How SF Weekly / Matt Smith harmed a source (sex, journalists, and trust, part bazillion)

Image of Darenzia and Mz Berlin by Christine Kessler (photographer: cover of my book Best Women’s Erotica 2009).

As some of you may remember a couple weeks ago, I wrote SF Weekly’s Matt Smith Screws Kink.com: Unfair, Unbalanced, Malfeasant Journalism. In it, I detailed how Smith acted irresponsibly to get a news story, and since then her responded with another piece that got SF Weekly a letter from my lawyers (and a retraction from Village Voice Media/SF Weekly). But in the comments of Smith’s piece, we discovered that he promised a source he used in his piece — a porn performer — anonymity. And then he completely disregarded her request for anonymity. Here is her comment where she confronts Smith — click to enlarge and read:

Smith, as a writer (and by far stretch, journalist) should know, respect and abide by the rules of protecting sources. He did not. Pseudonyms are used by writers, actors, singers, performers and sex workers alike for a variety of reasons. Now, Mz Berlin’s life has been ruined. She’s asking for help, as she is now losing visitation rights to see her own son, among other things. What Smith did was not only reckless but truly harmful. He ruined one woman’s life to get a story. It is, as I openly pointed out with Bill O’Reilly’s goading of public hatred via Fox News and the murder of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, one and the same type of behavior. It is the blatant disregard for another human being based on a value judgment and using journalism and powerful media outlets to carry out the sentence of those judgments. It’s evil. Here is an excerpt from Mz Berlin’s request for help in the form of legal fee donations:

Hello. My name is M. Most of you know me as The Fabulous Mz Berlin, but that’s not entirely who I am. I am also a daughter, a sister, a friend and a mother. This is probably the first time you’ve heard me mention my son. I like to keep private things private, and because he is a minor, and because what I do for a living, while not illegal, is not looked upon fondly in my hometown, where he currently resides.

Many of you who read my blog may be aware of my “outing” by Matt Smith. This has had several consequences that I couldn’t have foreseen at the time, including my former husband deciding to withdraw visitation with my child unless he (the ex) is present. I had several plans with my child this summer, including a 2-week road trip to a family reunion in Indiana, as well as a trip to California. The 2-week trip has [now] been cut down to 4 days so my ex could accompany him to the family reunion. This was not needed or warranted, but because we have always been amicable, an interstate child custody and visitation agreement has never been drawn up.

Our conversations since the SF Weekly incident have become increasingly frustrating and it looks like the chances of me seeing my son on a regular basis are dwindling. He is basing his stance on the potential danger that the SF Weekly article may have on me, as well as my chosen career.

(…) My former husband believes that my occupation is a lifestyle and therefore I am not suitable to spend time unsupervised with him. He chose to change the Indiana trip from a 2-week road trip to [see] my son because he believes that my occupation puts my son at risk due to potential stalkers. It doesn’t make sense to me, and I’ve gotten a few notes asking for clarification. I will be paying the rest of my downpayment as soon as the PayPal transfer is completed… (…read more, mzberlinsblog.com)