MSNBC Modifying Syndicated Stories from the Wall Street Journal
The Register, a British Web Site about Information Technology, is reporting that MSNBC has been modifying stories it receives from the Wall Street Journal under a long-standing syndication agreement. Although we do not think that it is unusual for recipients of syndicated stories in the print world to make slight changes for space or context reasons, the article cites one example where references to Sun Microsystems were deleted that changes the meaning of the article.
Update: Many of us who carried this story yesterday are a little red-faced to learn that the MSNBC has a rational explanation for the wording differences between the version of the story that they posted and the one that appeared in the final print version of the Wall Street Journal. Despite The Register's protestations to the contrary, we're willing to cut Microsoft some slack on this. Then again, they certainly know that the grassy knoll crowd is paying close attention now.