Mediaite Reality Check: Clean. Examiner‘s Grindr Expose Misses Gay Hook-Up Mark
The saucy news ladies on Arizona Examiner’s Yeas and Nays column performed a tiny bit Grindr experiment and found the Pentagon and White quarters comprise stuffed with dudes seeking to “meet” some other dudes. Grindr, for uninitiated, is a GPS-based application your iPhone and Blackberry which allows gay dudes to get some other homosexual guys during the neighborhood simply by starting the application and permitting the GPS restrict the options.
The Examiner’s Nikki Schwab and Tara Palmeri fired-up Grindr at stores across Washington–the Capitol, the light home yard, the light Household press room, therefore the Pentagon–to observe how lots of guys they could look for searching for a tiny bit, well, business. Looks like D.C. positions 14th internationally for the number of Grindr people.
There are pages and pages of males on Capitol Hill. Merely outside the home gallery, we had been 393 legs from a stylish 27-year-old Georgetown grad. In the light Household grass, merely 17 gay boys are inside our reach, but as soon as in the press briefing place, the applying identified additional choice.
About Pentagon reasons, the product provided a number of pages of offered homosexual boys.
That may be difficulty for armed forces staff within the building — although the residence voted a week ago to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” it is nonetheless getting enforced.
Not right after the clip was upwards, a journalist friend–who is a bit concerning a military chaser–texted me saying, 
“I call BS. There’s no way there’s many dudes on Grindr on Pentagon.”
The drawback in “several content of readily available people” outcome had been that Grindr offers guys who happen to be within varying ranges out of your location. Moreover it doesn’t identify on a map, but rather states just how may ft or miles somebody was.
“Trust me,” my pal stated, whom requested getting unknown caused by their embarrassment over creating such an expansive knowledge of Grindr, “I’ve become close to the Pentagon and people dudes aren’t army.”
Inside service of news media, I activated Grindr and made a decision to try it out for my self. Since I have live nearby the Pentagon, I drove right down to the Pentagon parking area following examined who was simply shopping whom.
The effect: there are a great number of men. But few of are usually probably inside the Pentagon.
Here’s the challenge: The Pentagon is within a densely stuffed neighborhood in which within 3,000 GPS foot there was a Shopping Mall, at the very least 10 high-rise house houses and condos, and a big number of places and workplaces.
As my pal expected, when you visited regarding person’s picture as it happens these people were 3,000 base out. That implies they’ve been as likely to be a sales clerk at Abercrombie & Fitch because they’re an Army policeman interested in somewhat do not ask, don’t inform actions.
One of many ten nearest individuals myself from inside the parking lot ended up being anyone who has waited on myself at Starbucks. Plus 13th room is some guy I respected from my personal neighborhood, and then he definitely wasn’t military.
Whenever I got closer to your local Costco, the group on Grindr scarcely moved. Unfortuitously, that means the chap utilizing the puppy labels on their nude pecs might be purchasing wheels and 40 moves of toilet paper.
Also, the Pentagon is notorious in order to have lousy cell-phone insurance coverage within the building. That’s exactly why you discover men and women talking on their mobile phones outside of the building. How reliable can GPS end up being in the event the can not even see cellular insurance coverage?