Bloomberg tried to hire Baquet to oversee DC

Bloomberg News recently tried recruiting New York Times managing editor Dean Baquet to oversee Washington coverage, reports Michael Calderone of The Huffington Post.

Calderone writes, “Senior Executive Editor Laurie Hays, who has known Baquet since their days reporting for a small New Orleans newspaper, approached the Times editor in recent months about the Washington position at Bloomberg, according to sources familiar with the matter who are unauthorized to discuss it. Despite the overture, Baquet is not leaving the Times and Bloomberg filled the position on Friday.

“Baquet declined to comment. A Bloomberg spokesman also declined to comment.

“Landing Baquet would have been a long shot for Bloomberg — or really, any news outlet — considering that he’s second-in-command at the Times and is considered by many in the newsroom to be in line as the next executive editor. Still, the attempt is testament to Bloomberg’s ambition to be viewed as the most influential news outlet.

“Despite a lucrative terminal business aimed at financial institutions, Bloomberg has struggled at driving the news and opinion conversation on the Web, on social media and on cable news. Bloomberg boasts a Washington staff roughly three times larger than that of the Times, but doesn’t have the same influence in the capital, or generate buzz in the political world like Politico.”

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