During the April 4 event, students from the School of Communications and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business asked questions regarding Winkler’s own career, the rise and growth of Bloomberg News, and the future of the country’s banking industry.
As part of his far-reaching Q&A session on April 4 with students from the School of Communications and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, Matthew Winkler, Bloomberg News co-founder and editor-in-chief emeritus, touched on several subjects ranging from the political aspirations of fellow co-founder Michael Bloomberg to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Rightly, Winkler is proud of his quarter-century as the news agency’s editor-in-chief. Bloomberg News stands as the only news organization to receive every top award in every form of print, broadcast and digital media. And when asked about the organization’s success, Winkler traced it back to the agency’s pursuit of the truth, the staff’s unwavering commitment and the importance of gratitude.
“Integrity is hard work,” he said.
The more than 125 students in attendance in Turner Theatre offered question after question, inquiring about Winkler’s own career, the inception and growth of his news agency, and his thoughts on the future of the news industry, as well as the country’s financial outlook. Event photos are available on the School of Communications’ Flickr page.
While Bloomberg News has more than 150 bureaus throughout the world, publishing 5,000 stories a day, Winkler championed the need for thoughtful and investigative reporting.
“It is important because the more details you have, the more credibility have,” he said.
In 2015, Winkler founded the Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program, an international partnership with universities conceived to inspire careers in all aspects of economic reporting among students of color. He shared that the program is both a point of pride, as well as an admission that his own editorial staffs were not diverse – which negatively impacted how stories were reported and what stories were reported.
In addition to Winkler, Bloomberg News had several additional team members on campus, including Sonali Pathirana, managing editor, Maureen Muenster, chief of staff, and Rob Boehm, entry level talent acquisition. Boehm was on hand to engage with students regarding employment and internship opportunities.
The campus visit and Q&A session were organized by Stephanie Bourland, associate director of corporate and employer relations, who also moderated the session.