Feds looking at leaks to financial columnists

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued subpoenas to two journalists, ordering them to provide information about interviews with traders and analysts. The point of the probe was apparently to identify who was leaking damaging information about companies with lots of short interest, but the commission later backed off. The whole thing is highly unusual, but may be a sign of the times. Obviously, columnists like Herb Greenberg are going to get lots of stuff from the shorts. It's something of a time-honored tradition. But given the times, publications might be wise to vet these kinds of articles with extra care. There was an incident years ago when a prominent columnist was fed lots of damaging info; the subsequent column even questioned the identity of the head of the company at issue. The published correction was a whopper.

> Here's a New York Times article.

PLUS: One columnist's take.