published were ignored, which means there was a decision to publish.

 

It may be that it was never cleared to appear by someone in charge — like Spencer Hall, who runs the editorial operations of SB Nation — but Glenn Stout (the SB Nation Longform editor and editor of this specific piece) tweeted out the story several times. And the writer was beginning his twitter victory lap before he realized the rear axel of his car was tied to a steel post.

 

Correct. Appreciate your insight DD. I'm not sure a capable editor read this, and I'd be absolutely floored if a woman signed off on it. Curious about the red flags that were cited in the editor note and why they weren't addressed adequately.