Why was the Eric Holthaus moving profile of Greta Thunberg and her dad taken down? "Readers who saw the piece said it was “revealing of some of their personal aspects” and “some details could be misused in the wrong hands.”

Why was the Eric Holthaus moving profile of Greta Thunberg and her dad taken down? "Readers who saw the piece said it was “revealing of some of their personal aspects” and “some details could be misused in the wrong hands.”

As the mostly-unreported saga of the now-mysteriously-deleted post by Eric Holthaus re his moving portrait and interview with Greta Thunberg and her father Svante Thunberg at The Correspondent continutes to be unreported by the mainstream press, not one word about the sudden deletion and the real and exact reasons why it was taken down, CJR columnist Mathew Ingram goes into a little here:\

Matt at the Columbia Journalism Review explained that the crowdfunded journalism site that is an English-language spinoff of the Dutch site De Correspondent, took down an article by its climate writer Eric Holthaus that included a first-person interview with teenage activist Greta Thunberg, 16.

In a note, Eric told readers that Thunberg’s family didn’t see the article prior to publication and “after it was published, they raised a number of concerns around sensitivities within the piece with me,” Ingram wrote, adding: "Readers who saw the piece said it was “revealing of some of their personal aspects” and “some details could be misused in the wrong hands.”

The Correspondent website tweeted:

''We've taken our piece on Greta Thunberg down. The Thunberg family did not see the piece pre-publication. After publication, they raised concerns around sensitivities within the piece. We understand their concerns and have decided that the right thing to do is take it down.''

Tom van Eckevort tweeted in response:

''When I read it I did think it was quite revealing and some details could be misused in the wrong hands. But I'm surprised a piece like this wasn't approved first. I'm hoping lessons will be learned from this, because you don't want to lose trust between writers and interviewees.''

Tarja tweeted in reply to Tom:

''Yes, my thoughts exactly. I also read it this morning and thought it was rather revealing of some of their personal aspects. Hope no harm will come from it to Greta and her family, and that you've learned your lesson of letting your subjects to preview before publication.''

So now where do things stand? When will the blogosphere or the Twitter World or the mainstream media MSM like the New York Times or the UK Guardian delve into the real reaons that Holthaus article with pics was taken down?

Not one journalist on the left or the right is looking into this, and just accepting that it had to be taken down, deleted, for reasons that are nobody' business, except for the Thunberg family and Eric.

Meanwhile, a blogger in South Africa read the piece the night it appeared online and although it was deleted son after, Grace Smith remembed what was in the article and blogged about it here below.

When will the media in the USA or Sweden look into this and report the reaon reasons the story was abruptly deleted with no real explanation that made any sense. This story needs to be reported, delicately, sensitively, openly. Who will do it?

GRACE SMITH BLOGGED:


http://www.amindofgrace.co.za/#contact

AN ELDERLY BRTISH WOMAN NAMED GRACE SMITH / in Capetown, South Africa
BLOGS:

......I read a brilliant article last night by the Climate Editor of The Correspondent, Eric Holthaus.  He described a visit he enjoyed in his American home from Greta Thunberg and her father Svante.
At this moment the two Thunbergs are travelling in America where they have been invited to speak at various international conferences.   I read an article about them late last night (10^th October 2019) in The Correspondent.  I was too tired to concentrate at that late hour, so decided I would come back to it this morning.

...I was so excited when I first read this revealing story about Greta and her father.   It offers a very personal perspective of this young 16 year old Climate Activist.  She was at that moment a favoured contender for the award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize but in the end she did not win this year.  In his story Holthaus included the informal WhatsApp postings between himself and Greta when they were negotiating her stay at his home.   As far as I recall, his two young sons are aged about 3 and 5.   A beautiful picture of the two youngsters interacting with Greta and their soft animal toys, illustrated the story.

As I continue my tale, I am aware it may not be a fully accurate reflection of what I read as I am unable to check my facts.   I will forge ahead anyway!    I am a great fan of this young Swedish woman and am not prepared to abandon the story because my source material has disappeared into the ether.

The image remains with me of an unaffected but passionate young woman who has made sacrifices in order to promote the ideas she feels so strongly about.   Greta and her father have been away from home for a couple of months already.   They were offered a trip across the Atlantic in a yacht as air-flight is totally against Greta’s principles.   The pollution produced by aeroplanes is far too extreme.
As I do not have Greta’s memory for articulating facts, I need to speak in generalisations.  What I learned in the article was that an alternative fuel for aeroplanes is going to be very difficult to find.   Batteries are too heavy, and other potential sources of energy have other practical difficulties.   Therefore the possibility of them being used for air flight in the near future is very low.

The Challenges of being a Celebrity

In his description of the stay of Greta and Svelte, Holthaus gave me an idea of the sacrifices the couple have made by spending so much time away from home and the rest of the family.   Greta’s mother and younger sister remain behind in Sweden, and it may be a good few months before the family is once again united.   Greta and her Dad have been invited to a major conference in South America in Chile in December.

The one problem with attending this conference will be negotiating a return trip to Europe by sea in March 2020.   Apparently at that time of the year the currents are not favourable for sailing from West to East.    The travelling duo has still to overcome that practical issue before finalising their plans.

An idealistic new piece of journalism describes the story of an idealistic Climate Activist and her father.   And, true to the aims of The Correspondent, the delightful story has been taken down because of its sensitive content.   I hope my memory grasps the essence of the story without causing any offence.

A few times, whilst talking about the complex logistics of their travels, the conversation shifts to what Svante calls “escape routes”. At every point on their trip, they have at least one or two ways to leave the continent immediately, if necessary, with varying levels of carbon spent, he explained to Eric.


I didn't notice any "sensitive travel plans" with "legit safety concerns" in Eric olthaus interview with GretaThunberg  and Svante Thunberg that Eric was forced to delete after getting strong complaints from Greta Incorporated. I'm guessing that the biggest reason her family said "please delete entire text and photos" was because of their admission that they are considering flying Greta and dad back to Sweden if stress levels get too high ...or ....after the Chile UN conference is over in December....