Vox’s Timothy B. Lee wrote Friday about some of his recent investments in Bitcoin, arguing that it might be a sound strategy for others to follow his lead and put money in the virtual currency. But a few hours after Lee’s post went up, Vox’s editor-in-chief Ezra Klein walked the whole thing back.
Klein offered an apology after Lee was sharply criticized for investing in something he had been assigned to cover.
“Here’s something grotesquely unethical: Vox’s Timothy B. Lee, rapidly becoming one of the internet’s worst voices, is boasting today of how he’s investing in Bitcoin, a cyber-currency propped up by media attention,” wrote Gawker’s Sam Biddle.
Klein reached out to Biddle to acknowledge his error and, in a mea culpa posted on the explainer site, took ownership for the misstep.
This was my fault. While I don’t think it’s impossible to fairly cover Bitcoin while also holding some Bitcoins, the reason to make these rules blunt and general, rather than nuanced and specific, is to ensure there’s no question about the motivations of the underlying coverage. The reader’s ability to trust the writer is everything at Vox, as it is elsewhere.
So I apologize. I just got this one wrong. Lee will be selling his Bitcoins, and if there are any gains, they’ll go to charity. Vox will continue to prohibit reporters from making investments in the firms they cover, and except in the broadest cases (like a house, or an index fund), we’ll err on the side of following that rule.
