Entitled to snoop in an ego-driven environment

Simon Dumenco of Ad Age deconstructs the Bloomberg snooping scandal and what it means.

Dumenco writes, “Bloomberg News’ admitted misuse of its power is worth deconstructing here, in Advertising Age specifically, because we’re one of the more than 440 publications worldwide that license Bloomberg journalism. (Adage.com occasionally runs Bloomberg stories.)

“For those of us who sit outside the Bloomberg bubble, it’s easy to understand how some of its reporters felt entitled to snoop. The company, from the top down, is ego-driven — it was founded, of course, by the current mayor of New York City — and because of the absurd economics of the Bloomberg terminals, which rent for roughly $20,000 a year per subscriber, the Bloomberg empire is awash in cash that almost defies comprehension. Bloomberg LP is 88%-owned by Mike Bloomberg, which has made him the seventh-richest person in America, with an estimated net worth of $27 billion.

“Bloomberg’s monument to himself, glittering Bloomberg Tower in midtown Manhattan, has a sprawling newsroom that architecture critic Paul Goldberger once called ‘one of the most exhilarating workspaces I’ve ever seen.’ Given that vibe, it’s also a monument to that lost post-Watergate, pre-internet golden era of journalism when a lot of journalists actually felt powerful, not embattled.

“In fact, Bloomberg newsrooms are among the last remaining precincts in which journalists don’t constantly feel like members of an endangered species. Enabled by the Bloomberg-terminal lotto money, Bloomberg News functions within a sort of reality-distortion field that shields it from the harsh economic realities other media companies face these days.

“Bloomberg, the man, tends to get what he wants (he spent $108 million on his self-financed campaign to win a third term as mayor); likewise, Bloomberg, the media empire, tends to get what it wants. Though Bloomberg has had some layoffs here and there — notably in early 2009 at Bloomberg Radio and TV — it’s never really been hesitant to spend big. (One journalist I know took a job there after Bloomberg made him the proverbial offer he couldn’t refuse: a more than $50,000 raise to jump ship from a competitor.) ”