Bloomberg L.P., the financial data conglomerate, announced this week that Norman Pearlstine, former top editor of Time Inc. and The Wall Street Journal, will be joining Bloomberg in the new position of chief content officer.

Founded by New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg L.P.'s primary business is selling data terminals. Of the company's 2007 revenue of $5.4 billion, 87 percent came from selling financial data, according to Inside Market Data, a trade publication.

"They're not fundamentally a journalistic organization," said Paul Steiger, who previously served as managing editor of The Journal, where he was a colleague of Pearlstine. "It's about the machine. The journalism promotes the machine."

But as data terminal sales have leveled with the slowing economy, Bloomberg seems poised to grow its media ventures. Steiger predicts that Pearlstine would "harness" the journalistic talent already available azt Bloomberg.

The company's editorial staff has nearly doubled since 2001, from 1,200 employees to 2,300; Bloomberg TV recently updated its look to appeal to a greater audience; and Bloomberg Markets was honored this year for the first time as a finalist for the National Magazine Award, for their coverage of the subprime mortgage crisis.



Source: Posting written by Sarah Schewe - New York Times