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Jobs Rumor Debacle Besmirches Citizen Journalism
On Friday someone posted a false rumor that Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack on CNN's unverified citizen journalism site, iReport. Apple's stock price went vertical, losing 9% before Apple stepped in and denied the rumor; the stock then recovered most of its loss. The SEC is investigating. PCWorld looks at the hit taken by citizen journalism as a result of this incident. "[The] increasingly blurred line between journalism and rumor is a serious concern for Al Tompkins, the broadcast/online group leader at The Poynter Institute — a specialized school for journalists of all media forms. 'How could you possibly allow just anybody to post just anything under your [CNN] label unless you have blazing billboards that say, "None of this has been verified, we've not looked at any of this, we have no idea if this is true"?' he asks."
People with the burden and responsibility of thinking for theirselves will be able to assess the risks of trusting an unknown information source just fine. New filters have already been created to make the unknown sources trustable. I don't understand why their is an investigation. Now the story has publicity people can assess the risks more correctly. No need for the law to get involved.
If stocks had been shorted more enthusiastically in the past, the current speculative bubble would not have grown so large in the first place. To suggest that stock-shorting should be made illegal is to argue that the bubble should be allowed to continue to grow, maintaining the illusion of economic performance.
rules 1 and 2 dude...
I heard ebaumsworld did it.
IANAL.
Everyone seems to be missing the point.
Reporting an unsubstantiated rumor about someone and subsequently causing the stock to tank is not criminal, and probably not actionable (civil lawsuit) either.
What the SEC will be investigating is whether the person who created, propagated, or published this rumor stood to profit from it.
Investigating this possibility is well within the responsibilities of the SEC.
The person who did this is an old journalist and someone who's had problems with stock market advice/manipulation before.
Please don't parrot old media bullshit about this. The problem is not citizen journalism, the problem is that so many people trust the frauds who people old media itself.
It better not be. It's up to the actual traders to verify unsubstantiated statements such as this before taking any action. Restrictions on speech have already gone way too far.
Actually, I live in Hong Kong and here it can be considered criminal. This exact thing just happened here recently and the offender was arrested. Brief quote from the article: He was arrested on Saturday in Shau Kei Wan by officers from the Technology Crime Division of the Commercial Crime Bureau for allegedly using a computer with criminal or dishonest intent. He is accused of spreading rumors online on Friday about the bank being in difficulty.
No. They put a ban on selling financial stocks short.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Hong Kong, being part of China, and not having the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, is not one of those places where freedom of speech is considered important by the government.
Yes you are correct, we do not have the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. We have Article 27 of Hong Kong Basic Law which states:
Article 27
Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike.
We may be a part of China but we have our own entirely different political and legal systems.