Porn star breaks back in San Diego convention gladiator pit

What Twitches stays in San Diego

It’s been said that San Diego media protects conventions here from getting bad ink, so it was the New York Post, the Manhattan tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, that covered the story of a porn star’s painful plunge on the first weekend of October into a foam pit sponsored by computer maker Lenovo at a gathering here called TwitchCon.

“The convention is organized by Twitch Interactive and focuses on the general culture of live streaming and video gaming,” according to Wikipedia. “TwitchCon also serves as an opportunity for streamers and creators to improve their stream quality and grow their brand.” But promotion turned to near disaster when porn star and Twitch streamer Adriana Chechik put down her keyboard and picked up an air-filled pole to engage in some jousting before being toppled into a real-world arena.

“Well, I broke my back in two places and am getting surgery to put a meter rod in for support today,” The Post quoted Chechik as tweeting. “Send your support. When it rains it pours, and I am definitely feeling the rain right now. Special shout out to the random off-work EMT who got the workers at the booth to realize how bad I was injured and to make them keep me still and calm me down until others got there. [You really] kept me from crying badly.”

Washington Post reporter Nathan Grayson, who covers Twitch, live-streaming and digital culture, and has a BA in New Media Journalism from Austin College according to the paper’s website, reported on Twitter after the incident that “the foam pit is now closed. They shut it down at noon bc people were breaking rules (and bones).” “We are aware of the incidents of TwitchCon visitors who sustained injuries in the gladiator game soft foam pit at the Lenovo booth,” a spokesperson for the company told NBC News in a later statement. “The area has since been closed for any further use while we work with event organizers to look into the incidents.”

San Diego’s big news drain

Wendy Fry, the prize-winning Border and Baja California reporter at the Union-Tribune, has announced on Twitter she is moving on. “So, I think the cat’s sort of out-of-the-bag here, so I’ll go ahead and announce that this will be my last week at the  @sdut, which has been an amazing experience for me.” says Fry’s October 8 post on Twitter. “I’m thrilled to be joining the California Divide team at @CalMatters, reporting from here in San Diego.” No word yet on a replacement. “CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality-of-life issues while holding our leaders accountable,” says the group’s website.

“We are the only journalism outlet dedicated to covering America’s biggest state, 39 million Californians and the world’s fifth largest economy.” As online start-ups continue to proliferate, worries are growing that traditional dailies such as the Union-Tribune, owned by Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, won’t be able to keep up with the host of blandishments made to reporters who jump ship.

Another of the U-T’s high-profile departed staffers, black columnist Charles T. Clark, is now in law school at the University of Michigan, per his Twitter profile, and U-T digital creative director Beto Alvarez has moved up the Los Angeles Times, also owned by Soon-Shiong, to become deputy editor on the News Desk, the paper announced.

Facebook politics

Sheryl Sandberg, until the beginning of this month Chief Operating Officer of Meta, formerly Facebook, kicked in $10,000 on October 7 to the Prop 1 pro-abortion committee run by ex-San Diego city council Democrat and California state Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins. That was far less than the $3 million Sandberg gave the American Civil Liberties Union on October 4 for abortion rights advocacy, as reported by Politico. Meanwhile, Sandberg, facing “continuing threats to her safety,” is getting her security detail paid for by Meta through next year, according to a Reuters report of September 30. “The company, however, did not elaborate on the threats that Sandberg, one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley, faces,” per the story.

“Sandberg, a close associate of Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, said in June she would depart the social media giant after a 14-year stint when she led the company’s often-criticized ads-based business model. Under Sandberg, the company was also buffeted by revelations in 2018 that U.K. consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its U.S. users to target election advertising.” According to the website Engadget, “It is not unusual for Facebook to invest heavily on personal security for its top executives. In 2020, the company reportedly spent $23.4 million in 2020 to protect CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However, the board’s announcement on Friday comes days after Meta was reported to have suspended all hiring, with a warning of possible layoffs on the way, making for some potentially awkward optics.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

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