I tried all day to not comment on whether or not Bambi Francisco was in a conflict of interest as a writer on Marketwatch and founder of Vator.tv.

But now, seeing that she is leaving to work on her side project full-time, I have to ask:

Is Bambi Francisco this era’s answer to Lou Dobbs?

Lou left a great gig at CNN to join Space.com as Chairman.  That did not last.  Today Lou is back behind his desk at CNN.

Last week, Marketwatch lost Frank Barnako, today Bambi announced her departure.

Was it a conflict for Bambi to be at both Marketwatch and run Vator.tv?  Of course.  No doubt about it.  I’ll spare all of the ways it is right now, only to say: startups ain’t easy, especially when you are accustomed to the lifestyle of a journalist, just ask Lou.

But “new media” (which I am technically very much a part of) needs to stop it with the “journalism rules don’t apply to us.”

When Amanda “jugs” Congdon says that, we don’t take her seriously because we never did, I hate to side with Valleywag here, but Nick Denton/Douglas (never know who’s writing, frankly) is 100% accurate (here and here): Congdon is 100% wrong and she won’t matter in a few years so it’s not really worth talking about too much.  I apologize if that sounds harsh but the Dupont nonsense and her reaction to it makes her lose any and all credibility, and her credibility ended somewhere at her neck, starting from her waistline.

But Francisco wrote for Marketwatch, and when Marketwatch’s Editor David Callaway says:

“the rigid rules of the past may not always apply to new media. Is there a potential for a conflict in Bambi’s case? Yes. Do I think we can avoid it? Yes.”

we have to pause and disagree, as Mathew Ingram points out.  This makes everyone involved with new media look amateurish.

For disclosure sake:

1- We did, technically, offer Congdon a gig when she parted ways with Andrew Baron.  But let’s face it, we offered them a gig.

2- Francisco and I have (like many I am sure) exchanged the odd email over the years.  As I do with many journalists, I both send her the occasional post or news on our company.  She asked me a few months ago to create and upload a video, she made it somewhat clear that it was not related to Marketwatch, but the fact is, it was not clear, and if I knew that it would indeed not be for Marketwatch, ask yourself if we’d take the time to do it.  I never, ever count on media mentions to build our company, but that also means not shifting away resources from things that are not worthwhile… Francisco should have simply left Marketwatch the second investor Peter Thiel got involved, because at that point it becomes a bigger project than her job.  Arguing anything else is plain wrong.

I do not know Callaway and do not wish him any harm, but one needs to ask what is going on at Marketwatch and to a large extent, Dow Jones, whose other unit Wall Street Journal so got it wrong in today’s article.  Credit Valleywag for writing about this horribly-kept secret.

The 2000 Nasdaq correction sent many egos and delusional souls back to the sidelines, need we suffer the same fate in 2007 to bring common sense back?  Let’s hope not.

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