Hey.
My name is Michael Arrington. For newer readers who don’t know, I founded TechCrunch back in 2005.
Last year I was fired and began writing on Uncrunched.
Today AOL unfired me.
I am a venture capitalist and have all sorts of conflicts of interest. Many of you think that conflicts of interest are inherently bad and people with them shouldn’t be writing stuff for other people to read. A lot of people would agree with you. It was the reason AOL fired me last year, after they invested in my venture fund CrunchFund.
AOL now also disagrees.
Before everyone starts freaking the fuck out, just hold on a second and hear me out.
We don’t know how many of you are TechCrunch readers, particularly after last year’s AOL fiasco, but today brought some good news for longtime fans of the tech news site. In an open letter, posted on TechCrunch this afternoon, founder Michael Arrington has announced plans to return to the site he created as a paid contributor. Welcome back, Mike!
“We don’t have any interest in selling TechCrunch or Engadget,” he said firmly. “Our number one goal basically has been to scale them up. At this point, it’s likely we’ll just end up investing ourselves.”
TechCrunch itself covered the rumors, saying that the situation was rooted in a stunted spinoff and suggesting PandoDaily, run by former TC staffer Sarah Lacy, got caught up in its own issues when reporting the story: “We figure this story got skewed because PandoDaily is going through its own troubles, and looking for a target to project its drama onto; Sometimes not wanting to seem weak makes you seem weak.”
TechCrunch’s history since AOL bought it in 2010 has been as turbulent as the private roller coasters many Facebook employees will likely install in their Silicon Valley mansions post-IPO.Gawker’s Adrian Chen • Commenting on AOL’s reported plans to sell TechCrunch, Engadget and most of its other tech-related properties in a single package. One amazing line really says it all.
For sale, apparently: Two major Web entities that still drive tons of traffic, though the people most associated with their success have moved on to other ventures. Asking price? $70-$100 million. Or roughly 1/3 of a HuffPo. (Of note: The writer, Sarah Lacy, used to work for TechCrunch, so she’d likely have the inside scoop.)
While not confirmed by the Post, which has no comment, The Next Web has multiple sources telling them about the news, with TechCrunch reporting from a source or two of its own. If this was the case, it’d likely dovetail nicely into the Post’s recent push into social readers. Whatever happens, it probably won’t be as exciting as the company’s 2008 near-acquisition by Google, which fell through during the due diligence process but had a rumored valuation as high as $200 million. The company, long-associated with its TV host founder Kevin Rose, had a high-profile failure in 2010 when many of the site’s users left for Reddit after scorning a major redesign. (Disclosure: I work for the Washington Post Company, but not at the Post proper; I’d have no idea if this was actually happening. — Ernie @ SFB)
My face appears in the image uploaded to the article. And I made a comment on the story. And so now these dumb lawyers are coming after me.TechCrunch commenter Rick Stratton • Discussing how the comment “Hey I finally made it onto TechCrunch” turned him into a target for Facebook’s lawyers. Stratton received a four-page letter from Facebook’s legal team for that and a Facebook screenshot that featured Stratton in a story about Defaceable, a Chrome browser extension that allows users to comment anonymously on any site using Facebook Comments. When Facebook mobilized their legal team to deal with Defaceable, Rick was accused of working with the development team. Now he’s doing everything he can to prove that he’s just another guy on the web. source (via • follow)
TechCrunch cited our posts in this article on Tumblr spam. (To which we say: Thanks, but wish it was under different circumstances.) From what we’ve heard, Tumblr is making a great push to work on this. We will say this much: We’ve seen much less spam in the past few weeks.
All day, I kept telling myself I shouldn’t say anything. Then I realized: what the fuck? Be honest.
I found Paul’s post tactless. And I found Erick’s response inappropriate. Perhaps both are fitting given the entire clusterfuck that is this situation. But both are also quite sad.
Many of you…
MG Siegler’s take on this whole mess ends with this poignant line: “There is exactly one person to blame for all of this — and her name is not Erick.” It’s clear what her name is. This is a good take, and very level-headed considering what’s probably going on with the site right now.
At any other publication, Paul would have been fired long ago. And his post would be taken down. But I will let it stand. When Paul was hired, he was promised that he could write anything and it would not be censored, even if it was disparaging to TechCrunch. I will still honor that agreement.Erick Schonfeld responds to Paul Carr, after his resignation from TechCrunch and the ensuing fight on Twitter. We are witnessing the implosion of one of the Web’s best sites. (thanks Abbas Naqvi of Jigartronic)
@erickschonfeld, Editor of TechCrunch.
I’m Leaving TechCrunch. Here’s Why. by
@paulcarr
Fighting in public, on Twitter: That’s pretty much a key tell sign that TechCrunch will not be the same after this. Good God. Can we just call TechCrunch’s sale to AOL a huge mistake already?
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
What I knew last week, but can only write now, is that while Heather, Mike and other senior editorial staffers were making a stand for the site’s editorial independence from The Huffington Post, Erick cut a side deal with Huffington to guarantee him the top job once Mike was gone.
Will you still visit TechCrunch knowing that at least two of the site’s best-known writers are out?
Here’s a huge non-debate story, guys: AOL is reportedly firing TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington. He’s seemingly not even getting his venture deal anymore. And he’s not getting TechCrunch sold back to him, like he asked for. He’s done. Do you think AOL is making the right move?
As we wait to see just how involved Arrington will remain, as a media company that should supposedly hold up some sort of journalistic ethics, AOL is coming out looking quite sleazy.The Atlantic Wire’s Rebecca Greenfield • Offering her take on the debacle revolving around Michael Arrington and TechCrunch. Here’s the issue we see, as outsiders: Michael Arrington has always been as much of a player in Silicon Valley as he’s been a journalist, so there’s always been a small conflict of interest there. But by making the “player” element a bigger part of his job title by creating a venture capital fund, he makes himself a target. But wait. Tech journalism is already incestuous and ethically broken. A few examples: Business Insider’s Henry Blodget was once a financial analyst barred from the securities market for fraud. The WSJ’s Kara Swisher is married to a female Google exec (which she discloses). And Gizmodo parent Gawker Media pays for stories that can draw millions of eyeballs to their sites. The difference is that AOL, which bought TechCrunch a year ago, is a big company that knows better. Or should. And the end result is that it makes AOL look really bad. source (via • follow)
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