On September 2, Michael Arrington (founder and editor of TechCrunch) parted ways with AOL after highly-publicized criticisms around his announcement of CrunchFund, a $20 million venture capital fund that was launched to provide funding for the types of companies covered by his blog. The announcement of CrunchFund caused traditional reporters to cry foul, citing a gross conflict of interest and a violation of journalistic standards laid out in the Journalism Code of Ethics.