CNBC is reporting on competitor Bloomberg over accusations Bloomberg journalists used the company’s data terminals to track and gain information on users, in some cases, government officials.
Both the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department are examining the extent Bloomberg terminal usage by top officials might have been tracked, CNBC’s Steve Liesman reports.
CNBC talked with a former Bloomberg employee who says he accessed usage information of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He said he did it “just for fun” and as a way “to show how powerful” the Bloomberg terminals were.
CNBC got a response from a Bloomberg spokesperson who said, “What you are reporting is untrue” but declined to respond when asked what specifically was inaccurate. He also would not say whether the company had investigated journalist access to the terminals.
Bloomberg CEO Dan Doctoroff released a statement saying, “Last month we changed our policy so that all reporters only have access to the same customer-relationship data available to our clients.” Doctoroff added: “reporters could not see news stories that clients read, or the securities they viewed.”
CNBC competes with Bloomberg in reporting and distributing business news on TV and online.