Investment News: What are Marketwatch readers thinking now?

An editorial in the latest issue of Investment News wonders whether readers of business news web site Marketwatch can trust its content in the wake of it allowing tech columnist Bambi Francisco to continue covering the industry when she was also starting her own tech company.

Investment News wrote, “In the name of editorial integrity, Ms. Francisco and her bosses never should have allowed themselves to be placed in such a precarious situation. She should have been removed from the Silicon Valley beat, which could have eliminated any and all conflicts of interest.

“Meanwhile, the corporate speak was delivered by L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and executive vice president of Dow Jones.

“‘Dow Jones demands the highest journalism standards at our own publications and services, as reflected by our strict code of conduct,’ he said in a prepared statement. ‘Our MarketWatch reporter Bambi Francisco started vator.tv on her own time with our approval, under certain guidelines on permitted areas of coverage. Bambi has decided to pursue her enterprise full time.’

“Let’s hope that MarketWatch executives learned a lesson and in the future will enforce the ‘strict code of conduct’ it sets.

“Readers need to have a comfort level in that what they are reading is fair, accurate and, above all, objective. Nothing less should be expected.”

Read more here.