This is so much fun. It seems that we now have a fight between two divas -- Arrington and Huffington. It is one of those fights where you do not care who wins, you just hope for lots of bloodshed. It's like a Raiders Broncos game!
So Mike Arrington makes a stand for editorial independence. Now for those of you new to this whole discussion, we should note that Mike editorial independence Arrington started this whole brouhaha by the obvious and blatant conflicts of interest he got himself in. Namely he was investing in companies he covers and now is starting a fund that would seem to be dedicated to investing in companies he covers.
After the ny times called him out on the conflict, it was obvious that TechCrunch's claim of it being an independent news source would be utterly laughable. And that probably prompted Ariana to make her move.
And now Arrington is making a bold stand by resigning in the name of "editorial independence". Probably he did not have a choice but to resign, not because of editorial independence from Ariana Huffington, but because of editorial independence from his own conflicts of interest. But by making this stand he very cleverly tried to divert the attention from his own fuckups and poison the waters for whoever Ariana tries to appoint to lead TechCrunch.
Now I would like to say I am not on Ariana's side. I wanted to point out the blatant hypocracy of Arringrton, but Ariana's career is so full of double dealing and questionable behavior that I doubt TechCrunch would be better with her. Like I said, it is the Raiders playing the Broncos, and I am not choosing sides just enjoying the violence.
Arrington: I'm going to start raising a fund, with the Crunch name and telling investors they'll get privileged access to TechCrunch and covered companies.
Ariana: Pffth! GTFO!
Arrington: Editorial independence! Help, help, I'm being repressed!
This from the guy who's started thumbing his nose at AOL the day they bought his company. Even started a feud with Engadget accusing them of some underhanded BS that ended when AOL had Arrington's back and most of the Engadget team quit.
AOL keeps outdoing itself in its search for the most annoying new media personalities to bless with a cashout and one-way trip to oblivion (Calacanis, Huffington, Harrington). And they keep laughing all the way to the bank.
The conflict of interest is a total red herring. Arrington has always disclosed much more than most. If you think it's not, you don't know how the (tech) news industry works.
The news business is always inherently conflicted. In the old days Tony Perkins ran Red Herring and his father was the Perkins in Kleiner Perkins.
A journalist is always getting spin from insiders, and then has to write the story that's true and complete, that engages readers. You're always making a deal with the source, I'll help you get your side out, if you help me get the story closer to the truth. Debunking spin is generally not a way to keep your sources talking to you first, or writing what readers and advertisers want.
That being said, I don't see how you can be a VC, on the board of companies and privy to all their inside dope, and at the same time be a journalist whose job is ferreting out the inside dope from everybody else (including possibly competition) and sharing it with the world and passing judgment on them.
You can't be an insider and an outsider at the same time. You can be a VC, with fiduciary duties impacting your own and your investors' wealth, or a journalist, whose duty is to inform readers as much as possible, but not both.
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This is so much fun. It seems that we now have a fight between two divas -- Arrington and Huffington. It is one of those fights where you do not care who wins, you just hope for lots of bloodshed. It's like a Raiders Broncos game!
So Mike Arrington makes a stand for editorial independence. Now for those of you new to this whole discussion, we should note that Mike editorial independence Arrington started this whole brouhaha by the obvious and blatant conflicts of interest he got himself in. Namely he was investing in companies he covers and now is starting a fund that would seem to be dedicated to investing in companies he covers.
After the ny times called him out on the conflict, it was obvious that TechCrunch's claim of it being an independent news source would be utterly laughable. And that probably prompted Ariana to make her move.
And now Arrington is making a bold stand by resigning in the name of "editorial independence". Probably he did not have a choice but to resign, not because of editorial independence from Ariana Huffington, but because of editorial independence from his own conflicts of interest. But by making this stand he very cleverly tried to divert the attention from his own fuckups and poison the waters for whoever Ariana tries to appoint to lead TechCrunch.
Now I would like to say I am not on Ariana's side. I wanted to point out the blatant hypocracy of Arringrton, but Ariana's career is so full of double dealing and questionable behavior that I doubt TechCrunch would be better with her. Like I said, it is the Raiders playing the Broncos, and I am not choosing sides just enjoying the violence.
ha!
Arrington: I'm going to start raising a fund, with the Crunch name and telling investors they'll get privileged access to TechCrunch and covered companies.
Ariana: Pffth! GTFO!
Arrington: Editorial independence! Help, help, I'm being repressed!
This from the guy who's started thumbing his nose at AOL the day they bought his company. Even started a feud with Engadget accusing them of some underhanded BS that ended when AOL had Arrington's back and most of the Engadget team quit.
AOL keeps outdoing itself in its search for the most annoying new media personalities to bless with a cashout and one-way trip to oblivion (Calacanis, Huffington, Harrington). And they keep laughing all the way to the bank.
It is one of those fights where you do not care who wins, you just hope for lots of bloodshed.
This reminds me of Henry Kissinger's realpolitik comment on the Iran-Iraq War of the early 1980s: "Pity they can't both lose."
Now I would like to say I am not on Ariana's side. I wanted to point out the blatant hypocracy of Arringrton
Anyone who knows a fair bit history around Techcrunch would assume this by default.
The conflict of interest is a total red herring. Arrington has always disclosed much more than most. If you think it's not, you don't know how the (tech) news industry works.
The news business is always inherently conflicted. In the old days Tony Perkins ran Red Herring and his father was the Perkins in Kleiner Perkins.
A journalist is always getting spin from insiders, and then has to write the story that's true and complete, that engages readers. You're always making a deal with the source, I'll help you get your side out, if you help me get the story closer to the truth. Debunking spin is generally not a way to keep your sources talking to you first, or writing what readers and advertisers want.
That being said, I don't see how you can be a VC, on the board of companies and privy to all their inside dope, and at the same time be a journalist whose job is ferreting out the inside dope from everybody else (including possibly competition) and sharing it with the world and passing judgment on them.
You can't be an insider and an outsider at the same time. You can be a VC, with fiduciary duties impacting your own and your investors' wealth, or a journalist, whose duty is to inform readers as much as possible, but not both.