Kara’s Ethics Statement
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Let's begin with a critical piece of information every reader of this site needs to know about me: My spouse, Megan Smith, has been an executive at search giant Google since 2003, where she is vice president of new business development. More recently, she also added the job of general manager of the company's philanthropic arm, Google.org. (Yes, Megan works too much, but so do I.)
Obviously, a substantial amount of her income from Google is in shares and options, some of which she has sold and some of which she still holds. Megan makes all her own decisions related to these shares and options, and I do not own or have future rights to own or control any of them. In addition, Megan still holds a number of shares and options (none of which I own, have future rights to own or control) in PlanetOut, where she served as CEO before she moved to Google.
And, in the interest of full disclosure, I was obviously not a supporter of Proposition 8, the California initiative that passed on November 4, 2008, that eliminated a law that had allowed same-sex couples to marry and amended the state constitution to only allow a man and a woman to marry. In any case and because I like deadlines, in the hours before it passed, I got married to Megan at San Francisco's City Hall under that recent same-sex marriage law, which the initiative has now overturned. It is still legally unclear what that will mean for people like me who married before Proposition 8 was passed, as it is not retroactive; as of now, the marriages made before it was passed remain valid. That could, of course, change. And, it is likely I will keep marrying until it finally and inevitably sticks.
The Dow Jones Code of Conduct, which I am abiding by (see below for a link), generally provides that no news personnel "assigned to report...on a specific industry may buy or sell securities in any company engaged, in whole or significant part, in that industry, nor may any member of the immediate family of any such employee do so." But in this case, Dow Jones has concluded that—with this disclosure and the interactive nature of blogging, which makes it possible to provide this detailed explanation and also a place for comment, both of which are not adequately available in the print edition—her financial interest in Google should not prevent me from writing about this industry. While some may raise objections, Dow Jones feels the transparency will give readers a chance to judge my work on its merits, especially in light of my extensive experience covering the technology industry for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and in two books about America Online I authored. In fact, I began reporting on Google itself in 1999, well before others did, and wrote many articles on it years before Megan worked there, like this one. While I am no longer a Dow Jones employee and have become an independent contractor to the company, honoring its long-term commitment to high standards of journalism is key to the success of my future work for AllThingsD.com. I am well aware of the controversies surrounding ethics online now swirling about, some of which have resulted in giving readers some pause about the quality and honesty of some in the blogosphere. Such wariness is always a good thing for everyone and I encourage readers to ask tough questions and demand more of those providing them information of all kinds. I know that I am asking for a large measure of trust from readers of the site, and I pledge to do everything I can to be deserving of that trust.
I hope I am not being too obvious when I say I care about my reputation more than anyone and I have always sought to live up to the high standards set at Dow Jones, which I did as a reporter and columnist since 1997, and I will continue to do so in this job. In other words, if Google screws up (as they have many times and will again), I hope to be the first to say so; on the other hand, if they perform well, I would say so based only on my long experience as a reporter covering this sector. That same rule will apply to Google's partners. I also pledge to be fair and honest about covering Google's competitors, who also both perform well and screw up at various times. I have known and written about all of them for almost 15 years (making me a senior citizen in Web terms) and continue to have trusted sources. So, if Yahoo makes a smarter move than Google, or if I agree with Microsoft's position on some issue, rather than Google's, you'll read it here whether Megan agrees with it or not. If Ask.com buys a small, smart company that Google was also pursuing or declined to buy, I will report it and praise such a deal, even if Megan was involved on the Google side. This may result in some arguments at home, but it won't affect the coverage here. But to be even more clear, I will not discuss anything in this blog with Megan prior to publication and will not report any information I glean from her unless it can be attributed by name to her in that particular instance. I will always have a direct link in such cases to this disclosure.
Nonetheless, I urge you to make any comments you might have about my relationship with Megan on this site, especially if you think it is impacting my work adversely, as long as they remain civil and do not contain attacks related to my sexual orientation, which will simply not be tolerated and will be removed immediately. But please feel free to challenge me for my thoughts on all things digital, a topic about which I certainly always welcome a lively debate.
In other arenas:
Walt Mossberg and I have established a small limited liability company whose purpose is to manage payments to the independent contractors, including me, who work on the All Things Digital Web site, and to buy equipment and other services for the site. The site itself is owned by Dow Jones, for which I work as an independent contractor.
While I still intend to break news on this site, as with my previous print column, I will make subjective comments on the business and strategies of technology companies and issues. Still, I don't offer investment advice (not to Megan and not to you either!).
I don't accept any money, or anything else of value, from the companies I cover, or from their public relations or advertising agencies. I either use funds from our LLC or my own money when purchasing all devices I use, such as computers, digital media players, digital cameras, as well as my Internet service, cell-phone service, and cable-TV service. I also don't accept trips, speaking fees, or product discounts from companies I cover or from their public relations or advertising agencies. I also don't serve as a consultant to any companies.
I have investments in several group funds, which are managed without my input primarily by an investment bank, and they might from time to time put my money into funds that buy shares of stock in the companies I write about. But I do not have any knowledge about when they buy and sell any shares. I also have several general stock-index mutual funds related to my former employment at Dow Jones, but none is specifically technology-focused, although any one might, from time to time, acquire shares in some technology companies I write about. In this case, as with all my investments, I also have no knowledge of when they buy and sell any shares.
I never coordinate my work with our advertising sales staff, and I don't solicit or sell ads for the newspaper, Web site or sponsorships for the D conference. The Journal's separate ad sales staff does this. Advertisers and companies I cover don't get to see my columns in advance, or select or reject topics. Similarly, sponsors of the D conference don't get to select or reject speakers on the agenda, or select or preview the questions we ask speakers on stage. We don't charge companies for appearing onstage at D to demo new products and we don't pay speakers to come to D.
I make a number of speeches each year, mostly unpaid. If I do accept a fee, I never make speeches at events hosted by companies I cover.
Beyond the issues discussed here, I also abide by the Dow Jones Code of Conduct, which can be found here.
[This was updated April 5, 2009.]
About Kara
Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau in 1997 and also wrote the BoomTown column about the sector. With Walt Mossberg, she co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech and media conference.
