Confronting the Buffett-Loomis question

The July 10 issue of Fortune magazine has Warren Buffett on the cover, and inside there is a Q&A interview with the billionaire done with legendary business reporter Carol Loomis, whose friendship with Buffett dates back to 1966.

The relationship has caused rumblings within some business journalism circles, and I asked Loomis about this back in September. She replied: “I’m sure there are people who think it’s a conflict of interest. I have written about Warren only a few times, and I have said he’s a friend and that I own stock in Berkshire. We’ve handled it very up and above board, and I think in a commendable way. I think that people sometimes forget that it’s supposed to be a good thing for people to have a source. So I feel very good about the way that we’ve handled that.”

In an editor’s note in the current issue, Fortune managing editor Eric Pooley addressed the relationship. He wrote, “To avoid the appearance of conflict, Carol didn’t write major articles about her friend except in the case of truly important stories that couldn’t be told as well by those who lacked her deep knowledge of Buffett. The cover story of this issue is the fifth such article to have appeared in 40 years. Fittingly, it is a conversation — a wide-ranging Q&A imbued with the intelligence, experience, and humor of both parties. Not that the writer went easy on her subject. From the first question Burrett was reminded of something so many other business leaders have learned over the years: Carol Loomis doesn’t pull any punches.”