SEC's investigation is silencing biz journalism sources

Nicholas Yulico of TheStreet.com writes Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into hedge funds and shorting of stocks has silenced some sources.

Yulico writes, “The result is that some general counsels inside hedge funds are now telling their analysts and portfolio managers to be more tight-lipped — especially with journalists.

“One of my best sources, an analyst at a hedge fund that has been subpoenaed in the Lehman probe, says he has been told by his superiors to not talk with the media — not even on background. (In the interest of disclosure, this source and I speak about stocks other than Lehman, a company and stock I’ve never even written an article about.)

“For financial writers like me, who like to dig into public companies and provide the information or angles that some CEOs may not want to hear, this breakdown in dialogue is a detrimental development.”

Read more here.