Instead of releasing its latest earnings statement as part of a press release, Google issued a 3-sentence statement directing interested parties to its Investor Relations website, where the full statement was available. Apparently, according to Reuters, this presented an “obstacle” to journalists and investors — people who are too stupid or lazy to type in a short URL.
Naturally, because journalists have a public platform from which to complain, it becomes the object of faux concern:
“[S]ome worry that this trend may harm individual and less-sophisticated investors who cannot access the blogs and websites as quickly as professionals.”
If you can’t figure out how to click a link or type a URL, or are for some reason demonstrably slower than a “professional” at same, you should not be investing in the stock market.
But it’s not about protecting “less-sophisticated investors” — this story is about how a lazy Reuters reporter got caught out by Google’s completely reasonable (and overdue) change in policy. I’m betting someone expected to do a quick cut-and-paste job on a BusinessWire press release, but instead had to launch a freaking browser to do their “reporting”. And got pissy about it.
Reuters should be ashamed for allowing its writers and editors to put out this kind of self-serving crap.
UPDATE: IR Report calls it for what it is.
