Examining the success of Bloomberg News

Knowledge@Wharton, a website run by the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, examines Bloomberg News and its growth.

It writes, “Accuracy is key. ‘We want to impress with the quality of our information, not the intricacy of our prose,’ Winkler writes. ‘Accuracy is the most important principle in journalism. There is no such thing as being first with news if we’re wrong.’

“If growth is any indication, the formulas work. Little more than two decades after the first Bloomberg byline went out, the news service has expanded to 146 news bureaus in 72 countries producing 5,000 stories a day. Bloomberg Television reaches 310 million households globally. The company bought BusinessWeek — now Bloomberg Businessweek — from McGraw-Hill in 2009, created Bloomberg Government in 2010, and in September bought the Bureau of National Affairs, an Arlington, Va.-based legal news service, for just under $1 billion in cash.

“One prize Bloomberg News hasn’t yet won is a Pulitzer. In journalism circles, some attribute that to the dictates of Bloomberg style. A former Wall Street Journal reporter known for wearing bowties and succumbing to an explosive temper — the website Gawker once called Winkler ‘one of the angriest men in media’ — Winkler has been rumored to prohibit reporters from using adjectives, adverbs or even the word ‘but.’

“A careful reading of The Bloomberg Way shows that Winkler’s rules are not as rigid as journo-legend says. Inspired by the classic writing guide The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, Winkler’s guidance echoes many tenets of good writing: ‘Prefer the short to the long. Prefer the familiar to the fancy. Prefer the specific word to the abstract.'”

Read more here.