'Don't worry, we have no problem bad-mouthing our sister company', is essentially what the Boston Globe's Ombudsman said last week. A couple of weeks ago I linked to an article in the Boston Herald which was connecting corporate ownership dots and asking questions about the coverage of the Red Sox in the Boston Globe. The New York Times Inc. owns the Boston Globe and also owns 17% of the Red Sox (and does help explain the Times's betrayal of the New York team for the Boston team in 2003).
Richard Chacón "found no evidence that Globe coverage is influenced by the Times Co. investment". He did find, however, that the Globe and its web site - Boston.com - often omitted the disclosure that is supposed to feature in news stories about the Red Sox. Just an oversight, I'm sure.
