I feel really sad for her. What has happened in her life to make her like this? Or what conditions have gone unmanaged such that she behaves in this way? I guess we'll likely never know.
At the same time, due to the very real financial and mental cost to others of her actions, she very much deserves to be held to account. That's what you and Dylan have been doing.
It also really irks me when people claim cyberbullying when it's really not. It diminishes the suffering of people who have actually been victims of cyberbullying. Being held to account is not cyberbullying! If anything, her repeated and unasked for missives to you and others are more cyberbullying than the other way around.
Thank you for the lesson in what good journalism should look like. Shame on all the outlets that have given her a platform with the most superficial level of research.
The thing I just cannot get over is that she doesn't seem to have ever used a spellcheck function throughout her entire career. It is so so bizarre. Legal terms, names of business. Nothing escapes her butchering. Such a media professional 😁😬
Haha yes! And while rage typing shes also driving, chain smoking and yelling at someone from nz post on speakerphone about a parcel that contains top secret manuscripts which they left a calling card for which is absolutely unacceptable because dont they know who she is and how important she is and why she couldn't possibly collect her item at the depot.
It's bigger than Wilding though. It's an expose of media outlets who have her on their shows unchecked. Like the Aussie TV breakfast show, who definitely need to have the absolute piss taken out of them, though who'll claim no responsibility. I'm an Aussie who's sick of our tabloid media.
Yeah she certainly games the media. As for what can be done... on some of those breakfast shows, you are just going on good faith. Like - if a guest says they are running a charity and doing an event - you should not have to vet people too strongly on that type of show. You do rely on goodwill a little. It's why I get a bit annoyed at comedians who prank breakfast TV shows with a whacky, fake character. Like - it's just low-hanging fruit!
(But I agree, Australian media - and politics - is largely fucked)
Unfortunately, it's a lot scarier what people can get away with in media, as John Oliver recently pointed out about sponsored content: https://youtu.be/sIi_QS1tdFM
The other unfortunate thing is the drying up of traditional media's revenue streams, which leaves less people doing more work, so either things don't get covered, or aren't covered (aka fact-checked) enough. Both John Oliver (https://youtu.be/bq2_wSsDwkQ) and Hasan Minhaj (https://youtu.be/icNirsV1rLA) have covered this (and probably many others too, I just happen to like my doom and gloom news with a bit of comedy).
Fair enough. Still fascinated by her claim to be a journalist, and yet appears incapable of using basic grammar, punctuation, or even a simple spell-check. I did giggle at what I read as "viscously attacked". Ew. Can't wait for my Napoleon t-shirt to arrive!
There's a particular type of personality that is pathologically driven to have the last word and clearly this person is one of them.
In my experience, this trait goes hand in hand with an inability to let something go/dwelling, and they tend to compulsively rehash situations with anyone who will sit still long enough to hear it when they are in a dark mood or when they're triggered. The only thing I've found to do is cut them off, you can't reason with them.
She would never stop, so I'm glad you've decided to. You'll still hear from her I reckon, every time she hears/reads your name and goes into one of her spirals, and you can just not engage.
This is actually a bit scary. I've known people like Anna my whole life, and in my family. Truth garnishers. They cause enough trouble and drain the life out of others around them. To think what damage they would cause if their behavior was amplified through online channels and then validated by media as hers has been. Frightening. Sad.
Thanks David. Though if I look at them objectively they are incredibly intelligent and balsy, high end manipulation. Too bad these skills are honed for abusing power.
Thanks for your dedication to this bonkers story over the years, David and Dylan! I do understand and respect your decision to put an end to it at this time. It's been fun to follow, sure, but quite alarming at the same time. Certainly it'd be easy to dismiss her as some random delusional nut, but, as you've demonstrated in all your coverage, she can actually cause real harm to good and ethical people. What she does is much more insidious than her bizarre typo-filled rants night imply at first glance. And she just seems like a rotten human, really.
Also it seems unwise to rub bee venom into your face, but hell, what do I know?
I doubt very much that she was allocated a permanent "hard" pass and instead was relying on day passes for access to press functions. The requirements are barely more than airport security - all you need is government ID and (at a minimum) a letter from your employer "verifying" you're a journalist: https://www.state.gov/information-for-journalists
Historically (and more recently) they don't really seem to bother with vetting who gets in, which is pretty interesting in itself:
Yeah fair, the bar for the WHCA does seem a lot higher (the reporting entity needs to be vetted by a congressional standing committee as meritorious), so there's a good chance she's not been on their radar at all.
A part of me is kinda sad that you won’t be writing about Ms. Wilding anymore. She’s nuttier than squirrel shit. The posts about her in Webworm inspired some great comments. But I totally understand why you’ve decided to stop, and it’s for the best for you and maybe Ms. Wilding.
Like Mothy, I have a feeling that she won’t like it that you decided that it’s the end. She’s got to be the one who makes that decision and she won’t because she craves any and all attention, regardless if it’s negative.
It's so weird that this went on long enough that I kinda feel sorry for her. She seems really upset about this series, but she just doubles down and makes herself look more ridiculous. If she would have ignored you it would have gone away. This is probably a good place for this to end, but thank you for covering it all.
Also, any idea how Vincent D'Onofrio even found her one tweet? I am kinda stumped because she seems to typically only get a handful of likes and retweets.
I think he got tagged in it by one of her other followers. It was very strange. He tends to RT a lot of stuff, so don't imagine he was personally invested in it!
I love you both. Even if Anna doesn’t. Can’t wait to see her claims of victory. She’ll be clinking champagne flutes with Vincent D'Onofrio and issuing press releases.
There will definitely be a press release in some form! I wish I was there to witness the toast. Maybe to take part in it. It's my dream for Anna to appear in these comments one day. One day.
Oh. I give it a month before she percieves the lack of you "stalking" and "harassing" her as a slight in itself and she turns up at your door crying and asking "WHY ARE YOU IGNORNING ME DAVID?"
*exhales deeply*
It's your main thing, the breathing deeply
I feel really sad for her. What has happened in her life to make her like this? Or what conditions have gone unmanaged such that she behaves in this way? I guess we'll likely never know.
At the same time, due to the very real financial and mental cost to others of her actions, she very much deserves to be held to account. That's what you and Dylan have been doing.
It also really irks me when people claim cyberbullying when it's really not. It diminishes the suffering of people who have actually been victims of cyberbullying. Being held to account is not cyberbullying! If anything, her repeated and unasked for missives to you and others are more cyberbullying than the other way around.
Thanks for "getting" it, Lisa.
Thank you for the lesson in what good journalism should look like. Shame on all the outlets that have given her a platform with the most superficial level of research.
The thing I just cannot get over is that she doesn't seem to have ever used a spellcheck function throughout her entire career. It is so so bizarre. Legal terms, names of business. Nothing escapes her butchering. Such a media professional 😁😬
Yeah - one of our main points really was the way she gamed the media, to get more and more "things" under her belt.
I picture frenzied, rage typing when I read her writing.
That includes her entire website!
Yes, it’s bizarre! Maybe a touch of mania? Definitely something psychological.
Haha yes! And while rage typing shes also driving, chain smoking and yelling at someone from nz post on speakerphone about a parcel that contains top secret manuscripts which they left a calling card for which is absolutely unacceptable because dont they know who she is and how important she is and why she couldn't possibly collect her item at the depot.
Ha ha my stomach muscles hurt. Also, the parcel will be invariably just addressed to ‘Anna’.
My guess is dyslexia, but she should turn on the spell check, yes.
It's bigger than Wilding though. It's an expose of media outlets who have her on their shows unchecked. Like the Aussie TV breakfast show, who definitely need to have the absolute piss taken out of them, though who'll claim no responsibility. I'm an Aussie who's sick of our tabloid media.
Yeah she certainly games the media. As for what can be done... on some of those breakfast shows, you are just going on good faith. Like - if a guest says they are running a charity and doing an event - you should not have to vet people too strongly on that type of show. You do rely on goodwill a little. It's why I get a bit annoyed at comedians who prank breakfast TV shows with a whacky, fake character. Like - it's just low-hanging fruit!
(But I agree, Australian media - and politics - is largely fucked)
I saw the Found Footage Festival guys do this and it was pretty hilarious 😆
Unfortunately, it's a lot scarier what people can get away with in media, as John Oliver recently pointed out about sponsored content: https://youtu.be/sIi_QS1tdFM
The other unfortunate thing is the drying up of traditional media's revenue streams, which leaves less people doing more work, so either things don't get covered, or aren't covered (aka fact-checked) enough. Both John Oliver (https://youtu.be/bq2_wSsDwkQ) and Hasan Minhaj (https://youtu.be/icNirsV1rLA) have covered this (and probably many others too, I just happen to like my doom and gloom news with a bit of comedy).
I saw that episode and loved it!
Fair enough. Still fascinated by her claim to be a journalist, and yet appears incapable of using basic grammar, punctuation, or even a simple spell-check. I did giggle at what I read as "viscously attacked". Ew. Can't wait for my Napoleon t-shirt to arrive!
There's a particular type of personality that is pathologically driven to have the last word and clearly this person is one of them.
In my experience, this trait goes hand in hand with an inability to let something go/dwelling, and they tend to compulsively rehash situations with anyone who will sit still long enough to hear it when they are in a dark mood or when they're triggered. The only thing I've found to do is cut them off, you can't reason with them.
She would never stop, so I'm glad you've decided to. You'll still hear from her I reckon, every time she hears/reads your name and goes into one of her spirals, and you can just not engage.
Agreed 110%
This is actually a bit scary. I've known people like Anna my whole life, and in my family. Truth garnishers. They cause enough trouble and drain the life out of others around them. To think what damage they would cause if their behavior was amplified through online channels and then validated by media as hers has been. Frightening. Sad.
Sorry this runs in your family. It's a lot of bad energy to be around. Exhausting, as you say.
Thanks David. Though if I look at them objectively they are incredibly intelligent and balsy, high end manipulation. Too bad these skills are honed for abusing power.
"Truth garnishers" lol!
Totally, they have a whole spice rack of deception tactics. It would be kind of impressive if it weren't so icky.
Thanks for your dedication to this bonkers story over the years, David and Dylan! I do understand and respect your decision to put an end to it at this time. It's been fun to follow, sure, but quite alarming at the same time. Certainly it'd be easy to dismiss her as some random delusional nut, but, as you've demonstrated in all your coverage, she can actually cause real harm to good and ethical people. What she does is much more insidious than her bizarre typo-filled rants night imply at first glance. And she just seems like a rotten human, really.
Also it seems unwise to rub bee venom into your face, but hell, what do I know?
Oh and as a woman I find it deeply offensive that she's playing the "you're bad men attacking me because I'm a successful woman!" card.
Yeah, her cards are deeply cynical and annoying!
Tbh i think you're being too kind by labeling it "cynical." It's deliberately manipulative and self-serving.
"she did pass some level of security clearance"
I doubt very much that she was allocated a permanent "hard" pass and instead was relying on day passes for access to press functions. The requirements are barely more than airport security - all you need is government ID and (at a minimum) a letter from your employer "verifying" you're a journalist: https://www.state.gov/information-for-journalists
Historically (and more recently) they don't really seem to bother with vetting who gets in, which is pretty interesting in itself:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/feb/11/usa.suzannegoldenberg
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/09/lego-gamer-infiltrated-white-house-press-480673
I did make various inquiries to The White House and Correspondents Association about her credentials, but never got any details.
Yeah fair, the bar for the WHCA does seem a lot higher (the reporting entity needs to be vetted by a congressional standing committee as meritorious), so there's a good chance she's not been on their radar at all.
It’s the end of an era.
A part of me is kinda sad that you won’t be writing about Ms. Wilding anymore. She’s nuttier than squirrel shit. The posts about her in Webworm inspired some great comments. But I totally understand why you’ve decided to stop, and it’s for the best for you and maybe Ms. Wilding.
Like Mothy, I have a feeling that she won’t like it that you decided that it’s the end. She’s got to be the one who makes that decision and she won’t because she craves any and all attention, regardless if it’s negative.
#RestoreAnnasWiki
#StoptheStalkDavid
She deleted her own Wikipedia page. It's on her website.
It seems like it was reviewed and deleted via the wikipedia process : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Anna_Wilding_(2nd_nomination). This is something that I've noticed with Anna's claims - best if they aren't taken at face value....
Oh well, at least it seems like maybe she's not fighting it this time?
Oh, she'll be fighting alright!
I have a feeling this isn’t the end purely because she won’t like the idea of you deciding it’s the end.
On a far more positive note my webworm subscription renews on Thursday. Year 2! What a ride. Thanks for driving.
It's so weird that this went on long enough that I kinda feel sorry for her. She seems really upset about this series, but she just doubles down and makes herself look more ridiculous. If she would have ignored you it would have gone away. This is probably a good place for this to end, but thank you for covering it all.
Also, any idea how Vincent D'Onofrio even found her one tweet? I am kinda stumped because she seems to typically only get a handful of likes and retweets.
I think he got tagged in it by one of her other followers. It was very strange. He tends to RT a lot of stuff, so don't imagine he was personally invested in it!
I love you both. Even if Anna doesn’t. Can’t wait to see her claims of victory. She’ll be clinking champagne flutes with Vincent D'Onofrio and issuing press releases.
There will definitely be a press release in some form! I wish I was there to witness the toast. Maybe to take part in it. It's my dream for Anna to appear in these comments one day. One day.
Oh. I give it a month before she percieves the lack of you "stalking" and "harassing" her as a slight in itself and she turns up at your door crying and asking "WHY ARE YOU IGNORNING ME DAVID?"
Sometimes I forget that she is also in America. In LA, I think. I am much closer to her than when I started writing this series!
I look forward to reading ‘The Pretender VI’.
My guess is Anna’s ego needs someone to feel persecuted by and fight against and that she won’t want you to go so easily. Creepy I know.
NOOOOOOOO!
Good on you for walking away this 'drama'. I really hope she can do the same...
Same. Cheers.