SEC chairman to speak at SABEW conference

Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission that’s embroiled in a media-rights dispute, on May 1 will speak to the annual conference of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

The SEC in February subpoenaed two business reporters, touching off a furor in the journalism industry over press freedom. Cox later rebuked his enforcement staff for not consulting him before sending out the subpoenas, but the intersection of press freedom with regulators’ duty to track down corporate wrongdoers will continue to generate great debate.

Cox will address that issue as well as corporate malfeasance and other issues when he speaks at the SABEW conference. The conference, which runs Sunday, April 30, to Tuesday, May 2, will be at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel in the Twin Cities.

Cox will not be the only one to discuss the challenges facing today’s business reporters.

Herb Greenberg, a MarketWatch columnist and one of the reporters subpoenaed by the SEC, will discuss the subpoenas and other tactics to intimidate investigative reporters in a panel discussion. He’ll be joined by Joseph Nocera, a New York Times columnist, and Dan Colarusso, business editor of the New York Post. Dave Beal, columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, will moderate the panel.