Newspapers love leaks — except when the leak is on them. This is sweet, sweet irony:
NEW YORK Owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News say someone wrongly leaked information from a private conference call earlier this week that resulted in a Standard & Poor’s report on the ownership missing an interest payment.
Jay Devine, a spokesman for Philadelphia Media Holdings, declined to confirm or deny the report that the company missed a June 1 interest payment on $85 million of loans and is in talks with lenders for relief. But he said the report was the result of an improper leak by someone involved in the conference call just days ago.
“The report was the result of someone breaking a confidence of a conference call that was held the other day between the bankers, our company and financial analysts,” he told E&P Friday, declining to say what day the call occurred. “We will express our disappointment and try to reiterate the fact that they are confidential discussions and private discussions and ask people to honor that confidence.”
Who would have thought you couldn’t trust a room full of bankers and media executives?