How did WSJ reporters get quote from executive’s call?

Reid Pillifant of the New York Observer writes Wednesday about a Wall Street Journal story that quoted a CEO from a private teleconference with investors saying his company was bidding to acquire a bank.

Pillifant writes, “The report cited ‘people familiar with the matter’ as identifying the unnamed bank as Corus Bankshares Inc., but Journal reporters Lingling Wei and Nick Timiraos also quoted from the call without any attribution, or information about where their notes on the call came from. Were they on the line?

“It’s not unknown: When there’s a private conference call, the attendees get a phone number and a code to dial. Theoretically, anyone who gets the right phone number and code (and is smart enough to put his phone on mute) can be along for the ride without anyone knowing any better.

“A call to Mr. Sternlicht’s office was not immediately returned, and a spokesman for The Wall Street Journal refused to comment on how the paper reports its stories, so it was impossible to confirm whether the reporters were, in fact, privy to the call, and whether Mr. Sternlicht had given them access to such a big scoop. (Ms. Wei had referred calls to the spokesman.)

“The Journal spokesman also declined to say whether the paper has an editorial policy about listening in on such a call without the parties’ permission. That’s pretty standard: It’s part of what’s behind the curtain about how reporters get important scoops.”

Read more here.