Bloomberg's insurance series draws industry reaction

Dean Starkman of Columbia Journalism Review writes Wednesday that a series on the insurance industry from Bloomberg News drew an angry response from trade group Insurance Information Institute that caused the Deadline Club to review its facts before naming winners in its annual contest.

The series, which was a finalist in four categories, failed to win any, and Bloomberg editor in chief Matthew Winkler is upset about the situation.

Starkman writes, “Bloomberg says it stands by its story and, after meeting with Hartwig, declined to run a correction. A spokeswoman adds that Bloomberg is still waiting to hear from the Deadline Club.

“Paradis, the club’s president, told me the club plans to write back to Winkler. Meanwhile, he defended its awards process and offered what amounts to a qualified endorsement of the facts in the stories.

“‘We received complaints about the story and therefore had no choice but to examine it,’ Paradis said. ‘We did so in good faith and gave both sides fair treatment. The results speak for themselves as the story was named as a finalist in several categories. If an entry doesn’t merit being a finalist, it’s not included. We had several categories for which no entrants were recognized.’

“I’ll cut to the conclusion: a review by The Audit found no significant factual errors and no errors at all involving the insurance industry. The III’s allegations are unfounded. Details are below.”

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