Bloomberg to appoint ombudsman, create task force

Lauren Tara LaCapra of Reuters reports that Bloomberg LP will appoint an ombudsman and create a task force to review the way the company gathers news after a report confirmed its journalists routinely looked at client information intended for customer support employees.

LaCapra writes, “The report, which Bloomberg commissioned and released on Wednesday, found that journalists could gain access to data including clients’ log-in history, contact information and messages that customers left when they were moving firms.

“Reporters could also get into anonymous chat rooms set up for commodities traders, who were never explicitly told that journalists could see their chats, according to the report from consulting firm Promontory Financial Group and law firm Hogan Lovells.

“While the practice of journalists getting access to client data and chat rooms raised questions among some customers, it is not illegal.

“Bloomberg blocked reporter access to the data in April 2013 after a customer complained.

“A separate review by Clark Hoyt, a former public editor at the New York Times, also commissioned by Bloomberg and released on Wednesday focused on recommendations to ensure the company’s commercial and news gathering operations were sufficiently independent.”

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