Bambi Francisco, one of the gentlest journalists in Silicon Valley, has been cast out of her job at Marketwatch. She'd been under pressure to resign when it became obvious that she'd been touting companies on the Dow Jones subsidiary's financial news site, when she was also promoting them through a side-venture, Vator.tv. Francisco presented Vator, a video showcase for new ventures is backed by the ubiquitous Peter Thiel, as no more than an investment; but she was the founder, and had remained at Marketwatch while she incubated the new venture. It wasn't going to last. The moral of the story: these conflicts of interest aren't, whatever people say, intrinsic to the internet; they are, however, a function of a boom, during which journalists, even those as meek as Bambi Francisco, dream of independence and fortune, but don't have the confidence to quit cleanly.

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