This popped up last week and seemed to ba a cautionary tale…
ABC reporter deletes tweet claiming investment bank ‘on the brink’
Emma Rapaport and Tom Richardson
Oct 3, 2022 – 7.32pm
A tweet by ABC business journalist David Taylor suggesting a major international investment bank was “on the brink” was deleted on Monday afternoon – around the same time the public broadcaster said it had reminded the reporter of its social media guidelines.
Taylor’s October 1 tweet fed a social media frenzy of rumours, misinformation and unverified claims that European investment banks Credit Suisse or Deutsche Bank could be set to collapse and spark the biggest financial crisis since 2009.
The tweet had attracted more than 6400 retweets and 28,000 likes by Monday lunchtime as other journalists, financial newswires, business commentators, and social media users speculated about the identity of the investment bank and consequences of a major default for global financial markets.
Taylor did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the tweet that claimed a “credible source” had warned of an investment bank being on the brink.
An ABC spokesperson said the journalist made the comment after an exchange with a financial analyst. “His managers have discussed the matter with him and have reminded him of the ABC social media guidelines,” the spokesperson said.
The ABC also said any reports that it published an article on the tweet’s subject were incorrect.
Social trading
In Zurich on the Swiss stock exchange, Credit Suisse stock tumbled 6 per cent at Monday’s open to CHF3.73 ($5.87)before losing more ground to CHF3.52.
On Friday, its chief new chief executive Ulrich Koerner moved to publicly assure investors that the bank had a “strong capital base and liquidity position”, partly as a result of Basel III rules demanding it maintain minimum capital reserves in the event of a downturn.
Credit Suisse shares are down 60 per cent in 2022 amid turmoil in Europe and after the bank admitted to a $US5.5 billion credit loss to Bill Hwang’s Archegos hedge fund in 2021.
Here is the link with lots more:
There is more coverage here:
‘Price sensitive tweet’ by journalist should never have been sent
Edmund Tadros Media and marketing reporter
Oct 4, 2022 – 6.46pm
A tweet by an ABC journalist suggesting a major international investment bank, taken to be Credit Suisse, was “on the brink” set off a social media frenzy partly because readers assume business reporters will vet sensitive information about a company before sharing it with the public.
That’s the view of Angel Zhong, an associate professor at RMIT University who studies how media coverage affects the markets, who added that the extra weight given to a business journalist’s comments on social media meant the “price-sensitive tweet” should never have been sent.
Dr Zhong said the difference between finance influencers – known as finfluencers – and business reporters is the expectation reporters will fact-check their information with multiple sources before publishing or broadcasting.
“My response is most [reporters] do fact-checking before they report and journalists typically tend to feature multiple facts and voices in every article. So there’s typically rigorous fact checking,” she said.
“However, that’s referring to news articles or broadcasts, not tweets. This tweet is a little bit different from what we normally see in business and finance news.
“My response to this tweet is, it is what I’d call a price-sensitive tweet. I’d say that unless there is rigorous fact-checking before sending the tweet I’m personally strongly against the idea of sending such a tweet.”
Tweet and re-tweet
ABC business journalist David Taylor’s Saturday evening tweet, which was deleted on Monday, kicked off a round of rumours and unverified claims that European investment banks Credit Suisse or Deutsche Bank could be set to collapse.
Adding to the confusion is the tweet, from Taylor’s personal Twitter account, was paraphrased erroneously by Investing.com as being a report from “ABC Australia”, while other tweeters identified the bank in question as Credit Suisse. The Investing.com tweet remained live as of Tuesday afternoon.
Lots more here:
There are a few things wrong with this tweet.
Firstly is appeared to come from a globally recognized source – ABC Australia – and appeared to communicate some serious news.
Second it was vague enough to raise uncertainty about a global bank.
Third it suggested that the source knew more and was concerned.
To me the
lesson is clear – stick within the guard rails and do not pass on rumours when
tweeting from a recognised authorised source! It is pretty hard to take this sort of thing back once tweeted!
What a mess – I hope David keeps his job, and be careful out there!
David.
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