Disclosures in business journalism

Here are some disclosures about potential conflicts of interest that have appeared in or after business news stories in recent weeks:

1. Story on Dow Jones Newswires about MySpace: MySpace is owned by News Corp., which also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswires and the Wall Street Journal.

2. Biotech writer Adam Feuerstein: Adam Feuerstein writes regularly for TheStreet.com. In keeping with TSC’s editorial policy, he doesn’t own or short individual stocks, although he owns stock in TheStreet.com. He also doesn’t invest in hedge funds or other private investment partnerships.

3. SmartMoney’s Jim Stewart: Based on GM’s sales from the past four quarters, a $40 billion market value gives a price-to-sales ratio of 0.3, compared with 0.4 for Ford (whose shares I own and have previously recommended), 0.5 for Toyota and 0.6 for Honda.

4. Fortune’s Carol Loomis: Disclosure: Carol Loomis is a long-time friend of Warren Buffett’s and a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder.

5. London market’s roundup on Marketwatch.com: News Corp., which owns around 39% of BSkyB, is the parent company of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

6. Thom Calandra of Stockhouse.com: I know about Endeavour Silver’s growth because I have been to its primary silver mine in Guanajuato and I own the shares (the only company in this article whose shares I own).

I looked for the last one specifically because Calandra, while working for Marketwatch.com earlier this decade, failed to disclose that he held positions in stocks that he was writing about in a positive fashion and was selling them shortly after publication. He settled with the SEC in January 2005, agreeing to pay more than $540,000 in penalties.