TUAW’s Laurie Duncan posts a follow-up to TUAW’s article about the alleged Muslim outrage over the Apple’s NYC Cube.

It’s important to note that nowhere in the 300 words that I wrote did I personally say anything derogatory about any religious or ethnic group. It’s important not confuse the message with the messenger and equally as important to consider the context. This is an Apple-related blog, therefore my reference and commentary were Apple-related and not political or religious in any way. I was truly shocked by the volume and content of the comments that ensued. Those who know me and many of you who contacted me privately expressed surprise at the reaction as well.

I do regret that some of you were offended by my even mentioning or linking to MEMRI, where the original report was cited. I regret the title I chose for the post. I meant no disrespect to those Muslims who felt they were being unfairly portrayed and I never meant to imply that all followers of Islam were represented by the MEMRI allegation. I felt – and still feel – that changing the title after the fact or disabling comments on that post does more harm than good as it makes it look like we’re trying to cover something up, which we are not.

Apple’s NYC “Cube”

You may recall that in the heat of the issue, we also posted our own reaction at the Apple Gazette, which I can safely say people took to be a reasonable stance on the matter. We basically said the original “translation” may not have been without bias, and people had been too quick to generalize and jump to conclusions.

Passion

I agree with TUAW that “nowhere in the 300 words that [the author] wrote did [she] personally say anything derogatory about any religious or ethnic group,” and that the post should have been taken in the context of an Apple-related blog. However, that very context in which the post was written in was itself asking for trouble, in my opinion.

For one, it was about Apple, and it was about Islam, the world’s second-largest religion by population. And I think you would agree with me if I say that MacHeads consider Apple as somewhat a religion in itself (think “cult of Mac”). Now any material that would appear as pitting two things people are passionate about against each other would evoke strong reactions from both sides. And given some circumstances, you can even count on people reacting irrationally.

The same goes with the other blog posts and news articles that cited the original “news” article. The topic was quickly picked up by blogs, voted up the popularity ladder in social bookmarking sites like Digg, and even got coverage in the mainstream media. And much of the brouhaha was one-sided.

Quick To The Jump

What’s lacking from all this? Validation and verification of information. Here’s one pitfall of the blogosphere–blogs don’t usually go through the rigorous fact-checking, background checking and editing that articles in more traditional publications do.

Thing is, the issue even got coverage in the mainstream media. The New York Post, Fox News and even the Metro in the UK picked it up and ran their own stories. Take note that the Metro ran the article today, almost a full week after the issue was supposed to have been cleared.

One could argue that the beauty of the blogosphere is that it tends to correct and balance itself, and likewise do the same for mainstream media (e.g., if one blog post is found to be incorrect or misleading, then other bloggers would be quick to point that out). However, when reputations are at stake, usually the damage would’ve already been done by the time corrections have been made, as in this case.

When reputations are at stake, a little sensitivity should be called-for.

Shooting The Messenger

I, for one, was tempted to blog about the issue when it first broke out, using the MEMRI article as a source. But I took time to look at it more objectively, and sought much help from a few friends who are more knowledgable on the matter and who are more observant, before coming up with something.

One should not kill the bearer of bad tidings. But I think it should be the responsibility of the messenger to act responsibly, too.

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