Just as Bloomberg News makes money from Bloomberg terminals, Refinitiv’s bread and butter is Eikon, not the Reuters news articles it includes on the platform. On its website, Refinitiv bills Eikon as a digital product that allows users to “turbocharge your analysis of the financial markets with the ultimate set of tools.”
A Blackstone spokesman referred questions on the pulled articles to Refinitiv. So did a Reuters spokesman, after standing up for the company’s journalism in a statement.
“Reuters reports around the world in a fair, unbiased and independent manner,” the spokesman, David Crundwell, said, adding, “and we stand by our China coverage.”
“We continue to provide Refinitiv with the same scope of content that we always have, including stories relating to China, and its decisions will not affect the breadth or quality of our coverage,” he said.
In a memo emailed to Reuters staff members that was obtained by The New York Times, the company president, Michael Friedenberg, and the editor in chief, Stephen J. Adler, said they had “expressed our concern” to Refinitiv.
“We urge you all to continue reporting as you always would: to pursue the truth, without fear or favor,” they said.
Last month, two Reuters journalists were released from prison by Myanmar’s government, which had held them for 16 months for covering the military’s attacks on the Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority.
Days before the journalists were set free, Mr. Friedenberg and Mr. Adler released a statement on World Press Freedom Day: “These are treacherous times for journalists and — consequently — for the billions of people around the globe whose lives can be informed, improved and sometimes even saved by the work journalists do.”