TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, in an interview with Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson, defends his investing in companies in which his site covers and says a bigger ethical issue is the friendships that many who cover the tech industry have.
Here is an excerpt of what Arrington said:
“I just don’t care anymore about what the tech press thinks about the fact that I invest.
“I read an article this morning. It was saying [all this worry about investments being a conflict of interest is] kind of ridiculous because this is actually one of the smallest conflicts that tech journalists really have, but it’s one that people really freak out about.
“It talked about [how] friendship conflicts are the real issue. And they are. We all have our friendships and the people who have done right by us. And I’ve written about this before, that’s the real issue and there’s not much you can do besides trying to be an educated reader.”
Read more here.
