Interesting. So they're reporting on a competitor and are known to try to move markets with their stories. Is there oversight? Since I have no legal training I ask naively, do protections for journalism cover a situation where reporters aim to influence and persuade (like editorials) rather than provide "just the facts?"

People keep repeating that here on HN as if it's a bad thing.

New information moves markets, and the larger impact it has, the more it will move markets, because markets are built on information. And obviously the function of the free press is to uncover and disseminate new information, the more meaningful the better. So it's not underhanded -- it's noble and completely aligned with good.

(Of course if reporters make up information or lie it's bad, but that's a separate issue, for which lazy or unethical reporters are generally fired.)