Full Disclosure

Reporting a newsroom leak

In covering business news, the Wall Street Journal (circ. 2 million) frequently publishes stories about the misuse of inside information in stock purchases. Last week America’s largest daily paper revealed that it had found such a case in its own newsroom. It disclosed that one of its reporters had acknowledged leaking upcoming items from the influential “Heard on the Street” column, which features stock tips, to investors.

The reporter, R. Foster Winans, 35, one of the column’s two principal writers, admitted the leaks to the Securities and Exchange Commission through an attorney, according to the article. The SEC has been investigating evidence that a group of traders made illicit profits after receiving the information from Winans, who was fired last week.

The Wall Street Journal noted that it has a policy designed to prevent such cases: new employees are expected to sign a 3½ -page conflict-of-interest statement. Managing Editor Norman Pearlstine said the case left the paper with “a collective sense of shock, outrage and betrayal.”