Wired is running a very interesting article about Michael Arrington, owner, writer, editor and undisputed king of TechCrunch.
Wired piece runs quickly through Arrington’s professional career and outlines his successes, failures and his disposition as an entrepreneur/blogger. Particular attention is given to the conflict which arises when, after you’ve invested in a company, you also review it on your blog, which happens to be one of the most followed on the web about startup and everything web2.0.
The article presents Arrington answer to such allegations:
Arrington doesn’t observe any such boundaries. He’s better today at disclosing his conflicts than he was when he first started TechCrunch, but he’ll tell you that it is exactly those conflicts — and his refusal to pull punches in spite of them — that give him his competitive advantage. “One of my friends, Tom Ball, is mad at me because I just trashed his startup, Jigsaw. He’ll get over it — I hope,” Arrington says. “I’m an investor in a company called Daylife, and I shredded them.” He’s also happy to use his friends as sources. “When I broke the YouTube story, it’s only because I was online at 2 am, and a friend told me about it.”
Quite right, I remember him (Arrington) trashing on TechCrunch more than one company he’s involved with. I agree with him, so long as said conflict is out in the open and every reader is aware that you may not be entirely objective in your review there’s nothing preventing your opinion from being as credible and qualified as anybody elses.
TechCrunch is an excellent blog, constantly updated with juicy news and insightful article and reviews. I read it every day, or at least I try, and can’t imagine how I’d get all the information I need to waste half of my day with incoherent and garbled musings without it/him.
One last point, something I’ve always been fighting with. I’d like blogs, bloggers, journalist, everyone who’s in charge of giving me news or opinions about something to be completely independent from the industry. Arrington and TechCrunch so far have been undeniably fair in their articles, but when you start building a business, get PR people involved, your neutrality goes down the drain and your allegiance goes to the highest bidder.
I hope TechCrunch stays exactly the way it is and doesn’t follow CNET down the big fat corporation road. The personal touch in all articles is essential and once your interests as an entrepreneur really start clashing with your fairness as a reviewer you’ll lose your credibility, which is everything to a blogger.
Having said that, to mimic Wallstrip, I’d say Long on TechCrunch.
