We're HuffPost reporters and a Congressional candidate in Virginia told us he's a pedophile. AMA.

What's your opinion on editorialised/"click bait" titles and do you believe they have an impact on the average person's view of the world?

I've seen a huge amount of titles that have out of context quotes and it seems like a common theme on Reddit to only read these without actually looking at the article

Edit: question has been answered below

In general, my opinion is that a solidly reported story doesn't need a "clicky" headline. Our headline, for example, is intense because of the news itself, not because of any sinister trickery. But these are conversations we have every day -- we want to make news engaging but not mislead, and I think a lot of news organizations -- including us -- have started to move past the old days of clickbait and SEO first. We like good reporting. -Andy

Are you sure? I don't want to argue but I just kinda browsed your article history on huffpost and there seems to be a large amount of (1) clickbait and (2) headlines that tell you absolutely nothing.

I went to "Trump’s Lawyers Argue The President Is Too Important For State Court" and browsed through it. With regard to this quote: "President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, stood in state Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that Justice Jennifer Schecter didn’t have the authority to push forward a defamation suit brought against the president by sexual harassment accuser Summer Zervos."

why do you have to finish it up with "In other words, Trump is above the law." ? Why not give a little analysis as to the law and how state and federal courts might be different? It seems like you're spinning it into the idea that laws don't apply to the presidency without giving any support to that idea.

What about this headline - "Scenes From A Drunken Huddle Of Angry White Men" ....what is that supposed to convey? A reader literally has no idea what the point of that article is or what it's about...until you click on it.

what about this one - "All The Republicans At Roy Moore’s Party Had The Same Reaction"

there might be more, I only did a quick run through.

but could you care to explain as to why these articles and their contents don't amount to clicky headlines but are instead solidly reported stories?

Well, I'm not perfect! Again, we have these conversations every day, and try to balance making headlines engaging while also providing, you know, news. But hey, I look at headlines like "All The Republicans At Roy Moore’s Party Had The Same Reaction" and I cringe a little bit. To be honest, it's a crap headline! If I had another shot today, I wouldn't run that again. But this is a daily process, and each of our stories is scrutinized. We always try to get better. And I think that the content of each story is just fine. (Also, the "Scenes From A Drunken Huddle Of Angry White Men" is a meh headline, but it was accurate!)

-Andy

You sourced out a fringe candidate who is obviously insane and gave him a national platform to air his views. I wouldn't call that news or responsible journalism. He is as much a candidate as a racist uncle is a primetime pundit.

He's also a pedophile running for office. Racist uncles can also be candidates, and we report on them too! -Andy

Serious question: why is this actually news? He's obviously a vile person, but it's not like he had any chance to win the election - he had already openly stated he was inspired by Hitler. Likewise, he didn't have the backing of any major party (or any party at all).

In other words, is it actually important to report on every crazy person who declares themselves a "Congressional candidate"?

Well, he didn't just declare himself a candidate. He's gained enough signatures to get on the ballot multiple times over the years. So here you have a public figure, running for office and getting votes, and now he's an admitted pedophile. That's huge. It's definitely worth writing up, no matter his chances in an election. -Andy

Anyone can get signatures. The “getting votes” part is what’s at issue here. How many votes has he gotten in previous elections? Your article doesn’t provide that info, and leaves the otherwise uniformed reader to assume he’s a serious candidate.

Last year, for example, he ran in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 31, and secured less than 2 percent of the vote. It's not many votes, to be sure. We think it's important to note that a pedophile is canvassing (knocking on doors!) and running for office. He's not a random person, and he's run multiple times. Whether he's a "serious candidate" is up to the voters.
-Andy

Why do you seem to be attacking this guy while your previous stories and stance on pedophilia was that it is a disorder and that these people are not entirely responsible? What made you change your opinion on pedophilia?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pedophilia-illness-crime_n_5937230.html

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/juliet-grayson/he-is-a-paedophile-but-th_b_12046562.html?guccounter=1

"This brings me to a very important distinction, that not all paedophiles are child molesters. "

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-kevin-spacey-perpetuated-an-old-stereotype-about_us_59f8725ee4b044942833794d

"Research is beginning to connect pedophilic disorder with neurodevelopmental disorders of the brain, or comorbidity with other mental disorders related to impulse control."

Edit: a lot of people in This thread upset and defending the “it’s a mentL condition or disease mentality

The two articles you provided are a link-out to the New York Times and a blogger in the UK, respectively. The people who wrote them aren't on our staff, and neither are even "reporters" in the sense that they're opinion writers who contributed to the site. Jess and I make calls and write the news, we don't have a hand in the opinion writing/editing process. -Andy

Have you reported this man to the authorities? While he’s served time for the threats he issued, his behavior since has indicated he is likely to commit other crimes if given an opportunity. Also, he’s admitted to raping his wife.

While I’m not a fan of the concept of “thought crime” it would seem prudent to have this man on some kind of watchlist.

So far, we haven't found any evidence of an actual crime. He bragged about sexually assaulting his ex-wife on forums, but it's unclear whether he actually did so beyond fantasizing online (he says he did not). Also, his ex-wife took her own life, so it's also unclear how any charges would be brought against him if it were true.

Hopefully, though, this story leads to more digging on Larson and these communities. We may have even brought some attention to this case from the DA or other authorities. That's yet unclear. -Andy

Why is this being downvoted? You guys have done a remarkable service bringing it to light. Surely some authorities have read it. If the actual authorities thought there were a crime to investigate, they would.

No one is debating this man is repulsive, but there are no thought crimes. And they can't really investigate claims of rape against his ex-wife without her wanting that investigation.

Right. That said, if anyone sees evidence of a crime, by all means, call the authorities! We totally would if we saw clear evidence. Thanks a bunch for your words -Andy

When we called him, he admitted everything.

What was going on in your heads during that call? How much of a roller coaster was it? How did you guys feel after hanging up?

Andy did the call, because we didn't think Nathan Larson would speak openly to a woman. I was in the room feeding questions to Andy on a Google Doc. Impressively, Andy managed to maintain his composure, even when Larson spoke about why adults should be able to have sex with their children. We were both pretty horrified throughout the conversation, but kept it professional. - Jess

What kind of person did you think he was before he brought up the pedophilia thing?

Nathan Larson was pretty open about his adoration of white supremacists (and Hitler), his advocacy for incest, his thoughts that women should be men's "property," and other disturbing views in his campaign manifesto. It's no surprise he secured less than 2 percent of the vote last year when he ran in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 31. -Jess

Are you concerned that "breaking the story" might have given his canadacy way more attention than it would have had? Or that it might actually serve to normalize his views in the public conversation?

These are conversations we've had, for sure. That said, being silent won't make the problem go away, and again, this is a public figure who keeps running for office and has access to thousands of people through his various websites and forums. He's been out canvassing before. So it's important to make note to potential voters that there may be a pedophile knocking on their door. One can only hope that the general voting public does not agree with him. -Andy

So you're saying that if you don't give attention seeking whores attention they won't go away? Seems like the better option isn't to just give the debaucherous whore attention anyway.

I think we all know by now that ignoring candidates just because we don't think they'll win doesn't work!

-Andy

Who is funding him? I have checked websites like FollowTheMoney and OpenSecrets, but there is no information. Are you aware of any of his donors? Is he self-funded? It appears his CPA license is currently expired in Virginia - I looked him up on the VA Board of Accountancy and it says his license expired earlier this year. I'd like to know who, if anyone, is bankrolling this creep.

He will have to list his donors at a later date, the campaign funding deadline hasn't come up yet. He only just got the signatures he needed to join the ballot on May 22. -Andy

Do you feel "congressional candidate" is a misleading title for a person who had absolutely no chance to win (or even compete) in the race? Do you feel like propelling him from a complete unknown to someone with national notoriety was a net win or a net loss for society? Do you feel like he is a danger to children/society?

We called him a "congressional candidate" because he is a congressional candidate, and this isn't his first run for office. This is a man who has been out knocking on doors, and we think people should be aware of his views. In my view, ignoring evil in the world won't make it go away. I think we should know that by now. -Jess

Do you think there’s any chance he’s actually actively participated in what he wrote about online? I’m hoping if he did happen to victimize anyone and they were silenced, this exposure will give them the courage to come forward.

We didn't view any posts explicitly stating that he has engaged in sexual activity with minors, although he did admit to writing posts about raping his ex-wife repeatedly. -Jess

It seems like politics has become more about entertainment and partisanship than about the issues and the real life effects they have. Do you think there's a way that journalists can help address the trivialization of political discourse or do you think this trend will continue with the way cable news networks handle the topics?

Boy, we could talk about cable news and the 24-hour news cycle forever. As a company, we shoot for accuracy and strong reporting over inundation. I think all journalists, on TV or otherwise, should strive for that. But in my personal opinion, it’s essentially impossible to fill out a 24-hour political news program without watering it down some. I think that’s why it’s sometimes hard to watch 24-hour cable news (for me, anyway). Everything seems to be “breaking” all the time, whether the anchor is talking to a solid source or a random political pundit.

That doesn’t answer your question, probably, because I don’t have a great answer. Shoot for reporting over filler! -Andy

What was the tone of the conversation? Did he seem proud or was it more "stating the facts"?

Nathan Larson didn't hesitate to answer any of our questions, and stayed on the phone for at least 15 minutes. He was calm, unabashed, and seemed eager to talk. -Jess

How did you confirm that suiped.org and incelocalypse.today shared IP addresses with his campaign website? What's the process there?

Also, were you tipped off? How does one come to even look to confirm those IP addresses? Amazing reporting I want to know more about!

Thanks! I was actually looking into a separate story on incelocalypse.today, and I wanted to see if it was tied to any other incel forums. There are a few different online tools you can use to check if one website shares an IP address with any others. Incelocalypse.today, as it turned out, was linked to Nathan Larson's campaign page and personal wiki (and suiped.org). So Andy and I started digging, and found some pretty disturbing stuff. We called Larson on Thursday, and he confirmed everything -- and more. -Jess

When was the last time yall wrote news that wasn't complete dogshit?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nathan-larson-congressional-candidate-pedophile_us_5b10916de4b0d5e89e1e4824

-Jess

Why are you giving this no-name fuckwit a platform by publicizing this non-news? He's a no-name wannabe with no party affiliation.

From our response above: Again, this is a public figure who keeps running for office and has access to thousands of people through his various websites and forums. He's been out canvassing before. So it's important to make note to potential voters that there may be a pedophile knocking on their door. One can only hope that the general voting public does not agree with him. -Andy

are most huffpost reporters hate filled unhappy people?

Nope!
-Jess

How does it feel to do intensive reporting just to have a shitty click bait title slapped on your work?

I'd say "Congressional Candidate In Virginia Admits He’s A Pedophile" is an intense headline because the content of our article is intense. And that's the news here: a congressional candidate admitting to pedophilia. -Jess

Huff... I’m Muslim, Transgendered, and align my self being a woman on Tues-Thurs and a Cat the rest of the time while I work at Starbucks. Are you hiring?

For anyone who's interested. here's a list of current openings at HuffPost. -Jess

https://www.oath.com/careers/job-openings?q=&jobDepartment=&jobBrand=huff+post&jobCity=

What're the odds he's trolling you?

We thoroughly investigated this story and uncovered his secret comments in pedophile forums, he didn't come to us. Not to mention that "trolling" reporters by admitting to pedophilia and rape would seem like a bizarre campaign strategy. -Jess

How do you maintain professionalism among such company? If I had someone like that talking to me, I would be filled with complete rage.

When you conduct interviews like this, it’s really all about focus. The first thing we wanted to do was confirm information that we’d gathered about his various sites and usernames, and we didn’t know how long we’d have with him on the phone. Second, we were about to publish some weighty allegations against a candidate, and we needed him to know the gravity of that. We had to make sure the info we had accurately represented this guy. So we repeatedly asked him whether he was a pedophile or just writing about pedophilia, and he repeatedly said “both.”

That said, while we stayed professional and calm, I think we both had our heads in our hands by the end. This was a disturbing phone call to say the least, and someone admitting their predilection for pedophilia and violence against women with such nonchalance is super jarring. Once we had the info we needed, we got off the phone as quickly as possible. -Andy

How did you come across this story initially?

Hey! Jess here. I was actually looking into a separate story on incelocalypse.today, and I wanted to see if it was tied to any other incel forums. Incelocalypse.today, as it turned out, shared an IP address with Nathan Larson's campaign page and personal wiki (and suiped.org). So Andy and I started digging, and we found some pretty disturbing stuff. When we called Larson on Thursday, he confirmed everything -- and more.

How do you keep your cool with someone like him? Reading the article made me gag.

Andy did the call, because we didn't think Nathan Larson would speak openly to a woman. I was in the room feeding questions to Andy on a Google Doc. Impressively, Andy managed to maintain his composure, even when Larson spoke about why adults should be able to have sex with their children. We were both pretty horrified throughout the conversation, but kept it professional. - Jess

Are there any charges pending on him?

Not that we're aware of, at the moment. -Jess

How did you find this guy? The article about matching his ip address sounds really suspect. Does huffpo have a team of people looking at porn and matching up addresses to other websites?

Hey! Jess here. I was actually looking into a separate story on incelocalypse.today, and I wanted to see if it was tied to any other incel forums. Incelocalypse.today, as it turned out, shared an IP address with Nathan Larson's campaign page and personal wiki (and suiped.org). So Andy and I started digging, and we found some pretty disturbing stuff. When we called Larson on Thursday, he confirmed everything -- and more.

How long did it take you both to get where you are today? Im a mass communications student so i’m trying to get other point of views on advice!

Hey there! I graduated from j-school in 2015, got a writing position contract at the U.N., then joined HuffPost as a fellow in 2016 before being hired on as a reporter. If you're interested, here's a list of current openings. -Jess

https://www.oath.com/careers/job-openings?q=&jobDepartment=&jobBrand=huff+post&jobCity=

How did this conversation come about?

Hey! Jess here. I was actually looking into a separate story on incelocalypse.today, and I wanted to see if it was tied to any other incel forums. Incelocalypse.today, as it turned out, shared an IP address with Nathan Larson's campaign page and personal wiki (and suiped.org). So Andy and I started digging, and we found some pretty disturbing stuff. When we called Larson on Thursday, he confirmed everything -- and more.

What led you to this story?

Hey! Jess here. I was actually looking into a separate story on incelocalypse.today, and I wanted to see if it was tied to any other incel forums. Incelocalypse.today, as it turned out, shared an IP address with Nathan Larson's campaign page and personal wiki (and suiped.org). So Andy and I started digging, and we found some pretty disturbing stuff. When we called Larson on Thursday, he confirmed everything -- and more.