Is it ethical for a journalist to publish hacked data?

TLDR;

• Kevin Roose published an article that was based on an anonymous email with a hacked data-set

• The data included Sony HR data

• Roose published it without confirmation from Sony or any employees that the data was accurate

Questions I was pondering:

• Is this bad a bad precedent to set?

• Should we be concerned that journalists are using their platforms to release private information or does it matter now that anyone can publish on Pastebin or elsewhere?