Combining reporters with analysts

Mallory Jean Tenore of the Poynter.org site takes a look at the Bloomberg Government operation, which is currently in beta version but will launch on Jan. 1.

Tenore writes, “‘We want to do exclusive enterprise reporting that quantifies the business implications of government action,’ Deputy Managing Editor Ken Sands said in a phone interview.

“‘When I say reporting, I mean traditional narrative storytelling as well as reporting in a more academic, analytic mode,’ continued Sands, formerly the executive editor of innovation at Congressional Quarterly. ‘Some of our subject-matter experts will write academic white papers that are quite rigorous, and it’ll bring a whole different level of expertise to the product.’

“BGov’s news team, which is part of Bloomberg News, will produce daily stories but will focus primarily on in-depth projects, according to Sands. The site will supplement that coverage with other Bloomberg reporting and videos from Bloomberg TV to free up employees for longer-term work. Sands said some white papers could take a month to complete, but reporters will generally work on a shorter time frame.

“Sands said he believes that BGov’s combination of content from analysts and journalists will distinguish the site from others covering public policy and government. He said he regularly reminds his staff that they must provide content that readers can’t find elsewhere.”

Read more here.