Members of the CoinDesk editorial team have sent a letter to the CEO of its parent expressing concern about its influence over the newsroom in the wake of the firing of its editor in chief and two other top editors, reports Daniel Kuhn of The Block.
Kuhn reports, “‘In the original press release announcing Bullish’s acquisition of CoinDesk, you expressed your ‘unwavering support for CoinDesk’s commitment to journalistic independence,’ the letter, seen by The Block, reads. ‘Unbeknownst to most of the public — we no longer function as an ‘independent subsidiary’ of our parent company. Instead, we have been fully absorbed into Bullish, a crypto exchange that directly competes with many of the companies we cover.’
“CoinDesk was purchased for $75 million by Bullish, an entity spun out of EOS-operator Block.one, in 2023, while the newsroom’s previous owner, Digital Currency Group, faced bankruptcy proceedings. The acquisition came after CoinDesk published award-winning scoops related to the FTX fraud that nearly crippled its previous parent company.
“At the time, Bullish hired former Wall Street Journal EiC Matt Murray to a ‘one-person’ editorial committee to serve as the liaison between editorial and business operations.
“‘Evidently, this was all for show. Bullish executives now heavily influence editorial and content decisions,’ the staffers wrote, noting that Murray has been ‘stretched thin’ by other responsibilities taken up since taking office, including serving as executive editor at the Washington Post. On Thursday, Fortune reported Murray resigned from the CoinDesk-Bullish editorial board following a quarrel regarding the Justin Sun incident.”
Read more here.
