Fenner reflects on 20 years at Bloomberg

Bloomberg News newsroom trainer Robert Fenner reflected on 20 years at the news organization in a LinkedIn post.

Fenner writes, “The first is that I had no idea I’d spend the bulk of my professional life with Bloomberg. I joined in 2004 with a focus on the Australian consumer. Having worked across multiple beats at my previous employer, I was drawn to the opportunity of reporting in depth on a specialized sector. Doing so in a beautiful office with a great pantry and views over Sydney Harbour were a nice benefit but not the real attraction. I knew and respected people who worked at Bloomberg and wanted to be part of a growing newsroom but you never know if you’re going to mesh with a newsroom or corporate culture until you are immersed in it. So for that reason, I keeping an open mind on where things would go.

“That uncertainty didn’t last long and shortly after joining I realized my job would be different to what I expected, but in a good way. Yes I had a specific coverage area, but I also needed to be ready to jump on any news because of Bloomberg’s all-hands-on-deck culture. When bushfires erupted, I’d become an emergency services reporter. When an election was called, I found myself on the politics beat. If a new film was going to underpin a tourism push (yes that really happened), well I was an entertainment reporter all of a sudden. I remember one bureau dinner when news broke of a big executive departure and half of us left early and headed to the office to hammer out a piece. I preferred a byline on a big story to the restaurant’s dessert menu anyway.

“I loved the fast pace but going from a much smaller newsroom to a larger one took some getting used to. I’ve never had the athletic ability to achieve much on a sporting field (anyone who has seen me run can attest to that) but it’s quite the adrenalin rush to get a scoop out before any of your rivals.”

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