John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, has topped the rankings for awkward achievements over the past year, revealing cuts to some 90 people in the editorial and research departments.
The cuts amount to just under 3 percent of employees who currently number about 3,100.
“As a news agency, we’ve learned a lot over the last twelve months,” Micklethwait, who joined Bloomberg News in 2015 after a stint at The Economist, wrote in a memo obtained by Media Ink. “At our best we were incorrigible.”
But then he dropped the hammer – and especially with a view to dragging his feet in the news office.
“We all know that we also ‘lost’ stories because we moved too slowly,” he continued. ‘Teams waited for someone to read a piece back, or ignored the News Desk’s requests to blow fast. Managers spent too much time setting up conference calls if they only had to write. Or teams suddenly delivered enterprise pieces that no one wanted.
“Covid emphasized these strengths and weaknesses. But in reality, it has been clear for some time. ‘
Most of the cuts are in the editorial ranks as he tries to move stories faster.
“It was not a step we took lightly. But we have always tried to make the newsroom better – to make us more mobile, to improve our content and to help us get ‘capitalist chronicles’ in an even more comprehensive way. ”
“A system that relies on someone who corrects errors further down the production line means no one owns a story,” Micklethwait added. ‘We need accountability: you only sign a story if you think it’s ready to publish. You are responsible for it. We also need editors who can work for more than one team. ”
A spokesman declined to comment on whether specific stories caused the outburst for the company owned by former mayor Mike Bloomberg.