Bloomberg's Pittman remembered

Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman, who died earlier this week, is remembered by a number of journalists and sources on Saturday.

Felix Salmon of Reuters writes, “Pittman was an aggressive, old-school journalist, who was in his element going after big Wall Street institutions. Like most of the journalists I’ve criticized, he never responded to my blog entry, and I never met or spoke to him. That’s very much my loss: I’m sure I would have learned a lot. But Pittman had bigger fish to catch. His loss to the profession is irreplaceable.”

J. Jennings Moss, the editor of Portfolio.com, writes, “What does matter is that Mark Pittman was doing the kind of provocative journalism that treads new ground and rings alarms. As business journalism gets downsized and stated opinions seem to matter more than the facts they’re based on, it’s important to remember what one talented reporter can do. And it’s crucial Pittman’s approach to business news isn’t forgotten.”

Chris Whalen of The Big Picture writes, “Mark was a great reporter and a great friend.  He prized accuracy over timeliness at a time when many people in the media don’t know the difference.  He led the legal effort to force the Fed to open the books on AIG and the many other bailouts. I owed him a phone call last week and now must wait to return it and his many favors.  We actually got to take in a Yankees game a couple of years ago and I now appreciate how important and fleeting are those moments.   Mark will be missed but the fight continues.”

ZeroHedge.com writes, “Zero Hedge staffers met with Mark days before his death at which point we discovered he was working on a major financial expose. We would be humbled to pick up the torch and bring his last opus to closure. We are sure Bloomberg News will keep Mark’s spirit alive, and will continue his lifelong pursuit of eliminating secrecy and opacity, and bringing truth and justice to all corners of high finance.Mark shall be missed.”