It was surely just a huge mistake - "oops, I hit code 2, not code 3 on line 5 in the prompt 7 screen" - that got somebody fired - that made this became momentarily public.
All big media (newspapers, TV, etc.) have certain stories already "in the can" in case they ever happen. For example, have you ever wondered how every network has such a detailed piece of work describing the life of a person that just passed away five minutes ago? It's because they took their time to produce it in advance and have it ready to go at a moment's notice once it actually happens; it's not due to them having inside information about the person's imminent death.
In this case, e-spin produced something on (a possible trade of) Chad Johnson, but a goof allowed it to be seen by the public. It happens, just like the Chris Berman rant that's on YouTube. Not to pick on e-spin (though it's so much fun), every major media outlet does the same pre-packaged type of story; if they don't they are hours behind on breaking the story (which loses ratings, which loses revenue, which costs somebody their job.)