Bloomberg’s Winkler: Use data to dispel wrong story lines

Journalists need to look at data more often to determine if prevailing story lines being reported in the media are accurate, said the founding editor in chief of Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

“The job of journalists is to report truth in the age of data,” said Matthew Winkler, speaking at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism to a group of business journalism students.

Winkler cited multiple examples of recent stories that were overblown by the media that could have been disproved by looking at data.

For example, Winkler noted the voluminous coverage of the potential for Greece to default on its debt and leave the European Union during the first six months of 2015. Yet, if a reporter had examined the yield on 10-year Greek bonds, they would have seen that the yield reached its peak in 2012 and had dropped significantly since then, signaling that investors were not worried about the government defaulting.

“That is a reality check that every journalist, every politician, every economist could look at on a daily basis,” said Winkler about the lower yield. “This is the signal in the noise.”

Winkler also pointed to the media narrative that California is not a good state for businesses because of its high taxes and regulation. Yet, four of the top 10 companies in the world — Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Wells Fargo — in terms of market capitalization are based in California.

“How is it that investors around the world think that its companies are the best?” asked Winkler.

Winkler also discussed how current candidates for the U.S. presidency are campaigning on the idea that the country’s economy is not performing well. Yet economic data such as the fact that the U.S. has seen 21 consecutive quarters of increased loans to businesses by the largest banks — the longest streak since the mid 1980s — shows that the economy is growing strong.

He added that Michigan has added more jobs since the 2008 economic recession than most other states, which indicates strength in the auto industry.

“The auto industry is the most profitable it’s ever been,” said Winkler.

Winkler founded the global news service with Michael Bloomberg in 1990 when he joined the then eight-year-old financial information company Bloomberg L.P. He became a member of the Bloomberg L.P. board in 2006. He stepped down in early 2015 as editor in chief and transitioned to the role of editor in chief emeritus.