The Bloomberg news agency said Tuesday it was cutting staff as it scales back its arts and culture coverage, saying it was seeking to position itself for "significant growth." The cuts are expected to affect fewer than 40 positions out of more than 2,000 staff, according to a source familiar with the matter. Bloomberg also confirmed that Hong Kong-based reporter Mike Forsythe had "left the company," without commenting on a report that the news agency had killed an article he had written that could have been embarrassing to Chinese leaders.
Bloomberg editor in chief Matthew Winkler said in a memo to staff that the agency was in the middle of a reorganisation and that "we evaluated everything we're doing to determine what's working and what isn't." "It's against this backdrop that we had to make some difficult decisions today. We were able to reassign a number of people to new positions, and we are grateful for the contributions of those who no longer can be part of our organisation. "We are convinced that the changes will help us take Bloomberg News to another level of influence."
The cuts will affect the agency's Muse arts and cultural news coverage. Winkler said some of this will be integrated in the Pursuits leisure reporting. Bloomberg will also consolidate its special projects team in Washington "and no longer have editors dispersed around the world," the memo said. "We also decided to concentrate our sports coverage on the nexus with business and no longer do match reports," it added.
"The changes today are a precursor for significant growth in 2014.... We also have high ambitions for beat and investigative reporting, and Bloomberg News will be bigger next year than it was at the end of October." Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Forsythe was placed on leave after management decided to scrap an article about a Chinese tycoon and his ties to families of Communist Party leaders, amid fears that it could lead to Bloomberg's expulsion from China. Forsythe said in a tweet Tuesday: "I can confirm that I have left Bloomberg News. That's all I'm going to say for now." Bloomberg did not comment on the Times report but said only that Forsythe "has left the company."
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