Item — HN Reader

I do not understand why any body would think that Bloomberg could do political stories in China. I do not understand why Bloomberg would be embarrassed about spiking political stories in China.

I am not defending the press and political climate in China, but it is what it is. The Chinese make up their rules. Why should Bloomberg sacrifice billions of dollars in business for the sake of some political journalists work? I am glad they got their story published - good work. But Bloomberg would be insane to publish it.

2 comments

> Why should Bloomberg sacrifice billions of dollars in business

Maybe they shouldn't. But for that reason, maybe they shouldn't be in the Journo business?

Journalism is basically about disseminating information that is novel, relevant and, most importantly, truthful. If the profit motive becomes incompatible with those ideals, Bloomberg can certainly choose to pursue the profit motive instead. But as soon as they choose profit over truth, readers with some level of critical thinking ability should understand that Bloomberg News is no longer doing journalism, they're doing something else.

The best news organizations are built entirely on their reputations, so a strategy that pursues profits at the expense of quality is, to me, probably not one that is good for an organization's longevity.