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Right, but while he still had money in Seesmic, there was a huge Seesmic widget on every page on TechCrunch.

Chances are he put money in Seesmic for the same reason he put the widget on Tech Crunch: because he liked the product and thought it had potential. Putting money into a company because you can give their widget page views seems like an incredibly poor investment strategy.

He may have invested in it because he thinks it's a good company, but providing it with a permanent space on his widely-read publication significantly improves the odds of his investment.

I doubt even the most honest reporter can reliably cover a market he's invested in. Actual journalists seem to agree: http://www.nytco.com/press/ethics.html#avoiding

(Unfortunately it seems that the people who wrote this ethics code are now taking cues from TC, rather than the other way around)

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