Journalists love to preach about their own high ethical standards, but recent events involving plagiarism, made-up news, and the use of sources have led many to question these standards. And business journalists are not immune to ethical lapses, as evidenced by an ongoing court case in England.

The case involves two former newspaper columnists who used their positions to pump up stock prices which they had purchased, and then dump them after their columns printed, thereby making a profit. From the article in the Guardian:

Prosecutors told the jury how the men misled readers by concealing their share dealings, writing stories that turned out to be untrue, and citing price targets that they disregarded when it came to their own dealings.

In this British case, the journalists were brought down by a tipster and their own stupidity, but not after thousands of readers were misled. I have to wonder, though -- how many other journalists reporting on financial issues have written something for personal gain, but have never been caught?mortgage calculator