Categories: OLD Media Moves

Hewlett-Packard settles case of spying on business journalists

Hewlett-Packard n Thursday announced a settlement with Business Week and New York Times reporters on whom the computer maker spied during a hunt for a boardroom leak, according to an AFP story.

AFP wrote, “‘The matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and we’re pleased to put this matter behind us,’ the Palo Alto, California, computer and technology company said in response to an AFP inquiry.

“‘HP also is pleased that the journalists decided to donate all or some portion of the settlement to charity, although HP was not consulted about the charities selected.’

“Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

“Investigators working for HP used ‘fraud and deceit’ to obtain personal telephone records of news reporters and HP board members, according to prosecutors who filed criminal charges in the case.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.