OLD Media Moves

Could more changes be scheduled at Bloomberg?

February 5, 2009

Jonathan Berr, a former Bloomberg News reporter, writes Thursday on BloggingStocks.com about the announcement Wednesday that Bloomberg was laying off 100 employees in its radio and TV operations and what other changes the company might make in the current economic situation.

Berr writes, “When I started with the company, Wall Streeters proudly boasting of having their own terminals. Now, they are lucky if they get to share one as financial services firms under pressure from their new government masters cut costs. Bloomberg is no doubt feeling the impact of these changes.

“For years, the company operated pretty freely, worrying about any payoff later. Those days are clearly over. Though Bloomberg says it plans to hire 1,000 people in its news and finance departments over the next year, you have to wonder if other jobs are going to be cut in other departments or if the hiring plans will be scaled back.

“Bloomberg News also hired many high-priced journalists such as Albert Hunt of the Wall Street Journal and Margaret Carlson of Time magazine over the past few years. Their contracts may have to be renegotiated. Bloomberg Markets, the company’s glossy monthly magazine, could be feeling the heat as well. The well-regarded publication will face difficulty surviving as a stand-alone entity.”

Read more here.

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