Around the Net
'Marketwatch' Columnist Departs In Controversy
- San Jose Mercury News, Monday, April 9, 2007 11:15 AM
Marketwatch Silicon Valley columnist Bambi Francisco resigned from her post last Friday under somewhat mysterious circumstances. The only thing that's certain is the decision comes due
to a Web startup called Vator.tv, a company she created last year that brings together venture capitalists and startups. Critics say this shows that even in the murky world of Web 2.0,
journalists should still be held to a different standard. "I'm afraid you can't be a journalist and a business person," Jerry Ceppos, former executive editor of the San Jose Mercury
News, told his former employer.
A report http://news.com.com/Rewriting+ethics+rules+for+the+new+media/2100-1030_3-6173512.html ) from
CNET outed Francisco for featuring Vator.tv investor Peter Thiel, a hedge fund manager and co-founder of eBay's PayPal, in her columns. She also reportedly covered companies whose videos would appear
on the Vapor.tv site. As part of her agreement with Marketwatch, she had promised not to write about her investors or anyone with ties to her fledgling company. According to the newspaper,
Francisco agreed to leave Marketwatch if a conflict of interest ever emerged.
In her last column http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?column=net+sense), Francisco briefly tells her side of the story. She reveals that Thiel invested less than 5% in the non-revenue-generating company, though she doesn't go into specifics about her departure. Francisco was one of Silicon Valley's most well-known voices, featured regularly here in MediaPost. We wish her well on the new venture.
