How Google spent 15 years creating a culture of concealment

These policies are in place because companies have learned that journalists will happily take any comment, from any employee, from any context, and make it Crucial Evidence(TM) of impropriety...

There's a difference between snooping and questioning in search of the truth versus snooping and questioning in search of a juicy story to repeat for profit.

Like with the police, there's a lot of hagiography that paints journalists as the dogged researcher who will stop at nothing to expose the truth about $SUBJECT, but like with the police that trope is not the full picture. The average journalist spends a few hours collecting quotes to support a story that they have already written in their head, which they then put into writing underneath the most exciting headline they (or their editor) can imagine. They're paid to sell papers/get clicks, not to discover the truth, and it shows.

With that in mind, OP is absolutely correct, and "don't talk to journalists" should be right up there with "don't talk to the police" in our guidelines for life. They're not your friend: they will destroy you if they think it'll grab enough attention.

I don't think that is true. I'm sure they are more concerned about legal consequences than PR, even if both are important.

The press comes in for a lot of hate from just about everybody. They must be doing something right.

You say that like journalists themselves don't work for "a company"

>"Courts are there to decide what matters."

Doesnt work well when the Judge and/or Jury doesnt understand the matters at hand

One of the least thoughtful “Yet you participate in society, curious!” ripostes I’ve seen.

If you’d put this much effort every day into privacy laws, neither Google nor journos would be able to snoop. But, here we are, and it’s fair game.