David Pogue and Nicki Dugan: Is Their Relationship a Conflict of Interest? It took Justin Jedlica 149 cosmetic procedures to look like this.
He says Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers were his idols, while the Real Life Barbie is just faking it. Following an appearance in photographer Phil Toledano’s book, A New Kind of Beauty, Justin Jedlica was dubbed ‘The Human Ken Doll’ while making a brief appearance on 20/20. The name stuck, and Jedlica—and his 149 cosmetic surgeries—have become an international phenomenon. Recently, Jedlica made headlines for calling Valeria Lukyanova, ‘The Real Life Barbie,’ “an illusionist” in an interview with GQ.
He opens up to The Daily Beast about dreaming of becoming famous, fighting body dysmorphic rumors, and how he really feels about why Lukyanova has gone too far. When did you first get the nickname ‘The Human Ken Doll?’ In the beginning [of the piece with 20/20], there was a voiceover that said ‘Meet the Human Ken Doll, whose upper body is filled with silicone implants.’ Was there something or someone you did want to look like? The AOL-TechCrunch Investing Controversy.
Would it surprise you to know that BoomTown doesn’t really care anymore if TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington sidelines as a blogger while he makes investments in tech companies his tech news site covers?
In a post yesterday, titled “An Update to My Investment Policy,” Arrington made his seemingly cogent arguments that plenty of disclosure made it all “fine,” took one of his typical look-at-me swipes at anyone who dared to question this logic (apparently, we’re crappy “direct” competitors, so we haters have no standing to comment!) And presumably went on his merry investing way. While I was first irked–because it was an appalling show to many of us cranky standards-insisting whiners–I soon realized Arrington had made a good argument about who he is and, frankly, who he has always been. In other words, it’s a kind of there-he-goes-again thing, vaguely icky but hardly surprising and completely genuine.
“TechCrunch is committed to transparency. Hold the phone. Disclosures « BuzzMachine. JEFF JARVIS is the author of Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New Futures for News (CUNY Journalism Press, 2014), Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live (Simon & Schuster, 2011), What Would Google Do?
(HarperCollins 2009), and the Kindle Single Gutenberg the Geek. He blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com and cohosts the podcast This Week in Google. He is professor and director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. He advises media companies, startups, and foundations and is a public speaker.
Until 2005, he was president and creative director of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications. This is a personal site. Techcrunch Editor Discloses Investments, Admits To Conflicts Of Interests. Posted by Tom Foremski - April 27, 2011 Mike Arrington, editor and founder of Techcrunch, an AOL company, today disclosed his investments in some high profile startups.
He said he had refrained from making investments in startups since 2009 because of distracting accusations of conflicts of interest but that he had recently changed that policy (following the sale of Techcrunch to AOL). Over the last several months I have begun investing actively again. We've noted these investments in Shawn Fanning's new startup and in Kevin Rose's new startup.I have also become a limited partner in two venture funds, Benchmark Capital and SoftTech VC. I am considering investments in a few other venture funds and a couple of startups as well, but have nothing further to announce yet. Out And About: Techcrunch Bombshell Draws Lots Of Passionate Critics.
Posted by Tom Foremski - April 28, 2011 I went out to several parties last night related to the AppNation conference that's in town and spoke to a lot of developers and others about the revelation that Techcrunch editor Mike Arrington is investing in startups and his admission that it will affect his coverage.
The unanimous response was that this is not a good move by Mr Arrington and that it will negatively affect how people view Techcrunch and its writers. I was surprised at the passion with which people spoke on this issue. Wow! Kara Swisher Investigation Forced Arrington To Disclose Investments. Posted by Tom Foremski - April 28, 2011 Kara Swisher, editor of "All Things Digital," reported that Techcrunch Editor Mike Arrington disclosed his investments in startups following her questions about the matter, put to AOL senior management.
She writes: The next day, Mr Arrington, clearly prompted by his AOL bosses, wrote his disclosure. It's interesting to note that the disclosure was forced on him, rather than offered in the spirit of full and voluntary disclosure, as he has made it seem in his post. Ms Swisher has some tough words for Arianna Huffington, Mr Arrington's boss, who she also describes as her friend: But Huffington is another story. Great questions. In the meantime, AOL has responded to questions about its code of ethics saying that Mr Arrington is exempt! From what we now know about this matter, AOL didn't have a choice to exempt Mr Arrington because senior executives knew nothing about his investments.
An ethics policy that allows for exemptions is a joke. Bullshit: Arrington Claims Relationships Are Bigger Problem Than Money. Posted by Tom Foremski - April 29, 2011 Mike Arrington, the Techcrunch editor who was forced to disclose his investments by Kara Swisher, Editor of All Things Digital, is trying to prove that relationships are a larger problem than money in reporting. In an interview with Nicholas Carlson, at Business Insider, he says: I read an article this morning. It was saying [all this worry about investments being a conflict of interest is] kind of ridiculous because this is actually one of the smallest conflicts that tech journalists really have, but it's one that people really freak out about.It talked about [how] friendship conflicts are the real issue.
And they are. What bullshit. There are a billion examples of where it can be shown that a person's financial interest motivated their actions overwhelmingly, overcoming all other relationships, friendly or family.