The NY Observer‘s John Koblin writes about a “quiet feud” between CNBC and its print partner The Wall Street Journal, and it has nothing to do with tomorrow’s shareholder vote that will put The WSJ in the News Corp. portfolio.
It’s over a story about the future of cosmetics company Estee Lauder that was to run exclusively in WWD and in The Journal. But because of the agreement between WSJ and CNBC, the story was sent to CNBC in advance. The Observer reports a CNBC anchor started reaching out to sources to report-out the story, which blew any chance for an exclusive. A WSJ insider tells the Observer had that happened at the Journal it would be a “firing offense.”
Brian Steel, CNBC’s PR VP says the situation has calmed and, “We continue to work well with The Wall Street Journal.”
The Observer reports that since the incident “The Journal has cut back significantly on the amount of final copy it volunteers to the cable network in advance.”