Micklethwait: Bloomberg layoffs are about refocusing, not downsizing

Bloomberg editor in chief John Micklethwait sent a note to employees after the news organization laid off reporters and editors on Tuesday, calling the decision an effort to refocus, not downsize, reports Michael Calderone of The Huffington Post.

Calderone writes, “‘It always hurts to let talented, dedicated people go, and no journalist likes to tell other journalists that they are losing their jobs,’ Micklethwait wrote in the memo to staffers. ‘But this is not about downsizing; it is about refocusing our considerable resources. We are committed to changing Bloomberg Editorial in significant ways, and I think this is the time to lay out in more detail the course we are now set upon. It is guided by three big ideas – what we want to be, who we are trying to serve and how we should be organized.’

“Micklethwait, who was hired by CEO Michael Bloomberg from The Economist late last year, and officially began in February, has said in recent months that the company must focus its efforts around six core topics: business, finance, markets, technology, economics and power, which encompasses government and politics.

“He went further in Tuesday’s memo by explicitly defining Bloomberg’s goal as becoming the definitive chronicler of capitalism, ‘to capture everything that matters in global business and finance.’

“‘Some of you may worry that chronicling capitalism means singing the praises of Mammon or boosting individual moneymakers. Not at all,’ he wrote. ‘Our job is to expose financiers’ mistakes and vanities, to probe into imperfect markets and to point to potential speculative bubbles – not least because that is exactly the information that our readers, viewers and listeners need to do their jobs.'”

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