Arrington now officially out

Am I one of the few who thinks that Arrington &#38; TechCrunch are a problem in the startup world today?<p>The reason TC gets the scoops is in part because they strong-arm startups by not writing about them if they don't provide an exclusive. Now, granted they get a lot of scoops about major companies which is quite impressive - but honestly, that's not very insightful, just juicy bits of info that we like to read about.<p>Most startups that TC 'scoops' tend to be "social mobile local" startups that generate buzz - there are a lot of successful startups in decidedly non-sexy areas that are quite profitable, which never get covered because they don't get the same page views that say, Color's $40 million investment does.<p>I think Arrington &#38; TC actively hurt the startup community by providing a narrow world-view. Sites like GigaOM &#38; Ars Technica provide thoughtful, indepth analysis of the technology scene , while TechCrunch continues to post opinionated, linkbait pieces.<p>Am I the only one who feels that TechCrunch is the startup world's Jersey Shore? Just because you get a lot of views doesn't mean that your content is valuable or useful in any way.

I can remember the post that finally pushed me to unsubscribe from TechCrunch: <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/why-we-often-blindside-companies/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/why-we-often-blindside-comp...</a>. It's by Michael Arrington, and it's one step short of a hatchet job on Caterina Fake. It's not the only dirty laundry airing I've seen on TechCrunch, it's just the most fetid.<p>I liked TechCrunch when it primarily carried the underdog and captured the optimism and energy of the valley. Whenever Michael Arrington used it as a soapbox to air dirty laundry, it made me uncomfortable.<p>To the future leaders of TechCrunch: Less ValleyWag, more GigaOM.

Can someone summarize the controversy for me?<p>As I understand it, Arrington wanted to head a new VC while at the same continuing to serve as head of TechCrunch, the major journalistic outlet in the startup field. AOL raised questions about his journalistic integrity, and made him choose between being a VC and being a journalist, and he gave them an ultimatum, they called his bluff, and he chose VC.<p>Did I miss a detail or nuance that makes this anything other than AOL holding up traditional journalistic virtues?

One thing all the coverage of this has missed is that Arrington's leaving doesn't really fix this conflict of interest.<p>Two critical points:<p>1) Crunchfund is funded by AOL. 2) Techcrunch is owned by AOL.<p>Yes Arrington being in-charge of both was a conflict of interest, but the fact is that even after Arrington's resignation/firing, AOL is still in charge of both.

<i>Erick Schonfeld has been named the editor of TechCrunch. TechCrunch will be expanding its editorial leadership in the coming months.</i><p>This makes me somewhat skeptical about how much autonomy Erick will be given in the long run. Unless they mean the expanded editorial leadership would ultimately answer to him.

Arrington leaving will create a void in technology news-covering. Say what you want, but he's had terrific scoops, amazing interviews, and elevated the status of startups in the press.<p>But what do you expect from Arianna and AOL?<p>He'll have a pretty personal personal blog - something like AVC - and I look forward to him bringing his expertise and style to investing. Good times.

Here is Arrington's announcement at Disrupt: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFARI6oBv8c" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFARI6oBv8c</a>

This is good news. Erick is a great reporter without all the conflicts of Arrington.

Arrington launches a ThisIsMyNext-style competing blog in 3, 2, ...

Kind of predictable. There is no way he could be a "serious startup journalist" while working as a VC. While at first AOL seemed to be the "big evil corp.", it now seems to me that this is a simple journalistic principle that should be held and valued highly. As such, I applaud AOL to sticking to this principle. It's simply the right decision. And if Arrington did a good job and laid all the groundwork (and AOL doesn't mess up), techcrunch will keep on going as it has..

Oh my Gaahd! I like totally can't wait to buy Arrington's next startup... the transition will be so seamless... he'll help preserve and expand value during the transition and afterwards...<p>well, on second thought, maybe not...

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