Barry Diller defends Michael Arrington, calls AOL move bad business

(CBS) - The AOL versus Arrington debacle still has people in the media talking.

At a Paley Center for Media International Council keynote conversation Wednesday, InterActiveCorp (IAC) chairman and senior executive Barry Diller touched on the subject of Michael Arrington's recent battle with former employer AOL.

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MySpace co-president Jason Hirschhorn asked Diller, "What is journalism to you and should a guy like Mike Arrington be called out for something he never called himself?" Hirschhorn is talking about the fact that Arrington claims he's not a journalist, therefore he should not have to play by the same rules.

Diller responded by saying, "[you buy a company] because it is absolutely the voice of a single person primarily, with some other people working for him - but it's Michael Arrington's voice, and you know when you buy it, that that voice is biased and mean and capable of saying anything, and is playing a hundred different games. And you know that. And that's why you buy it - because it's a good voice, and you like it."

"And then somebody calls you up and says, "I'm the Editor in Chief, and you can't let him do that, because he's now in a conflict of interest," Diller continued. "It's not a journalistic enterprise, TechCrunch. And so to have treated it as such is to destroy it. So now, he's gone, and now they own this thing, which has no voice. Congratulations. What a good piece of business."

IAC is an Internet company that owns over 50 brands, including Newsweek and the Daily Beast.

The Paley Center for Media International Council is an independent traveling forum that brings together executives from industries like entertainment, media and technology for collaboration.