The http://TechCrunch.com boss Michael Arrington was interviewed by PortFolio.com. From the interview:

<<L.G.: How would you describe the philosophy of what you’re doing here?
  
M.A.: What I like to do is post information far earlier than most journalists would post it. I think most journalists would maybe get a tip on something and then start digging, talking to all their contacts. Most of the tips I get are the kinds of tips that just aren’t going to be confirmed by anyone. I might get somebody to say it’s inaccurate, but when I start calling my other sources, they’re just either going to not know, or if they’re on the record for the company, they’re just not going to talk to me. With things like the Google-Fox-Microsoft ad deal, on the record, that is not going to be confirmed one way or the other. I assume that real journalists would either not post anything or maybe they’d wait and try to find another source. I like to post the information early, and say, “Look, this is what I have and this is who I have it from.” It’s a single-sourced rumor, this is what they’re saying, the source has been reliable in the past, and sort of leave it at that—and then let other blogs use their own contacts and see how things play out. And I think an interesting conversation occurs then—where it’s not just me, it’s a number of blogs playing any particular story and trying to find the truth. And sometimes the truth can be found much quicker that way than through the traditional journalistic means.
  
L.G.: How big is your staff now?
  
M.A.: We have eight or nine full-time. Erick Schonfeld I hired from Business 2.0. He’s my co-editor at TechCrunch, he’s out of New York—he’s great. We have different styles but he’s taught me a lot, and I showed him a few things about blogging and he’s working out awesomely. And then most of the rest of the staff are on our international sites and on Crunch Gear, our gadget blog.>>

Also, Michael says:

<<I look at entrepreneurs as, in a sense, modern-day pirates. They tend to be bright individuals, although sometimes they’re uneducated and they become stars based purely on will and intelligence. But they tend to walk away from high-paying jobs that help them support their family and they’re not in a position where there’s a lot of risk. And something drives them to walk away from that to start a company, just to see if they can. They’re so passionate about the idea, they just have to see if they can do it. But they actually do something that economists would call insane, which is that they attach utility to risk instead of the other way around. So the more risk that’s there, the better. And pirates used to do that. I really think entrepreneurs are a little bit crazy and really cool, but they also drive the economy.>>

More:
http://www.portfolio.com//views/columns/the-world-according-to/2008/02/29/An-Interview-With-Michael-Arrington