Tension surrounds Bloomberg’s political coverage

There is tension between the New York-based Bloomberg Politics team and Bloomberg News staffers in the company’s Washington bureau, which had steered election coverage in the past, reports Michael Calderone of The Huffington Post.

Calderone writes, “Some Washington sources say the bureau has been marginalized by the shift to New York, and in recent weeks several D.C.-based political journalists have left the company. Last week, top editors from both sides met and discussed the presidential election and ‘making editorial operations in D.C. and New York more seamless and leveraging the full resources of Bloomberg’s Washington bureau,’ a Bloomberg spokesman said Thursday.

“The Huffington Post first inquired last week about Halperin and Heilemann’s bylines after sources familiar with the matter said management bristled at the latter’s first piece for its use of profanity and anonymous quotations, both of which ran afoul of the company’s strict style guide, The Bloomberg Way.

“While journalists can use anonymous sources to provide specific information, The Bloomberg Way prohibits ‘direct quotes from anonymous people.’ Bloomberg journalists can only publish obscenities when they are part of a newsworthy, on-the-record quote and not simply to add color. Bloomberg style may be looser on the web than within its subscription-based terminals, and some Bloomberg Politics articles include obscenities. But anonymous quotations remain off limits.”

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