Most Americans are aware that the so-called “mainstream media” is fraudulent, dishonest, and a vehicle for Left-wing propaganda, but former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced this week he’s seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, just took journalistic malpractice to a whole new level.
In a tweet on Sunday, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg’s namesake news organization, John Micklethwait, said the editorial board would be suspending any coverage of the billionaire former mayor and there would be no “investigation” of him, his family, or his anti-gun foundation.
“The place where Mike has had the most contact with Editorial is Bloomberg Opinion: our editorials have reflected his views,” Micklethwait wrote, adding the names of some editorial board members who would be stepping down from their posts and joining Bloomberg’s campaign.
As such, “We will suspend the Board, so there will be no unsigned editorials. Our columnists, who produce the majority of Bloomberg Opinion’s content, will continue to speak for themselves, and we will continue to take some op-ed articles from outsiders (although not op-eds on the election).
https://twitter.com/farhip/status/1198645499433275394
In short, because Bloomberg owns the news organization, it will not scrutinize him or his campaign, even though they have been scrutinizing President Donald Trump since before he took office.
Oh, and the Bloomberg News organization will continue to cover Trump right up to the election.
Just not Michael Bloomberg. Or other Democrats.
Fortunately, however, a union that represents Bloomberg journalists did not take this cop-out lying down. In fact, as Zero Hedge reports, the union is demanding that the publication lift its ban on coverage of Bloomberg and the other 2020 Democratic presidential contenders.
“We are extremely alarmed by management’s decision to silence the journalists we represent at Bloomberg Industry Group, as well as the unrepresented journalists at Bloomberg News,” the union said in a letter sent to the media outlet on Monday.
This is how you destroy trust and credibility in media
“We call on Bloomberg corporate management to rescind its policy and allow journalists throughout the Bloomberg family to do their jobs.”
https://twitter.com/GuildatBIG/status/1199129845181091840
“The Guild believes journalists should not only be allowed -- but encouraged -- to thoroughly cover every single candidate as the profession demands in one of the most important elections in modern history," the union added. "A journalist's job is, above all, to cover the news and to serve as an independent monitor of power.”
While the union’s action is admirable, any fair-minded political news consumer knows beyond any doubt that Bloomberg News has never covered President Trump and Democrats the same.
Republicans like the president always get worse treatment than do their Democrat counterparts — and that’s pretty much the way it is throughout the ‘mainstream’ press.
But to come right out and announce that you’re not going to cover a major party 2020 presidential contender because he owns your news outlet is worse than journalistic malpractice: It’s irresponsible. (Related: After assaulting soda sizes, Bloomberg now wants to destroy tanning salons.)
What happens if Jeff Bezos decides someday to run for president? Will the Washington Post he owns announce it, too, won’t cover the Bezos campaign (or, presumably, the other Democrats he’d be running against for the nomination)?
This is a poor standard to set.
Former Bloomberg politics news director Kathy Kiely told The Guardian that the new rules "relegate [Bloomberg’s] political writers to stenography journalism … it’s not satisfying for journalists and it’s not satisfying for readers. I think people will go elsewhere for in-depth political coverage.”
Kiely’s advice is for Bloomberg to step away from Bloomberg News instead of undermining an organization "he worked so hard and spent so much money to build up.”
“It is not an easy place” to work, Kiely added. Journalists there “deserve a hell of a lot better treatment than this.”
Yes, and so do American readers.
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