Esprit de Press Corps ?

Am I correct that Alec MacGillis just broke ranks ?

I this article I read

Johnson cautioned against over-confidence, saying that an article on the Wall Street Journal's front page today about the doubts that six Democratic senators have about the bill may have been "a little optimistic" -- "even though I planted a lot of that story."

Now I am not surprised that lobbyists (Randy Johnson is the National Chamber of Commerce's "point man on labor legislation") brag about planting stories, but I'm not used to reading in one newspaper that a story in another newspaper was "planted."