TechCrunch Creator/ Blogger to Leave AOL Over Conflict of Interest

Michael Arrington, editor and founder of TechCrunch has parted ways with AOL, owner of the blog. Although AOL and Arrington just joined together last year, the break up seems to stem from a conflict of interest concerning Arrington and his latest business. According to “Tech Blogger Parts With AOL” by Claire Cain Miller of NYtimes.com, Arrington started CrunchFund, “a venture capital fund backed by AOL that invests in start-ups like those that TechCrunch covers”.

The conflict of interest arises from TechCrunch being a very influential tech blog. Arrington would be reviewing companies that he could also choose to invest in or already has invested in. Would he stay impartial in his reviews? This is the kind of question that most journalists seek to avoid but Arrington is a blogger. Some bloggers make it very clear that they are not journalists even if their blog may have more influence than typical media outlets.   As Jeff Jarvis, “director of the interactive journalism program at the City University’s Graduate School of Journalism of New York” is quoted in the article as saying

“There are all sorts of people who don’t call themselves journalists now who traffic in information, as governments put out data, companies put out raw information and people in the course of their business gather and share information… That’s the way Arrington saw TechCrunch”

Phil Ivey Sues Full Tilt Poker, Claims the Site has not Refunded Money to Players

Last month, I wrote about the government seizures of online poker sites. It is illegal to gamble online in the U.S. and it also illegal for any poker site, even based overseas, to allow players to use their bank accounts to play. Many sites, including Full Tilt Poker were accused of creating fake transactions as means to allow people to gamble. A few days after the seizure, the government let the poker sites go up again only as a means for players to get their money. Well, Phil Ivey, one of the most popular and successful professional players, filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker.  The basis of the lawsuit is that other online players have not gotten their money back.

Campaign Against McDonald's to Change Unhealthy Marketing Continues With Letter

The health food revolution is not done with McDonald’s.  “McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald” by Julie Jargon of WallStreetJournal.com reports, “550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald’s Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.” This letter is actually going to be a full-page ad running in major newspapers. The campaign is also asking the company to report it “health footprint” and “the financial impact of fighting various measures like the San Francisco ordinance passed last year that established nutritional standards for kids’ meals that come with toys.”

Fast food companies and food makers are under federal pressure to not market unhealthy food to children. The article reports marketing standards are regulated to children between ages 2 to17. The federal agencies setting these standards: FTC, FDA, CDC, & the USDA.

I grew up at a time when Ronald McDonald was a very prominent mascot, along with the Moon Man (awesome if you know who I’m talking about), and Happy Meal toys were a little more extravagant. But despite growing up in a low-income background, I didn’t eat McDonald's on a consistent basis. Fast food, of any kind, was considered a once-in-a-while meal. Times have changed. People are busier today; families don’t always have time to make meals. Also, food makers and fast food companies are getting very clever with value meals/prices. Despite the minimizing of Ronald McDonald and the retirement of the Moon Man, children are exposed to a lot of unhealthy food.  

MTV's Provocative Investment: Stupid or Smart?

Unless you enjoy teen sex driven shows, you might not know about “Skins”. “Skins” is MTV’s latest late night show. The show is about sex-crazed teens and has a TV-MA rating. While TV-MA means teenagers are not suppose to watch, not many adults have an interest in teen sex lives – but other teens do. It’s pretty obvious the show about teens, not rated for teens, is going to be liked by teens. I haven’t watched the show but I did catch some news on the concerns about the show. I recently read “MTV’s Naked Calculation Gone Bad” by David Carr which talks about the ways the show has crossed the line.

It was previously reported by Brian Stelter in his article “A Racy Show With Teenagers Steps Back From a Boundary” that MTV executives had to question if the show which employs teen actors/actresses crossed the line into child pornography. Both Carr and Stelter reports MTV plans to edit out more scenes in order not to scare advertisers and the public from thinking they promoted such content. Taco Bell withdrew their advertising from the show but there hasn’t been a complete advertising boycott from the show. Carr reports that MTV had a great marketing plan for its show which resulted in 3.3 million viewers for the first episode. While many will say the show is a depiction of actual teen life or just crossing the line, the subject of his article is business ethics.