Milo Yiannopoulos
Milo Yiannopoulos | |
---|---|
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Journalist |
Milo Yiannopoulos (born October 18, 1984), formerly Milo Wagner,[1] is a British journalist and entrepreneur. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Kernel, an online magazine focusing on European start-up technology.[2] He was named one of the 100 most influential people in Britain's digital economy by Wired UK in 2011 and again in 2012, and he is a member of the Courvoisier The Future 500 network, a network of entrepreneurs and "revolutionary characters" (Wired).[3]
Education
Yiannopoulos studied philosophy at the University of Manchester and English at the University of Cambridge but did not graduate from either.[1][3]
Journalism
Yiannopoulos has written about religion and technology for publications such as The Catholic Herald, The Times,[4] Wired UK,[5] DGA Quarterly,[6] The Spectator,[7] The Wall Street Journal Europe,[8] The Commentator,[9] TechCrunch,[10] Blottr[11] and The Daily Telegraph.[12]
Business activities
Yiannopoulos organised a technology start-up awards scheme in association with the Telegraph in 2011, operating through an events company that he had started with David Rosenberg, a friend from Cambridge University, called Wrong Agency. The company was dissolved shortly after the ceremony ended in controversy,[1] with Mike Butcher of TechCrunch claiming the main prize had been given to music streaming service Spotify even though his casting vote had gone to short-term loan company Wonga.[13] The loss for the Telegraph has been reported as running into tens of thousands of pounds.[1]
He was also director of a company called Hipster Ventures, associated with reports of a move into venture capitalism.[1] Hipster Ventures was dissolved in July 2012.[1]
Yiannopoulos launched The Kernel in November 2011 in order to "fix European technology journalism".[14] The Kernel is owned by Yiannopoulos's company Sentinel Media, also started with Rosenberg. In 2012, the blog became embroiled in legal disputes with some of its contributors after it failed to pay money owed to them.[1] In an article published shortly before the first[1] of two[15] reports in The Guardian on The Kernel's legal disputes with former employees, Yiannopoulos said that he was not planning to end publishing the magazine.[16]
In January 2013 a former contributor, Jason Hesse, won a summary judgement against Sentinel Media.[17] The court awarded Hesse just over £16,000,[18].
Other activities
Yiannopoulos hosted the Young Rewired State competition in 2010, an initiative to showcase the technological talents of 15–18 year-olds,[19] and organised The London Nude Tech Calendar, a calendar featuring members of the London technology scene to raise money for Take Heart India.[20] He also organised the moonwalk flash mob tribute to Michael Jackson in London's Liverpool Street station shortly after Jackson's death in 2009.[21] He explained that the idea of a flashmob as a tribute to Jackson was originally a humorous suggestion on Twitter, but then decided to make it happen, inviting people via social networking websites.[21]
Television appearances
He has appeared on Sky News discussing social media,[22] and on BBC Breakfast discussing Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom.[23]
As a gay Roman Catholic, he has debated gay marriage on Newsnight,[24] and on Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live with Boy George.[25]
Controversy
Yiannopoulos received criticism in 2009 for tweeting that he hoped the police 'beat the shit out of those wankers' at G20 protests, and then deleting the tweet after a protestor was killed.[26]
Controversy followed his appearance at the TechCrunch Europe GeeknRolla conference in 2009, during which he was criticised for remarks described as "men and women are different, men are better at tech, deal with it"[13] by another participant in the conversation.
On 18 July 2012, Yiannopoulos had a public argument on Twitter with Zoe Margolis, author of Girl with a One-Track Mind. He commented: "We write about how tech is changing the world around us. You write about how many cocks you've sucked this week. Back off." and later added: "Is there a difference between writing about sex for money and having sex for money? Not really. What a grubby, humiliating way to make rent."[1]
On 27 June 2012, Yiannopoulos published an article about a private dispute between himself and Charles Arthur, technology editor at The Guardian.[27] Arthur had complained about his Creative Commons-licensed photo being used without correct attribution (the name of the photographer, and a link back to the original on Flickr) and, after The Kernel offered to pay a licensing fee, requested that the fee be paid to the National Deaf Children's Society. The Kernel refused, asking "does Charles Arthur need medical attention?"[27] and accusing him of a series of threats. They later sent an employee to The Guardian's offices to make payment in 1p coins, which was refused.[28]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Arthur, Charles (12 September 2012). "The Kernel sued by former contributors for non-payment". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Dowell, Ben (8 July 2012). "Milo Yiannopoulos – meet the 'pit bull' of tech media". The Observer. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ a b Hicks, Jennifer (19 December 2012). "Digital Media's Citizen Kane". Forbes. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ Milo, Yiannopoulos (29 August 2012). "A worm of doubt has penetrated Apple's shiny world". The Times. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Milo Yiannopoulos at Wired UK
- ^ Milo, Yiannopoulos (Summer 2010). "The European Front". DGA Quarterly. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Yiannopoulos, Milo (30 June 2012). "In it for the LOLs". The Spectator. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ^ Yiannopoulos, Milo (8 December 2010). "Out of the Starting Blocks". The Wall Street Journal Europe. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Milo Yiannopoulos at The Commentator
- ^ Yiannopoulos, Milo (3 September 2009). "BT and Google join forces to offer AdWords support to small businesses". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Blottr
- ^ The Daily Telegraph Milo Yiannopoulos (blog posts)
- ^ a b "Wonga won the Startup 100 awards, not Spotify". TechCrunch Europe. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012. Cite error: The named reference "techcrunch" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Yiannopoulos, Milo (10 November 2011). "It's time to fix European technology journalism". The Kernel. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Arthur, Charles (12 September 2012). "The Kernel faces legal action by two more former contributors". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "A Note to our Readers". The Kernel. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ Arthur, Charles (8 January 2013). "The Kernel could face £11,000 payout order". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Jason Hesse awarded just over £16k against Sentinel Media t/a The Kernel by employment tribunal. Legally enforceable debt". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Techno teens design public websites". MSN. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Arthur, Charles (18 November 2009). "London Nude Tech calendar: unclothed geeks (and ladygeeks) in a good cause". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Moonwalking Jackson Fans Mob London Station". Sky News. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Sky News, 19 November 2010, BSkyB, distributed by Fox International Channels.
- ^ BBC Breakfast, 13 August 2010, BBC Television, distributed by the BBC.
- ^ Newsnight, 15 March 2012, BBC Television, distributed by the BBC.
- ^ 10 O'Clock Live, 17 February 2011, Channel 4.
- ^ "Twitter mishaps and netiquette for journalists". journalism.co.uk. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ a b "How to deal with copyright trolls". Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Charles Arthur: 6000p Payment. YouTube. Retrieved 12 September 2012. [dead link]