Categories: OLD Media Moves

Who is running Bloomberg News?

Jonahan Berr, a former Bloomberg News reporter, writes on BloggingStocks.com that the appointment of Norman Pearlstine as Bloomberg’s chief content officer calls into question who is actually running the company’s news operations.

Berr writes, “During my career there, there was no question that Matthew Winkler was in charge. My colleagues laughed hysterically when I told them I asked Winkler about his bow ties during my interview with him before I was hired. Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief is not known for his sense of humor. Good thing I didn’t bring up bow ties — which he wears every day — again.

“That’s why I found the appointment of former Wall Street Journal top editor Norman Pearlstine as Bloomberg’s chief content officer so curious. Does this mean that Pearlstine, who was Winkler’s boss at the Journal, will supervise him again? What exactly does a chief content officer do that’s different than an editor-in-chief? I am not sure of the answers to those questions and neither is the New York Times.

“As the Times opines, ‘the move suggests that Bloomberg, whose fortunes have been buoyed by the selling of its hugely profitable data terminals to brokerage firms and investment banks, plans to expand the journalism side of its business.’

“But I doubt that tells the whole story. Bloomberg has always seen news as a way to sell terminals. The company wants customers to rely on the company’s namesake machines for whatever information they need.”

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Ken Doctor says:
May 15, 2008 at 8:54 pm
It's clear to me that Bloomberg is coming to the understanding that it must move more strongly into the advertising economy and the consumer business, as the wall between enterprise and consumer melts away. The terminal business has been a great one, but like any legacy business must watch its flanks. I've found that Bloomberg's reporters are some of the best in the industry, savvy and comfortable with data (which you can't say of all business reporters, regrettably), but that its consumer media from TV to radio to magazines is undersold, underpromoted and underdistributed. I think that's the message of the move. More here at: http://www.contentbridges.com/2008/05/bloombergs-next.html