Winkler: Data has helped make Bloomberg News successful

Bloomberg News is successful partly because it uses data to tell stories that no one else covers, said editor in chief Matthew Winkler in a speech Wednesday at Stanford University.

Edward Ngai of the Stanford Daily writes, “In a brief question and answer period, Winkler touched briefly on some of the pressing issues facing business journalism and the industry as a whole. Asked about the way Western media should respond to the expulsion of journalists from China, including those from Bloomberg, Winkler demurred from answering directly but acknowledged that media organizations sometimes have to work in inhospitable political circumstances.

“‘We’re not, in any location, going in with the sole purpose of challenging the government or authority,’ he said. ‘We’re not going to be the ones to change the world that way. We’re going to change the world by illuminating events and reporting on issues.’

“That style of journalism paid dividends for Bloomberg News just this past week, with old-school journalism leading to the firm breaking and then leading coverage of Satya Nadella’s rise to Microsoft CEO.

“Winkler noted, however, that there is more to Bloomberg journalism than diligence and accuracy.

“‘[It] comes back to someone who is very familiar, very prepared, used to using data,’ he said.”

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