September 13, 2022
Bloomberg Counterpoint Event Series Set to Bring Debates to a Live Audience
September 13, 2022 – Bloomberg Media is ramping up its Washington, DC-based editorial and commercial operations, launching new initiatives in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 US presidential race.
“Every month, we reach close to two million people in the DC area across Bloomberg Media, more than 10 million globally on Bloomberg Politics and more than 100 million in total across all platforms,” said M. Scott Havens, CEO, Bloomberg Media. “It’s an ideal time, ahead of two critical U.S. elections, for us to deliver even more at the intersection of U.S. government, politics and business, and to connect influential brands and organizations with our audience of modern leaders looking to get ahead.”
Cliff McKinney, previously at The Hill and Washington Post, is Bloomberg Media’s new Director for Washington, DC, Corporate & Public Policy, leading integrated sales and managing client relationships with companies in relevant sectors including public policy, finance, defense, energy and technology.
In addition, there are nearly 150 Bloomberg journalists and analysts based in Washington, DC. Thirteen new journalists have joined the bureau in 2022.
“Bloomberg’s Washington team knows the economy, markets, halls of government and intricacies of regulation inside and out — having a network of journalists and analysts in 120 countries around the world also leaves us well-positioned to connect the geopolitical dots,” said Peggy Collins, Bloomberg Washington Bureau Chief. “At a time when businesses, families and government are grappling with decades-high inflation, a potential recession and energy crisis abroad, no newsroom is better equipped to report the facts and explain the impact.”
Bloomberg Media’s new Washington initiatives include:
*Live events: In 2023, the Bloomberg Live events unit will launch Bloomberg DC Policy Forward, a new annual marquee summit, which will host more than 300 senior policymakers, public servants, technology leaders and business executives to examine how the government can solve big problems better.
Bloomberg Live will also launch Bloomberg Counterpoint, a series of quarterly policy debates to convene the Beltway’s public and private sectors. Counterpoint will deliver team and one-on-one Oxford-style debates, bringing together politicians, policy makers and renowned experts from across the political spectrum. A ticketed audience, engaged via interactive sentiment polling, will watch a debate of a major policy issue facing the US.
*TV, Video, Radio: Bloomberg will introduce a new weekly politics show in 2023, designed for its fast-growing younger, global audience as an alternative to traditional weekend Capitol Hill news conversations. Featuring top journalists and highlighting Bloomberg’s data and economics analysis, the program will live across its broadcast and digital video offerings – Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg TV+ as well as Bloomberg Quicktake, its cross-platform brand for emerging leaders. In the first half of 2022, Bloomberg Media’s digital video revenue grew 29% over 2021.
During the November 2022 midterms, Bloomberg TV will host a live Election Night Special, featuring David Westin, Annmarie Hordern, Joe Mathieu and Mario Parker, with reporting from key locations and local races around the country.
Election coverage will air live from the redesigned studio in the DC bureau. The new home for Washington programming features a seamless, wrap-around video display that is 87 feet long and eight feet high, bringing the on-screen data experience to life at a large scale. The display is fed with a variety of live video, graphics, and Bloomberg Terminal data, enabling a collaborative programming effort.
Two flagship political programs – Bloomberg Sound On, hosted by Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg Radio and Balance of Power, hosted by David Westin on Bloomberg Television and Radio — will also continue to explore the political landscape in Washington, DC Bloomberg Radio’s dedicated Washington, DC station is available on 99.1 FM/105.7 HD 2 on WDCH-FM.
*Podcasts: A new podcast hosted by Bloomberg Senior Washington Correspondent Saleha Mohsin will debut next year. Next month the new daily podcast, “The Big Take,” launches. Featuring the very best of Bloomberg’s in-depth, original reporting from around the globe, the podcast will be hosted by Wes Kosova out of Washington, and is co-produced by iHeartMedia and distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network.
*Newsletter: Bloomberg will also launch a new Washington-based newsletter focused on economics and politics. It will build on the success of “Balance of Power,” the current daily global politics newsletter, which reaches more than 250,000 subscribers.
*Interactive, data-driven analysis: Bloomberg will continue to publish interactive data-driven features in the coming months. For example, the Election Risk Index tracks which states are most vulnerable to election interference. Bloomberg journalists dug into the laws in all 50 states and scrutinized the thousands of election-related bills proposed nationwide since 2020. The index is regularly updated.
*Social: On Bloomberg social handles including @bpolitics, @business and @Quicktake, audiences can expect discussions on policy and business in a series of weekly Twitter spaces, Twitter polls and weekly Instagram stories.
Since late 2021, Collins and U.S. Government Executive Editor Michael Shepard have been leading the editorial operations in Washington. Bloomberg Economics’ Chief Economist Tom Orlik is also based in the bureau.
At the Washington Post, McKinney was Director of Sales for nine years, overseeing sponsorship sales management and business development for the Post’s live events.
Bloomberg’s data-driven coverage from Washington spans across politics and government, economics, financial regulation, crypto, tech policy, cybersecurity, energy, climate, investigations, opinion, and more.
About Bloomberg Media
Bloomberg Media is the world’s leading multi-platform media company for business and finance, which draws on the editorial resources of more than 2,700 editorial professionals globally in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organization of Bloomberg L.P.
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