Spin Meter: CNBC Boss Breaks Rules

Note: This is the first of what will probably be periodic Spin Meter posts on CSM.

Four months ago, CNBC initiated a strict policy forbidding managers, news staff, spouses and dependents from owning individual securities. The policy's goal is to prevent conflicts of interest.

Now word comes out (h/t Media Bistro's link to NY Times story) that CNBC chair Pamela Thomas-Graham has accepted a position as a director of Idenix Pharmaceuticals and has been granted 15,000 stock options and additional compensation from the company. The newsroom is not taking the news well.

Here's the CNBC spin:

"As CNBC chairman, Pamela Thomas-Graham is responsible for strategic planning and for identifying major growth opportunities for the brand," said Kathy Kelly-Brown, a spokeswoman at NBC Universal, the General Electric subsidiary that is CNBC's parent. "In this role, she is in no way responsible for or in any way involved in deciding the network's day-to-day content or coverage." She added that NBC Universal's management had "made an exception and approved the appointment" before Ms. Thomas-Graham joined Idenix's board.

1 - Feel free to walk around the cabin
2 - Mild turblence
3 - Barely holding onto control
4 - Dangerous tailspin
5 - Crashed and burned

CNBC's policy is extremely strict, so much so that its imposition probably came at considerable financial consequence to many of its staffers. Such a policy says, in effect, "We don't trust our employees to behave responsibly, and we're going to prevent that in order to stand above the crowd." No one should follow the policy more stringently than the company chair, and she refused to do so for exactly the sort of personal gain she was afraid her employees would pursue.

So CNBC, instead of having a squeeky clean policy and staff, has only a corrupt boss. And we all know that corrupt bosses run corrupt organizations. GE, get rid of her if she can't play be her own rules -- or you've got a dangerous tailspin in your hands.