Bloomberg’s Winkler Upset with Bloomberg TV Standards

Matt Winkler, the editor in chief of Bloomberg News, has attacked the quality of reporting at Bloomberg Television in his latest weekly internal e-mail, obtained by Hamilton Nolan of Gawker.

Winkler wrote, “Readers, listeners and viewers rely on Bloomberg News to give them facts, not glib labels, cliches or gossip.

“A Bloomberg Television graphic labeled ‘Kan The Man’ in reference to Naoto Kan’s bid to become Japan’s prime minister was puerile, obscure and uninformative.”

He later wrote, “When Bloomberg Television produced ‘Million-Dollar Home Market Rebounds in U.S. Northeast,’ there wasn’t a corresponding Bloomberg News story. That’s because the real estate team wasn’t informed.

“The BTV report said, ‘These bidding wars are between some buyers who are upsizing to million-dollar homes, others that are downsizing from mansions in the $8 million to $10 million range.’ There was no attribution, data or evidence to support this assertion.

“The single source for the BTV production was a real estate broker, who said there is a bidding ‘frenzy’ between his clients. The comment was self-serving, making its authority questionable. The BTV production conflicted with a March 1 Bloomberg News story, ‘Greenwich ‘Move-Up’ Homes Idle as NYC Buyers Stay Put.’”

Read more here.