"The Bloomberg Way" comes to D.C.
Defining the ethos of one of Washington’s fastest growing news organizations is a style guide called “The Bloomberg Way,” which among other things bans words like “but,” “despite,” and “however,” because they “force readers to deal with conflicting ideas in the same sentence.”
But there’s an unambiguous phrase that Matthew Winkler, the style book’s author, thinks should define Bloomberg News — “most influential,” as in the world’s most influential news operation.
“If you’re serious about developing a news organization, and you want to take it to its ultimate fulfillment,” Winkler, Bloomberg News editor-in-chief, told POLITICO, “those two words have to be at the top of your list.”
It’s an ambition that might sound grandiose for an organization that started off as little more than a stock ticker three decades ago. But that would not take into account the company’s founder and namesake, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Just as Bloomberg spared no expense in winning his third term earlier this month, the billions in annual revenue that Bloomberg L.P. – parent of Bloomberg News – earns from its core business of financial information make it a rising force in the media world at a time when more traditional media – newspapers and networks – are in decline.
Founded in 1990, Bloomberg News now boasts a staff of 1,550 reporters scattered across 146 bureaus in the U.S. and abroad and hugely influences the financial world. Bloomberg is a must-read for the world’s business elite; indeed, the company still reportedly brings in 85 percent of its revenue through leasing its terminals—officially called The Bloomberg Professional—to those in need of up-to-the-millisecond financial data.
Only recently has it turned its attention to Washington, a place the company believes it has to be to fulfill its ambitions.
Under the radar, Bloomberg has built up a Washington bureau with 140 reporters and editors—three times the size of the New York Times bureau—and fields a White House team of six reporters. Mike Tackett, Bloomberg’s Washington bureau chief, decamped from the same position at the Chicago Tribune last year, one of five journalists to leave the bankrupt newspaper for Bloomberg.
Part of what Bloomberg has brought to Washington is the unique corporate culture suggested by “The Bloomberg Way.”
Throughout the company, there’s high-minded talk about openness and transparency, mixed with the feeling of being watched and monitored. Staffers wear bulky ID badges that allow the company to know when they come and go. There are perks (free food!) and quirks (fish tanks!) reminiscent of a free-wheeling 90’s start-up, but complete with a top-down, corporate structure with strict rules about words that can never be used.
Winkler, who launched the news division, remains a combustible figure at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters—indeed, a clip of one of his notorious tirades made its way to Gawker.com. And while Bloomberg detractors talk of a cult-like atmosphere that keeps staffers glued to their desks all day, the pay is good and the company’s growing. The same can’t be said about a lot of newsrooms these days.
Along with scooping up talent from rivals and building up its news division, the company is making big deals, too. Last month, Bloomberg announced it was purchasing BusinessWeek, signaling a new direction for a company that has traditionally built from within. Bloomberg also announced a major partnership with the Washington Post that begins January 1.
Partnering with the Post helps Bloomberg make further inroads into Washington media, a tightly-knit world that’s been wary of the news organization ever since it crossed the Potomac. CongressDaily’s George Condon recalled that while he was president of the White House Correspondents Association about 15 years ago, he took heat from other news outlets for letting Bloomberg into the pool rotation.
“Several reporters told me quite forcefully that they didn’t consider Bloomberg to be a genuine news organization and saw it instead as a political instrument of Michael Bloomberg,” Condon said. As of a sign of how much things have changed, Bloomberg’s Ed Chen was elected president of the Correspondents Association this past summer.
Defining the ethos of one of Washington’s fastest growing news organizations is a style guide called “The Bloomberg Way,” which among other things bans words like “but,” “despite,” and “however,” because they “force readers to deal with conflicting ideas in the same sentence.”
But there’s an unambiguous phrase that Matthew Winkler, the style book’s author, thinks should define Bloomberg News — “most influential,” as in the world’s most influential news operation.
“If you’re serious about developing a news organization, and you want to take it to its ultimate fulfillment,” Winkler, Bloomberg News editor-in-chief, told POLITICO, “those two words have to be at the top of your list.”
It’s an ambition that might sound grandiose for an organization that started off as little more than a stock ticker three decades ago. But that would not take into account the company’s founder and namesake, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Just as Bloomberg spared no expense in winning his third term earlier this month, the billions in annual revenue that Bloomberg L.P. – parent of Bloomberg News – earns from its core business of financial information make it a rising force in the media world at a time when more traditional media – newspapers and networks – are in decline.
Founded in 1990, Bloomberg News now boasts a staff of 1,550 reporters scattered across 146 bureaus in the U.S. and abroad and hugely influences the financial world. Bloomberg is a must-read for the world’s business elite; indeed, the company still reportedly brings in 85 percent of its revenue through leasing its terminals—officially called The Bloomberg Professional—to those in need of up-to-the-millisecond financial data.
Only recently has it turned its attention to Washington, a place the company believes it has to be to fulfill its ambitions.
Under the radar, Bloomberg has built up a Washington bureau with 140 reporters and editors—three times the size of the New York Times bureau—and fields a White House team of six reporters. Mike Tackett, Bloomberg’s Washington bureau chief, decamped from the same position at the Chicago Tribune last year, one of five journalists to leave the bankrupt newspaper for Bloomberg.
Part of what Bloomberg has brought to Washington is the unique corporate culture suggested by “The Bloomberg Way.”
Throughout the company, there’s high-minded talk about openness and transparency, mixed with the feeling of being watched and monitored. Staffers wear bulky ID badges that allow the company to know when they come and go. There are perks (free food!) and quirks (fish tanks!) reminiscent of a free-wheeling 90’s start-up, but complete with a top-down, corporate structure with strict rules about words that can never be used.
Winkler, who launched the news division, remains a combustible figure at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters—indeed, a clip of one of his notorious tirades made its way to Gawker.com. And while Bloomberg detractors talk of a cult-like atmosphere that keeps staffers glued to their desks all day, the pay is good and the company’s growing. The same can’t be said about a lot of newsrooms these days.
Along with scooping up talent from rivals and building up its news division, the company is making big deals, too. Last month, Bloomberg announced it was purchasing BusinessWeek, signaling a new direction for a company that has traditionally built from within. Bloomberg also announced a major partnership with the Washington Post that begins January 1.
Partnering with the Post helps Bloomberg make further inroads into Washington media, a tightly-knit world that’s been wary of the news organization ever since it crossed the Potomac. CongressDaily’s George Condon recalled that while he was president of the White House Correspondents Association about 15 years ago, he took heat from other news outlets for letting Bloomberg into the pool rotation.
“Several reporters told me quite forcefully that they didn’t consider Bloomberg to be a genuine news organization and saw it instead as a political instrument of Michael Bloomberg,” Condon said. As of a sign of how much things have changed, Bloomberg’s Ed Chen was elected president of the Correspondents Association this past summer.
Sources: Politico
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