Bloomberg Punishes Staff Involved in Broken Prisoner Swap Embargo

Bloomberg disciplined multiple people involved in a story last week that prematurely broke the news of a prisoner swap between Russia , the U.S., and several other countries—including the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Editor-in-chief John Micklethwait told staff in a note on Monday that the story “could have endangered the negotiated swap that set them free.” “Even if our story mercifully ended up making no difference, it was a clear violation of the editorial standards which have made this newsroom so trusted around the world,” Micklethwait wrote in a memo obtained by The New York Times, which The Daily Beast confirmed. The news came after Wall Street Journal staffers were reportedly outraged by how reporters celebrated their “scoop”—written by reporters Jennifer Jacobs and Cagan Koc—despite the potential risk to the hostage deal, and it followed a Semafor report that indicated Bloomberg had launched an investigation into the story. Micklethwait said he wrote letters of apology to all the prisoners involved and apologized to Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker.

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