There has been quite the ethics flap over the last 72 hours or so about TechCrunch’s handling of leaked Twitter documents.
Bottom line: Michael Arrington was wrong to distribute any of the leaked material, which was stolen by a hacker. The posting of the documentation is unconscionable. There is no journalistic excuse, or justification for it.
Apple is once again up to its media manipulation tactics, or so I allege. Surely I can’t be the only person seeing just how transparent was yesterday’s Wall Street Journal Steve Jobs liver transplant story. The timing, on day of iPhone 3GS launch, helps protect Apple’s share price and deemphasize an important fact: Steve isn’t really coming back this month.
Today’s Wall Street Journal story about Steve Jobs’ return is classic media manipulation. The story’s timing—days before Apple convenes its Worldwide Developer Conference—and seemingly single source, “a person familiar with the matter,” stinks of corporate leak.
