November 1st, 2006
Note to Mike Arrington: Thick skin is your only defense
Methinks Mike Arrington protests too much. He gets his information like a VC, offering whuffie and sometimes cash investments to sources, which means that he gets some scoops because people talk to him for a variety of reasons, not just the factMike, get some reporters who are charged specifically with raising awkward questions about your portfolio companies. he is a publisher. The "traditional media" doesn't "hate" him for that. He should stop complaining about everyone who raises questions about his ethics and just deal with the questions. He writes today:
I don’t know what else to say - none of this is going to change. Some people seem to think that I either need to shut down TechCrunch, or stop investing. Here’s my answer: No.
Then learn to live with the critics. Plenty of people have existed on the border between reporting and entrepreneurialism. I'm one of them and, believe me, it's nothing special anymore—the rules are well understood, despite Mike Arrington's claims he pioneered the blurring of ethical lines.
The ethical fact is that Arrington should be insulating his reporting from the conflicts. Simple disclosure is fine when you generally avoid writing about the companies you profit from, but it doesn't go far enough when every day is a potential PR coup for a portfolio company. Create a blog for your investment-related promotional writing. Call it TechBucks
One does not get to redefine ethics and tell everyone to shut up. Mike, get some reporters who are charged specifically with raising awkward questions about your portfolio companies. Create the problem for yourself and a lot of the external problems will go away. But quit complaining that people are raising questions. That comes with the territory.
[As a matter of practical disclosure: The author is a paid advisor to Audible Inc., co-founder and major shareholder in BuzzLogic, on the advisory boards of Socialtext and iVideoTunes, and an advisor to Volitional Partners, as well as cofounder of something new no one knows about yet. I also write market research for The Kelsey Group in markets where I have no investments. My complete current and past disclosures are here.]
Mitch Ratcliffe is a veteran journalist, media executive and entrepreneur. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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