{"id":286711,"date":"2016-12-21T22:53:59","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T21:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/voxs-undisclosed-conflicts-of-interest-explained\/"},"modified":"2016-12-21T22:53:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T21:53:59","slug":"voxs-undisclosed-conflicts-of-interest-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/voxs-undisclosed-conflicts-of-interest-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Vox\u2019s Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest, Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5584613\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxSpectacles.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5584613\" src=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxSpectacles.png\" alt=\"Vox: The Snapchat Spectacles Craze, Explained\" width=\"350\" height=\"440\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>It&#8217;s &#8220;simply more fun&#8221; and will give you &#8220;extra cool points,&#8221; <strong>Vox<\/strong> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/new-money\/2016\/12\/14\/13945736\/snapchat-spectacles-craze-explained\">12\/14\/16<\/a>) declares of the latest gadget from its corporate cousin.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Vox Media<\/b> has had disclosure problems in the past (<b>FAIR.org<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/home\/comcast-owned-vox-explains-the-great-deal-youre-getting-from-comcast\/\">9\/9\/15<\/a>), but a survey of its overlapping interests\u2014and some strangely PR-sounding articles\u2014highlights how glaring and extensive these conflicts have become.<\/p>\n<p>One of <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s major investors\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/vox-media#\/entity\">second<\/a> only to <b>Comcast<\/b>\u2014is <b>General Atlantic<\/b>. The New York\u2013based private equity firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/funding-round\/8d8ca20f2e4dcf7b753ccc2acc1b9cca\">invested<\/a> $46.5 million in <b>Vox Media<\/b> in December 2014, roughly six months after the flagship website <b>Vox.com<\/b> launched. As part of the deal, <b>General Atlantic<\/b> VP <a href=\"http:\/\/www.generalatlantic.com\/people\/zachary-kaplan\/\">Zachary Kaplan<\/a> got a seat on <b>Vox Media<\/b>\u2019s corporate board (as is common in large investment rounds). <b>General Atlantic<\/b> also invests in several technology and media companies <b>Vox Media<\/b> covers, without <b>Vox<\/b> disclosing this fact.<\/p>\n<p>For example, <b>General Atlantic<\/b> was one investor in a recent $1.8 billion fundraising round for <b>Snap, Inc.<\/b>, the company formerly known as <b>SnapChat<\/b> that makes the popular social media photo app by the same name. <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s coverage of <b>Snapchat<\/b> since <b>General Atlantic<\/b>\u2019s May 2016 investment has been glossy and favorable, primarily in its <b>New Money<\/b> section launched in October:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Snapchat\u2019s $25 Billion Initial Public Offering, Explained for People Over 30<\/b> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/new-money\/2016\/10\/6\/13191000\/snapchat-25-billion-ipo\">10\/6\/16<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><b>The Snapchat Spectacles Craze, Explained <\/b>(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/new-money\/2016\/12\/14\/13945736\/snapchat-spectacles-craze-explained\">12\/14\/16<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Nowhere in these flattering articles is it mentioned that <b>Vox Media<\/b> shares a sizable investor and board member with a private equity firm invested in <b>Snap, Inc.<\/b> The October article is an explainer on why <b>Snapchat<\/b>\u2019s large IPO is justified, and the December post is indistinguishable from a <b>Snap, Inc.<\/b> press release:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>With each holiday season comes a new hard-to-get item. This year <b>Snapchat<\/b>\u2019s spectacles hold that crown&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Getting my hands on a pair of <b>Snapchat<\/b> Spectacles last month wasn&#8217;t easy. The glasses are made available in random locations at any given moment. Luckily for me and the rest of New York City, <b>Snapchat<\/b>\u2019s opened a store in the Big Apple for the holidays. Still, I had to wait in line for five hours to get my pair.<\/p>\n<p>Why are people so excited?&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Activities in which Spectacles make sense are numerous: rock-climbing, concert-going, playing with a baby, etc.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The same day, <b>Vox Media<\/b>\u2019s tech vertical, <b>The Verge<\/b>, also ran something that read like an ad with no disclosure:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>You Can Get Prescription Lenses for Your Spectacles for as Little as $29 <\/b>(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theverge.com\/circuitbreaker\/2016\/12\/14\/13955416\/snap-inc-snapchat-spectacles-prescription-lenses-glasses?client=safari\">12\/14\/16<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s common for tech websites to run puff copy for products, but in the context of a shared investor and <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s corresponding post, the lack of clear disclosure does a disservice to <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s readers.<\/p>\n<p><b>General Atlantic<\/b> was also one of three lead investors in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/funding-round\/8ab0470b7e24485f60b57ad0378ba13a\">$1.5 billion fundraising round<\/a> for AirBnb in December 2015. While <b>Vox<\/b> has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/5\/6\/11601180\/airbnbwhileblack-racism\">critical<\/a> of AirBnb\u2019s high-profile problems with racist users, the <b>New Money<\/b> vertical was quick to defend the San Fransisco room-sharing giant after New York state passed restrictive legislation\u2014again, without any disclosure of <b>General Atlantic<\/b>\u2019s investment: \u201cNew York&#8217;s Crackdown on \u2018Commercial\u2019 Airbnb Listings Is Misguided\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/new-money\/2016\/11\/18\/13670274\/airbnb-new-york-crackdown\">11\/18\/16<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>When asked for comment on their disclosure policy, <b>Vox<\/b> managing editor Lauren Williams wrote back, \u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019ve been thinking about, and we plan to post one in the new year.\u201d A follow-up email asking whether <b>Vox<\/b> covering companies owned by its major investors was a potential problem has had no response so far.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5584617\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ReCodeBuzzFeed.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5584617\" src=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ReCodeBuzzFeed.png\" alt=\"ReCode: BuzzFeed wins the internet daily. Here\u2019s what its boss thinks is next.\" width=\"350\" height=\"447\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Vox Media<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>ReCode<\/strong> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.recode.net\/2016\/12\/19\/14010044\/buzzfeed-wins-internet-future-of-media-online-social\">12\/19\/16<\/a>) brings readers the news that &#8220;<strong>BuzzFeed<\/strong> is positioned to lead the industry forward and help the world catch up to the digital future.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Vox Media<\/b> also shares a major investor, <b>Comcast <\/b>(via the cable giant&#8217;s\u00a0<b> NBCUniversal<\/b> subsidiary), with <b>BuzzFeed<\/b>. The cable giant gave both companies $200 million in August 2015, and gave <b>Buzzfeed<\/b> another $200 million in October 2016. On Monday, <b>Vox Media<\/b>\u2019s <b>ReCode<\/b> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.recode.net\/2016\/12\/19\/14010044\/buzzfeed-wins-internet-future-of-media-online-social\">12\/19\/16<\/a>) published what was literally a press release from <b>BuzzFeed<\/b> CEO Jonah Peretti without disclosing this shared investor.<\/p>\n<p><b>Vox<\/b> has also frequently written directly on <b>Comcast<\/b> without any disclosure that it is its primary investor. One explainer from last year (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2015\/4\/24\/8489173\/comcast-time-warner-fail\">4\/24\/15<\/a>) detailing the failed <b>Comcast<\/b>\/<b>Time Warner<\/b> merger didn\u2019t mention this fact at all\u2014a stark omission even by the most liberal standards of disclosure.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s not as journalistically problematic, <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s television writers frequently give fawning reviews of <b>NBC<\/b> shows (e.g., \u201c<b>NBC<\/b> Is the Internet&#8217;s TV Network Punching Bag. But Its Fall Schedule Is Its Best in Years<b>,\u201d<\/b> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/8\/4\/12358358\/nbc-fall-schedule-2016-bob-greenblatt\">8\/16\/16<\/a>) without disclosing <b>NBCUniversal<\/b> is its primary investor (though, it should be noted, <b>Vox<\/b> did <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/8\/18\/12527498\/olympics-nbc-bad-suspense-reality-show\">pan<\/a> <b>NBC<\/b>\u2019s Olympics coverage).<\/p>\n<p>More dubiously, <b>Vox<\/b> has<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/8\/8\/12389954\/take-my-wife-show-seeso-episode-1-esposito-butcher\"> written<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/8\/8\/12389954\/take-my-wife-show-seeso-episode-1-esposito-butcher\">articles<\/a> embedded with \u201cexclusive\u201d episodes of <b>SeeSo<\/b> shows:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxSeeSo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5584616\" src=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxSeeSo.png\" alt=\"Vox SeeSo exclusives\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Curious how <strong>Vox<\/strong> got such a scoop? Probably because <b>SeeSo<\/b> is a subscription service owned \u00a0by <b>NBCUniversal<\/b>\u2014a fact not disclosed in these puff pieces, or any of <b>Vox<\/b>\u2019s television coverage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5584618\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxHulu.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5584618\" src=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VoxHulu.png\" alt=\"Vox: Hulu has overtaken Netflix to become the best streaming service\" width=\"350\" height=\"441\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Vox<\/strong>&#8216;s Todd VanDerWerff doesn&#8217;t think he needs to mention that <strong>Hulu<\/strong> is co-owned by the company that put up two-thirds of <strong>Vox Media<\/strong>&#8216;s cash.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Indeed, the closest one can get to disclosure guidelines comes from a rather defensive post last year (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2015\/10\/27\/9619924\/hulu-vox-nbc-comcast\">10\/27\/15<\/a>) from TV and culture writer Todd VanDerWerff after Zaid Jilani (<b>AlterNet<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/media\/vox-article-praising-hulu-best-streaming-service-doesnt-mention-hulu-owns-vox\">10\/26\/15<\/a>) and others brought up the fact that VanDerWerff \u00a0wrote a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2015\/10\/22\/9591606\/hulu-best-streaming-netflix\">glowing endorsement<\/a> of <b>Hulu<\/b> without disclosing that the video streaming service and <b>Vox<\/b> shared an investor in <b>NBCUniversal<\/b>. Basically, VanDerWerff insisted that <b>NBCUniversal<\/b> is a \u201cminority shareholder\u201d in <b>Vox Media<\/b> (and therefore beneath mention), despite the fact that two-thirds of the cash <b>Vox<\/b> has raised to date has come from the media giant. Because <b>Vox Media<\/b> is a private company, shareholder breakdown is impossible to determine, but insisting it\u2019s \u201cminor\u201d is misleading to the average SEC-illiterate reader.<\/p>\n<p>While <b>Vox<\/b> coverage of its corporate parents, siblings and cousins isn\u2019t uniformly positive, all too often it is. Even in stories that aren\u2019t more or less verbatim PR copy, disclosures ought to be mandatory\u2014especially when it\u2019s as direct as covering <b>Comcast<\/b> and <b>NBC<\/b> corporate. For startups, major investors are tantamount to ownership in every sense of the word, and since traditional media companies disclose ownership, there\u2019s no reason why this same standard wouldn\u2019t apply to venture capital and private equity-backed New Media outfits.<\/p>\n<p>Complexity is no excuse for not disclosing obvious conflicts, nor does it justify running a major media site for two-and-a-half years without a public, clearly worded code of ethics. <b>Vox Media<\/b> has raised over $300 million and has a staff reportedly of over 400 people. With all those resources, perhaps they can take a week off and hash out a coherent ethics guide that reflects the economic realities of PE- and corporate-backed \u201cdisruptive\u201d media.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Adam Johnson is a contributing analyst for <strong>FAIR.org<\/strong>.<\/em> <em>You can find him on <strong>Twitter<\/strong> at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamjohnsonnyc\">@AdamJohnsonNYC<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can contact <strong>Vox<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/contact\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> (or via <strong>Twitter<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/voxmediainc\" target=\"_blank\">@VoxMediaInc<\/a>). Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/home\/voxs-undisclosed-conflicts-of-interest-explained\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s &#8220;simply more fun&#8221; and will give you &#8220;extra cool points,&#8221; Vox (12\/14\/16) declares of the latest gadget from its corporate cousin. Vox Media has had disclosure problems in the past (FAIR.org, 9\/9\/15), but a survey of its overlapping interests\u2014and some strangely PR-sounding articles\u2014highlights how glaring and extensive these conflicts have become. One of Vox\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-286711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}