Washington Post - July 18, 2002
Enron-N.Y. Times Co. Deal Highlights Media's Dilemma By Howard Kurtz
When Enron collapsed amid spectacular scandal, the New York Times repeatedly assailed the company in editorials for its tangled finances.
Five years ago, it turns out, the New York Times Co. struck a "newsprint swap agreement" -- a financial deal in which no physical assets changed hands -- with the very same Houston energy company.
The Times-Enron deal was disclosed in the fine print of the newspaper company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings but not in editorials that slammed Enron for "accounting shenanigans" and other financial misbehavior.
The Times is hardly alone. Many of the media companies that have been reporting on -- and often criticizing -- corporate accounting and the aggressive use of stock options engage in the same practices themselves, according to federal records.
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