Hack gets his Microsoft file

WIRED HACK Fred Vogelstein accidentally received received the file that Microsoft and its outside public relations agency Waggener Edstrom keeps on him.

IT companies and their various agents often keep files on different reporters so that they can brief managers on the various hack's techniques before they are grilled and hung out to dry.

We believe that the Microsoft and Intel files on INQ staff have to be handled with oven gloves and are laced with so much blue language it would be impossible to read unless you are over 65 and accompanied by a parent.

Writing in his bog, Vogelstein seems a trifle hurt by what Vole thinks of him. He said he felt downright peculiar as he had been a hack for more than 20 years. Lines like "It takes him a bit to get his point across so try to be patient" came as a bit of a blow.

He knew his long-windedness drove his missus nuts, but he didn't know he did the same thing to Vole's spinners.

The other thing that surprised him was how many resources were aligned against a hack when penning a Microsoft yarn. In one case he noted that there were a dozen people involved in setting up one interview.

In another case it was clear that they had been working for six months to try and get an interview in Wired and had dispatched three executives to meet with editors at the magazine in hopes of setting their hook.

“Should I be flattered that they worked so hard, or should I be embarrassed at being co-opted by their spin machine?” he postulated. Our advice is to get Microsoft to buy a round next time and write a nasty article anyway.

L'INQ
Wired bog