Consumerist runs a porn sting on Geek Squad and refuses to reveal the specifics to company officials
The excellent blog Consumerist recently ran an investigative sting on Geek Squad. They had received word that workers from the company would regularly steal porn, video and music files from their customers when they were supposed to be doing routine tasks. So they rigged up a computer with cameras and brought it to Geek Squad and caught a technician red-handed. It’s investigative journalism at its most effective.
But then after Geek Squad officials asked for the name of the specific technician who stole the porn, claiming it was an “isolated incident,” Consumerist refused to reveal his name.
“Well, no. The main thrust of our story is that this is a systemic problem,” Consumerist replied. “We think it’s just luck of the draw this agent got caught rather than another. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed broadly in your organization, and across the computer repair industry as a whole. I’m sure you can make the point internally and remind agents of best practices without making an example of one person, perhaps even more effectively.”
I don’t really know what journalism ethics would require here.
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