Hollywood Reporter traded coverage with Summit Entertainment, Finke says *

Nikki Finke alleges at Deadline Hollywood that The Hollywood Reporter "deleted embarrassing information about Summit Entertainment principals from a financial story about the studio's refinancing in order to 'horse-trade' it for the cover story interview with Jodie Foster that appears in this week's print edition." Says Finke:

No one is denying to me this occurred. But both THR and Summit agreed to keep the horse-trading secret. So much for real journalism taking place at that Hollywood media outlet under its new ownership. In fact, showbiz sources tell me that this incident is "just the tip of the iceberg" about what's going on there.

She says that news editor Matt Belloni and editor-in-chief Janice Min didn't return her calls, but that reporter Alex Ben Block said: "I feel I acted with integrity, and the story I wrote had integrity, and I am quite happy with the story I wrote."

* THR responds to Deadline's report via email: "We are amused by this blog’s ongoing obsession with The Hollywood Reporter and also its laughable attempts to be the barometer of journalistic ethics.”