Eugene Grygo,
chief content editor,
FTF News
So, my dear readers, you may be wondering what happened behind the scenes at the ISITC event earlier this week in Boston. Let me tell you.
First, I was looking forward to the keynote speech by Carla Harris, vice chairman, global wealth management, managing director and senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley. I had heard that she was known for her inspirational presentations.
However, late on the Friday before the event when I was banging out the preview story, I got a little bombshell from the public relations representatives for ISITC: Ms. Harris and Morgan Stanley wanted the speech off the record and, more importantly, did not want any press in the room while she was speaking.
In my 30 years as a journalist, I have never encountered what can only be called a ban on the press, which is common in developing nations and totalitarian states.
After 17 years of covering Wall Street, I have had to accept speeches that were off the record unless the person speaking got approval for all or parts of the presentation – mostly they were forbidden to comment on the most mundane matters. I have had to work with financial services firms on intricate case study stories and walk a tight-rope when it came to the rights of the press vs. the rights of a firm to protect itself and its clients. I have had to cultivate sources high and low that let me know what is really happening in the markets and among the A-List firms that drive the industry.
For more general interest and crime stories, I have had to work within the parameters of the police, firefighters, prosecutors and common decency. But I have never been banned outright without an explanation or even the opportunity to discuss it. Of course, this could be preparation for covering Vladimir Putin, who seems to be running things globally. (That’s a discussion for later at the pub.)
But I didn’t have time to argue the point that Ms. Harris was promoting a book and that it would make a lot of sense to let the press attend. I had to bang out the story and get on the road to Boston, which I did.
Over the weekend, I assume that ISITC, its PR support and Morgan Stanley must have discussed the ban and thought twice about it because an hour before the speech on Monday morning, there were email messages and phone calls about a softening of the ban. Morgan Stanley had agreed to let journalists “sit in” on the presentation so that they could “experience” the speech by Ms. Harris. However, no matter how much they “experienced,” journalists would not be allowed to report on the presentation. My printable response was: Why bother?
I guess ISITC and Morgan Stanley thought that this solution would be enough to satisfy what they assume are submissive, sheep-like journalists, happy to just breathe in the glory of the Gods and Goddesses of Wall Street. There would be no need to relay the wisdom of Morgan Stanley through the press – just let osmosis do the job of the media.
But, for this journalist, they were wrong.
I am old school and despite social media and citizen journalists the world still needs fools like me to cut through the spin control. We need to get as close as we can to the truth, and the truth of the situation is that Morgan Stanley wanted to ban the press for what turned out to be a presentation that posed no threat to the firm.. In fact, non-media attendees were tweeting about her speech, which undercut the ban. Other members of the press were commenting on the non-ban ban but didn’t have the guts to stand up to it. In addition, while ISITC says that it was only doing the bidding of one of its members, it was an ISITC event.
Why couldn’t Morgan Stanley bend for once and accommodate an organization that is trying hard to make life easier for securities firms? In addition, why didn’t Morgan Stanley take on board that ISITC was celebrating a 20-year history of pushing for transparency, cooperation and illumination – of essentially taking the higher ground when no one else will.
I guess that Morgan Stanley, like me, has every right to be old school when it comes to the media. However, that doesn’t mean that I have gone gently into that good night or trade show.
Feel free to share your opinions with me as I and FTF News still allow for free speech.
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