Trump administration wants to limit media access to economic data

The Trump administration plans to restrict the news media’s ability to prepare advance stories on market-moving economic data, reports Katia Dmitrieva and Craig Torres of Bloomberg News.

Dmitrieva and Torres report, “Currently, the Labor Department in Washington hosts ‘lockups’ for major reports lasting 30 to 60 minutes, where journalists receive the data in a secure room, write stories on computers disconnected from the internet, and transmit them when connections are restored at the release time.

“The department is looking at changes such as removal of computers from that room, and an announcement could come as soon as this week, said the people, who spoke on condition they not be identified. That could hinder the media’s ability to provide headlines, comprehensive stories and tables at the exact release time.

“The move would upend decades of practice, and media organizations including Bloomberg News and Reuters have challenged prior changes to procedures. The shift could also spur an arms race among high-speed traders to get the numbers first and profit off the data, raising questions about fairness in multitrillion-dollar financial markets.”

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