Spokespeople, I hint, like to spin their answers, making them economical with the verité.
The ongoing financial crisis has possibly exacerbated this trend; it is something that is clearly irritating to all journalists who go through the process of fact checking. The Financial Times’ Alphaville site has been busy ranting this week about some of the spinning by financial institutions over the past few months in their attempts to kill stories. Personally, I don’t believe it should be that much of an issue provided that stories are well sourced and are still published, even if they have been denied.