Bloomberg LP’s new newsroom regime looks a lot like the old one.
The business news and data giant on Friday picked executive editor Tim Quinson to be its new standards editor following revelations that its journalists had improperly accessed data about the company’s data customers.
Quinson’s appointment is surprising in that he’s a Bloomberg insider and one of the original team that built the business news operation alongside bow-tie-wearing Editor-in-Chief Matt Winkler.
Former New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt, who was tasked with reviewing the newsroom’s practices in the wake of the snooping scandal, recommended that Bloomberg appoint a standards editor to “read before publication major news stories and projects for accuracy, fairness, balance and tone.”
Given his close ties to Winkler and the old guard, however, Quinson will have to work to prove his independence and fairness.
“Tim will review major stories before publication to make sure we adhere to the Bloomberg Way,” wrote Winkler in a memo to staffers that was obtained by The Post.
The appointment comes after the company was torched with criticism from Wall Street terminal customers for allowing reporters access to information they feel encroached on their privacy.
As The Post first reported in May, Bloomberg reporters, using certain terminal keystrokes, could determine if particular bankers were logged in and using their computers — or if they were absent for prolonged periods of time.
After the banks found out about the clandestine moves and protested loudly to Bloomberg, the company commissioned Hoyt to come up with a list of remedies — including the appointment of a standards editor as well as an independent editor, or ombudsman, who would bypass the powerful Winkler and report directly to Bloomberg LP brass.
More recently, Bloomberg News axed an editor who published an incorrect headline claiming that ex-Goldman Banker Fabrice Tourre won a case brought against him by the SEC. The headline was quickly corrected to show Tourre was, indeed, found liable.
Quinson will be succeeded in London by Heather Harris, who steps up to become Executive Editor, Europe.