Bloomberg hires St. Pete Times reporter

Peter Schorsch of the St. PetersBlog writes that Bloomberg News has hired Sydney Freedberg, an investigative reporter for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

Schorsch writes, “Sydney has worked for some of the nation’s great newspapers, joining the Times in 1998 after 15 years with the Miami Herald (over two stints) and positions as well with the Wall Street Journal and Detroit News. Along the way, she collected major journalism awards, a recognition of her skill at taking on tough subjects and writing stories of significant impact. At the Herald she worked on teams that won three Pulitzer Prizes, and she shared a Pulitzer for investigative work at the Detroit News.

“At the Times she did what great reporters do: she followed the money, and along the way seemed to annoy the likes of Jeb Bush, Ash Williams and Tallahassee lobbyists who seemed confounded by her persistent questioning about how they handled taxpayer’s money.  Sydney’s work is particularly notable for the degree of difficulty in obtaining information about the most complex and under-scrutinized aspects of state government.  Through her tenacity, no one has done more for the cause of freedom of information in recent years than Sydney.

“Freedberg is leaving the Times to work for an investigative unit in for Bloomberg News based in Miami.  Counting political reporter Michael Bender, this is the second time this week the Times has lost a reporter to Bloomberg.

“Freedberg’s departure follows the losses earlier this year of marquee columnist Howard Troxler and investigative reporter Jeff Testerman, among others.”

Read more here.