On Apple's New CEO's Being Gay: "It Isn't Outing, It's Reporting."

The head of a $355 $74 billion company is a gay man. Last February Joe Clark at Fawny wrote about reporters avoiding the queer fact that Apple's Tim Cook:

"When you tell us it’s wrong to report on gay public figures, you are telling gays not to come out of the closet and journalists not to report the truth. (What you’re telling us as gay journalists is even worse.)"

This week Felix Salmon writes:

"Keeping his sexuality a secret is no longer an option. And so the press shouldn’t treat it as though it’s something to be avoided at all costs. There’s no ethical dilemma when it comes to reporting on Cook’s sexuality: rather, the ethical dilemma comes in not reporting it, thereby perpetuating the idea that there’s some kind of stigma associated with being gay. Yes, the stigma does still exist in much of society. But it’s not the job of the press to perpetuate it. Quite the opposite."

(Thanks, Brian.)

Comments

[Timbob]

$74 billion is just what AAPL has in the *bank*! Its market cap is actually over $350 billion.

[Mark Holmes]

I was just going to say that, TimBob. Beat me to it. And isn't just a tach company worth $350 billion with $74 billion in the bank. It's the (sometimes) most valuable company in the world, depending on the daily valuation of Exxon/Mobil. That the head of that company is a gay man, I would argue, is news.

[Reader]

It's a complex question. I'm not gay, but I think it's awfully easy for people with nothing personally at stake to determine who should be "outed." If this man has been keeping his sexual orientation private, I'm not sure there's a burning need to reveal it.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's interesting and a sign of progress for gays. Apple obviously is a very important company and the definition of "news" has greatly expanded. But individuals should have a right to privacy unless something about them is directly relevant to their work in the public sphere.

[SJ]

@Reader, Magazines redgularly mention marital status and the children of Jobs http://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-jobs but not that of Cook?

[karen in kalifornia]

Marital status of gay people is usually not applicable since it's allowed in most states. Reporting is always ok.