Why do biz journalists use Byrne as a source?

Business journalist Gary Weiss wonders on his blog why Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a frequent critic of business journalism, is used as a source for stories.

Weiss writes, “One really has to wonder what motivated the Salt Lake City Tribune, in this story, to buttonhole Byrne of all people to pontificate on corporate management of earnings releases. It’s just embarassing. Good heavens, a little elementary research would have found ample material on the web on how Byrne has engineered earnings at Overstock, much of it by white collar crime-fighter Sam Antar.

“For instance, Antar pointed out in some detail in his blog last year how Byrne manipulated the earnings announcement in the first quarter of 2008.

“While the Trib’s sloppiness is not comparable with the atrocious media coverage of Pegasus Wireless or Biovail, it’s the kind of thing that erodes public confidence in the news media, particularly the business news media. The point being that we are not stenographers, and if a CEO blatantly is blatantly untruthful or dishonest, we have no obligation to serve as his megaphone.”

Read more here.