Business in China
In 2012, Bloomberg News published investigative series titled "Revolution to Riches," which focused on China's political elite. The series won that year's George Polk Award for International Reporting.[15][16] One story in the series delved into the family wealth of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.[17] However, before publishing the Xi story, Bloomberg executives and senior editors met with Chinese diplomats twice, without informing the journalists working on the story.[18] Zhang Yesui, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, reportedly threatened Bloomberg with consequences for its Chinese operations if it published the story.[18] Bloomberg's editor-in-chief, Matthew Winkler, reportedly refused to stop the story from being published. Then-CEO Daniel Doctoroff also reportedly defended the investigation and insisted on publishing it, although he insisted on changes to soften the story's impact.[18] After the story was published in June 2012, the Chinese government ordered state enterprises not to subscribe to Bloomberg News. The company's website was also blocked on Chinese servers, and it was unable to obtain visas for journalists it wanted to send to China.[19]
The following year, Bloomberg shut down an ongoing investigation into the financial ties between a wealthy Chinese businessman and top Chinese leaders' families. Another planned article "about the children of senior Chinese officials employed by foreign banks" was also killed, according to Bloomberg employees.[20] At least five journalists and editors, including the lead writer on the Xi story,[18] left the company after news reports about the decision appeared.[21] One of the journalists said Bloomberg had disparaged "the team that worked so hard to execute an incredibly demanding story" and claimed it threatened the journalists who worked on the story with legal action if they discussed the incident publicly.[22][23]
Bloomberg's top editors, including the senior editor on the stories, Laurie Hays, and editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler denied that the stories were killed.[20] However, this was contradicted by several anonymous Bloomberg employees. According to one employee, Winkler had said, "If we run the story, we'll be kicked out of China."[20][22] Michael Bloomberg, founder of the company, also denied the accusation, but noted that he had recused himself from the company's operations as he was serving as mayor of New York.[24]
After the incidents, Bloomberg set about trying to repair its relationship with the Chinese government. By 2015, Bloomberg's reporters began receiving visas again.[21] Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer told the staff at the Bloomberg Hong Kong bureau that the company's sales team had done a "heroic job" of mending relations with Chinese officials who had indicated their displeasure about the publication of the Xi revelations. He also warned that if Bloomberg "were to do anything like" the Xi story again, the company would "be straight back in the shit-box."[18]
Bloomberg was widely criticized for how it handled the controversy. Howard French, a professor of journalism, wrote that Bloomberg had "tainted its corporate identity and journalism brand to a degree that could last for years."[
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Markets, Bloomberg.com, and Bloomberg's mobile platforms. Since 2015, John Micklethwait has served as editor-in-chief.
Bloomberg News was founded by Michael Bloomberg and Matthew Winkler in 1990 to deliver financial news reporting to Bloomberg Terminal subscribers.[3]
The agency was established in 1990 with a team of six people.[4] Winkler was first editor-in-chief.[5] In 2010, Bloomberg News included more than 2,300 editors and reporters in 72 countries and 146 news bureaus worldwide
Bloomberg Business News was created to expand the services offered through the terminals. According to Matthew Winkler, then a writer for The Wall Street Journal, Michael Bloomberg telephoned him in November 1989 and asked, "What would it take to get into the news business?"[8]
In his book, The Bloomberg Way, Winkler recalls a conversation with Bloomberg about a hypothetical ethical dilemma which could have arisen from Bloomberg's interest in creating a newspaper:
"You have just published a story that says the chairman—and I mean chairman—of your biggest customer has taken $5 million from the corporate till. He is with his secretary at a Rio de Janeiro resort, and the secretary's spurned boyfriend calls to tip you off. You get an independent verification that the story is true. Then the phone rings. The customer's public-relations person says, 'Kill the story or we will return all the terminals we currently rent from you.'"
"What would you do?" Winkler asked. "Go with the story," Bloomberg replied. "Our lawyers will love the fees you generate.
Winkler recalls this as his "deciding moment", the time at which he became willing to help Bloomberg build his news organization.[9][10]
The publication was created to provide concise, timely financial news.[11] As a new company in 1990, Bloomberg hoped that the news service would spread the company name, sell more Bloomberg Terminals and end Bloomberg's reliance on the Dow Jones News Services.[3]
The creation of Bloomberg Business News required Winkler to open a Bloomberg office in Washington, D.C., to report about political effects on the business world. However, the Standing Committee of Correspondents (SCC) in Washington required Bloomberg News be formally accredited to act as a legitimate news source, a title that Bloomberg Business News only accomplished after agreeing to provide free terminals to major newspapers in exchange for news space in the publications.[3] During this growth period Bloomberg News opened a small television station in New York, purchased New York radio station WNEW, launched fifteen-minute weekday business news programs for broadcast on PBS, and opened offices in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, Germany
REFERENCES
Jack W. Plunkett (2009). Plunkett's E-Commerce and Internet Business Almanac. Plunkett Research, Ltd. p. 209. ISBN 9781593921156.
Julia Greenberg (September 2, 2015). "Bloomberg's Future Is the Future of News for Everyone". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
Paul Bodine (2004). Make It New: Essays in the History of American Business. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse. pp. 180–190. ISBN 9780595309214. Retrieved March 15, 20
13.