Who needs sources when you need a crisis?
BBC fanned Brexit fears this morning when it falsely reported that, according to “sources within Morgan Stanley,” the giant bank would be shipping 2,000 jobs to the EU in response to yesterday’s UK vote to leave the EU. Bloomberg Business Journalists Twitter list could boast that at least 12 of its journalists helped to spread this inaccurate BBC story on Twitter before BBC was corrected by CNBC’s more serious journalism.
BBC later added to its original story what was revealed by CNBC—namely, that Morgan Stanley denied the original BBC report.
Without verifying those “sources within Morgan Stanley,” BBC tweeted out the story about the calamitous transfer of jobs from London at 5:58 a.m. to its 23 million followers. The Independent quickly followed suit, broadcasting the false story to another 2 million Twitter users at 6:12 a.m.
It would have been nice if BBC held itself to some journalistic standards. Especially on a day when rumor was potentially harmful to tense financial markets. Thankfully, CNBC bothered to ask Morgan Stanley about the report.
Eight minutes after The Independent tweet, CNBC Now tweeted (6:20 a.m.), “JUST IN: Morgan Stanley spokesperson tell (sic) CNBC that a report circulating that says it is moving about 2,000 jobs out of London is not true.” Now, that’s journalism.
BBC revised its original article, saying, Morgan Stanley “flatly denies [BBC] reports that it has begun the process of [job] relocation.” But the damage from the initial claim was done. The legend of Morgan Stanley had taken root.
Even after CNBC corrected the BBC report, Bloomberg News Health Editor Kristen Hallam tweeted (6:26 a.m.), “That was quick,” as she shared the BBC “news” that Morgan Stanley was sending jobs to the EU.
Before the 6:20 a.m. correction, the legend of Morgan Stanley was proclaimed by Bloomberg journalists on Twitter as they repeated the BBC story next to assorted tweets about the impending doom for the world economy. None of the journalists bothered to question BBC’s unnamed “sources.”
The story rippled through the news universe, especially the Bloomberg organization:
Bloomberg reporter Rodrigo Orihuela retweeted BBC presenter and correspondent Ben Thompson’s tweet, “Sources at Morgan Stanley tell BBC it’s already begun the process of moving 2,000 London based investment banking staff to Dublin or Frankfurt.”
Bloomberg’s Managing Editor for Energy and Commodities Will Kennedy retweeted Business Editor Richard Fletcher, sharing Ben Thompson’s tweet and saying, “Here we go…”
Another Bloomberg reporter, Scott Deveau, tweeted, “Welp…” above a shared tweet from BBC business journalist Joe Lynam saying, “Morgan Stanley says it’s begun a process to relocate 2,000 key Investment banking staff from London to either Dublin or Frankfurt.”
It continued from one Bloomberg staffer and then another. Reporter Luke Kawa, sharing the same story, tweeted, “Bexodus.”
Bloomberg columnist Michael P. Regan tweeted, “wow *MS SAID BEGUN MOVING 2000 LONDON STAFF TO DUBLIN/FRANKFURT: BBC.”
Bloomberg reporter Sangwon Yoon tweeted, “BBC: @MorganStanley said to begin moving 2,000 London staff to Dublin/Frankfurt.” She also retweeted the initial BBC Breaking News story, “Morgan Stanley has begun moving 2,000 investment banking staff from London to Dublin or Frankfurt, BBC learns.”
But it wasn’t just Bloomberg. CNN national security reporter Nicole Gaouette retweeted the visiting fellow on the European Council of Foreign Relations Adam Baron, saying, “It begins,” and sharing the same story — this time from Jon Williams.
Financial Times Washington correspondent David Lynch missed CNBC’s correction by one minute. At 6:19 a.m., he tweeted, “#Brexit job losses already starting: Morgan Stanley moving 2,000 jobs to Dublin or Frankfurt; JPMorgan shifting 1,000 to 4,000 from London.”
Finally, Bloomberg’s US corporate finance reporter Nabila Ahmed, sharing the same story, writes, “It’s happening…” No, Nabila, it’s not.
Some journalists did quickly correct their mistakes in subsequent tweets. David Lynch, for example, tweeted, “Fyi, Morgan Stanley now says that report of job shifts is not true #Brexit.”
