Bloomberg announces rules for campaign coverage now that its boss is running

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After Bloomberg founder and owner Michael Bloomberg announced he’s running from president, the news organization that bears his names announced a set of guidelines for its coverage during the campaign.

• “There is no point in trying to claim that covering this presidential campaign will be easy for a newsroom that has built up its reputation for independence in part by not writing about ourselves,” editor in chief John Micklethwait wrote in an email to the organization’s staff.
• Bloomberg will continue to report on polls, policies and the Bloomberg campaign just like it normally would.
• It will not, however, do any investigative stories on Bloomberg or the other democratic candidates.
• It will continue to investigate the Trump administration, it said.
• When other “credible” news organizations publish investigative stories on Bloomberg or other democratic candidates, the newsroom will summarize them or run them in full.
• Bloomberg’s opinion section will no longer carry unsigned editorials, since those traditionally represent the views of Bloomberg and the editorial board.
• Meanwhile, the head of the editorial board will take a leave of absence to help run the campaign, while other board members will also take leaves during the campaign.
• Bloomberg will continue to carry signed columns from opinion columnists since these represent the views of the individuals, not the organization as a whole.
• Back in 2016, when Bloomberg was considering running from president, the service’s Washington, D.C. based political news director Kathy Kiely quit, citing the potential conflicts of interest.