Learning curve for Bloomberg TV anchor Westin

David Folkenflik of NPR writes about Bloomberg Television anchor David Westin, who previously ran ABC News.

Folkenflik writes, “As an anchor, Westin misses little on air. He’s a careful listener, a quick study, with a lawyer’s ability to drill down.

“‘There are very few jobs you can have … where they pay you a reasonable amount of money to come in every day, learn about things other people don’t know about, and then tell other people about it in a way they can understand and retain and use,’ Westin says in a lounge off the soaring atrium that defines Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York City. ‘That’s a really good job. And on a really good day, make a difference.’

“Westin says he would now tell any future ABC News president who asked for advice to anchor a show for one week: ABC’s overnight news show, the program with the division’s lowest ratings and the least at stake.

“He’s still not perfectly polished. The morning I visited Bloomberg’s set, Westin stumbled over a name of a financial analyst. The mistake was modest, yet Westin apologized gently on the air — and profoundly afterward, taking pains to explaining precisely why it happened.”

Read more here.