New York (AFP)
Michael Bloomberg, head of the Bloomberg News agency and US presidential candidate, said Friday that his journalists had to agree to cover his campaign in a limited way, pointing out that there was no alternative.
"There are things to accept," said the former mayor of New York in an interview on CBS. "They receive a salary, and this salary comes with restrictions and responsibilities."
The editor-in-chief of the agency, John Micklethwait, announced on November 24, at the same time that Bloomberg was making his nomination for the Democratic nomination, that his journalists would not investigate any of the Democratic candidates, so as not to risk to cover in a biased way their boss.
Bloomberg justified the decision on Friday.
"People told me: + How can I investigate myself? + And I said, + I do not think it's possible +".
Some journalists and former journalists of the agency, which employs 2,700 people around the world, however criticized this decision.
A former Bloomberg Washington bureau chief, Megan Murphy, said it "bewildering that an editor could put his name on a note that forbids an army of very talented journalists to cover aspects of an election. the most defining of our time, "in a tweet.
On Friday, CNN star reporter Jake Tapper said he was "sorry for the excellent Bloomberg journalists, who have been placed in an untenable position."
Tapper said it would be "better for Bloomberg to cut itself off from its news agency until the end of its campaign (or its presidency?)."
Others have called the billionaire, who owns 88% of Bloomberg LP, to totally divest.
Despite the risk of conflicts of interest, 77-year-old Michael Bloomberg, one of the richest men in the world, is still holding hands with his group of information.
In an interview a year ago, however, he explained that in the event of his election, he would place his companies in a trust entrusted to a trustworthy person, or sell his business.
© 2019 AFP