Rewriting ethics rules for the new media

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In the story, she mentioned that Thiel was joining Powerset's board of directors, but Francisco doesn't disclose her business relationship with Thiel.

In her defense, Francisco said that Thiel is on the board of many companies and that she wouldn't be able to write at all if she were barred from covering them. "I've known (Powerset's founders) outside of Peter," she said. "I've known (Powerset co-founder Barney Pell) for a while."

Francisco said she has not revealed her relationship with Vator to MarketWatch readers, nor on her personal blog because she was waiting for the company to "truly get off the ground." She said she has not written about any of the companies that have posted business ideas to Vator and that she would never give Thiel or his companies favorable treatment.

Francisco added that "old-media rules" are still important but that there has "always been a problem with judging objectivity."

On December 21, Francisco also wrote about LinkedIn, a social-networking company in which Thiel was an angel investor. She has also written about social-networking site Facebook, of which Thiel is a director. The venture firm he founded, The Founders Fund, is also a Facebook investor.

Michael Arrington

High-profile blogger Michael Arrington, who has received plenty of criticism about conflicts of interest in his tech news blog TechCrunch, said he was surprised by Francisco's deal. (Arrington proudly says his blog is all about "insider information and conflicts of interest" but argues that it's acceptable because he discloses his investments on his site.)

"Why would you give stock to a journalist?" Arrington asked. "Put it this way: I've stopped accepting jobs as an adviser for companies. These companies don't want me to be an adviser. They don't need me advising them. What they want is coverage on TechCrunch."

The issue, said Poynter's Steele, comes down to credibility and whether journalists surrender it by entering business agreements with people or companies they may have to cover.

"People practicing journalism, be it a newspaper or Web site, should adhere to the practice of independence," he said. "Journalists should have no competing loyalties."

Of course, one doesn't have to look hard to find signs that high-minded standards and practices haven't saved big media companies from questionable conduct by reporters in recent months.

Jim Cramer

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC show Mad Money, recently offered a quick tutorial on cheating the stock market, which included leaking false rumors to the press, during a recent video interview on financial news site TheStreet.com.

CNBC news anchor Maria Bartiromo caused a furor earlier this year when it was revealed that she accepted a free ride to China on Citigroup's private jet. Despite the acknowledgement of CNBC executives that they approved the trip, Bartiromo's ability to fairly cover Citigroup or its competitors was questioned.

Amanda Congdon

ABC's Congdon hardly acted like a journalist caught with her hand in the cookie jar when asked about her work for DuPont. "I am not subject to the rules traditional journalists have to follow," she wrote on her blog. ABC editors fobbed off the issue, saying that since Congdon was technically a contractor, she wasn't held to the strict conflict-of-interest standards of other ABC reporters.

But for all the hand-wringing, do readers care?

"Part of fairness involves disclosure of the relationships between the reporter and the reported, particularly if payment in money or influence is involved," said Craig Newmark, founder of online-classifieds powerhouse Craigslist and the member of an investment group that's starting a news aggregation site called DayLife.

"I'd suggest anyone just state it," Newmark said, "and leave judgment to the mass of readers who are smarter than usually credited."

[lucy1985]

Bambi's folly

Any journalist who takes shares/money from a company within the industry that he/she covers should provide full disclosure at the TOP of any story written about that company. Period. That her editor gave his blessing on her sweet little deal is yet another example of the sad state of journalism. Yes, the rules of journalism are changing. But this lame refrain that anyone working online can bypass ethical responsibility to readers is pathetic. Readers should expect more.

[tswright]

How about the mis-led Startups?

How about all the startups and their PR firms which contacted her and she responded telling them to submit a video?
They did so thinking it was helping her learn about their business. However, in actuality the startup was ensuring that Bambi could not would not cover them on CBS.
Moreover, she was sharing all those early business plans with potential competitors as Thiel and others were reviewing the business models.

[trueview]

Ethics?

How odd this 'at the heart of Ethics' story appears right next to Google CNET promotions of new Google business model features....

Why do you promote a company which breaks the law who keeps videos out there which clearly violates the laws of the land? See peekvid.com which contains 1000's of pirated movies Google retains & refuses to delete...... the Google CEO, Larry etc., were directly alerted over 6 months ago, persistently, to take them all down. They do not because they hide behind their interpretation of DMCA laws, and use those motivations and the movies as a lever into business negotiations with content owners? I think it is F1 bad for NEWS.COM to encourage Google. Do you agree with these kind of principles, or NO?

[suyts]

oxymoron

Journalistic integrity? What a hoot.