Photobucket — the photo sharing service locked in a feud with Myspace — has some influential supporters. Michael Arrington of Techcrunch, arguing that Photobucket can survive without its former patron, points to "leaked documents" which show the startup doing $32m in revenue this year: "That projection is probably dead on because it is being distributed to potential buyers - any future variance could kill a deal in progress and so they are probably being very conservative." Very conservative? Oh, please. The tech publisher is usually too ornery to act like a shill, but in this case Arrington has been intoxicated by a leak. It underlines the rule: most good reporters are corrupted, not by the prospect of financial gain, or freebies, but by access, and exclusive information. Below, what Arrington should have said. "That projection, which would require Photobucket's revenues to triple, and more, from last year's $9.3m, is very aggressive. And I know that investment bankers such as Lehman Brothers, and their clients, always put the best complexion on financial projections. And, when Photobucket misses its numbers, that will be the acquirer's problem. But Photobucket treats me nice, and the company and its advisers doled out these oh-so-secret numbers to me alone, so I can make out like I'm a real journalist with a mole on the inside. Okay, so I'm being played. But did I tell you those projections were leaked?"