DISQUS

Thomas · 2 years ago

Matt,
It's not whether or not the stories are legitimate stories or if she used sweat equity, it's whether she violated the ethics policy. Or maybe you think ethics policies are just a bunch of b.s. that can be ignored at will?
What if she has been taking equity stakes or other compensation in return for promotion of these start ups to investors? When she writes about them on MarketWatch, that would pretty clearly be a significant violation of ethics rules and maybe laws. If she didn't take any compensation, then what exactly was Vator's biz model?

Matt Marshall · 2 years ago

Thomas, as mentioned, my understanding was that there was an exception in the "ethics policy" made at Marketwatch for when companies involved were "significant" enough to be written about in their own right, and Powerset, etc, fall into this category. That's why I said the WSJ/Zdnet stories were incomplete. She was writing about tons of tiny start-ups, and at some point there was going to be some connection, and both sides (Bambi and Marketwatch) should have been much clearer with disclosure about all this. Indeed, Marketwatch's memo to the WSJ folks was limited to this bizarre reference to an "investment" when in fact it was Bambi's own company. If anything, this debacle will force clarity, which is a good thing.

Elliott Dahan · 2 years ago

this is the proper way to handle Conflicts of Interest –

LA Times Cancels Guest Editor Program
Tuesday March 27, 11:33 am ET

Los Angeles Times Drops Fledgling Guest Editor Program

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Times said Tuesday it is scrapping its program of selecting prominent people to occasionally oversee the Sunday opinion section, days after it canceled the debut section over concerns about a conflict of interest.

Publisher David D. Hiller said the guest editor project had become a distraction.
"We don't need all these questions when we have so many features of value to deliver our readers," he said.

The Times' editorial page editor, Andres Martinez, had arranged for Hollywood producer Brian Grazer to be the first guest editor. The publisher canceled that plan after learning Martinez dated a publicist for Grazer. Hiller said he believed Grazer was chosen for his own merit, but he said he wanted to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

Martinez resigned after that decision, saying his credibility had been undermined. He and the publicist have denied she had any improper influence on the newspaper's editorial pages.
Martinez had also offered guest editing slots to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Hiller also announced he was appointing the Times' reader representative, Jamie Gold, to review past opinion-editorial decisions to determine whether content was improperly influenced by personal or professional connections.

Grazer runs Imagine Entertainment Inc. with Ron Howard. They won the best picture Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind."

The Los Angeles Times is owned by Tribune Co.


The conclusion then is - Conflict of Interest is conflict of interest when you start having conflicts of interest – not when you get caught.

Makeitbigbig · 2 years ago

church vs state--you gotta decide..bambi made mistakes, changes are it will end up great..her roomate peter thiel happy to give her another $1M from his facebook invest

jimmy · 2 years ago

bambi is one of the most ethical reporters in the industry and it's unfortunate that cnet and a few other publications wrote articles that didn't have all the facts straight. it's unclear to me how she benefited from writing about a few startups. i mean who can be an internet journalist and not write about high profile private companies such as facebook, linked in, etc.

Rachel Cohen · 2 years ago

A reporter has a company that shows video pitches from other companies seeking funding--and you don't see a conflict of interest? She reported on her business partner--who was next up for some special Marketwatch attention?

David H. Deans · 2 years ago

Matt, perhaps David Calloway, the editor-in-chief, should explain how he was able to convince Dow Jones to make an exception of this particular conflict of interest.

Here's an excerpt from the Dow Jones 'code of conduct' that was amended to help avoid 'gray areas' of interpretation. So, how did Callaway find flexibility within this clear policy?

"The central premise of this code is that Dow Jones' reputation for quality products and services, for business integrity, and for the independence and integrity of our publications, services and products is the heart and soul of our enterprise. Put another way, it is an essential prerequisite for success in the news and information business that our customers believe us to be telling them the truth. If we are not telling them the truth -- or even if they, for any valid reason, believe that we
are not -- then Dow Jones cannot prosper. The Company will suffer, for example, if our customers cannot assume that:

- Our facts are accurate and fairly presented;

- Our analyses represent our best independent judgments rather than our preferences, or those of our sources, advertisers or information providers;

- Our opinions represent only our own editorial philosophies; or

- There are no hidden agendas in any of our journalistic undertakings."

Wing Yu · 2 years ago

Matt,
Do you own equity in any company, private or public, other than VentureBeat?

Sharesleuth.com consistently finishes each article with a disclaimer of equity ownership by its editor and investor. For example, http://sharesleuth.com/2007/02/utek_update_1.ht...

Homer Fink · 2 years ago

Plain and simple: If your name is Bambi, you must change it.

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