Bloomberg fired a journalist who told about the prisoner exchange

Bloomberg management has taken disciplinary action against agency employees for the premature publication of an article about the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Western countries. This is stated in a letter from editor-in-chief John Micklethwaite to the editorial board, excerpts from which are cited by The Wall Street Journal and CNN. Micklethwait said that too early publication "could have jeopardized" the agreed exchange, thanks to which WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich and others were released.

"Even if our material, fortunately, did not affect it in any way, it was a clear violation of editorial standards," wrote Micklethwait.

He did not specify which of the employees would be punished, but, according to WSJ and CNN sources, reporter Jennifer Jacobs would be fired.

Jacobs is one of the authors of a Bloomberg article published on August 1 at 7.41 am ET (15.41 Moscow Time). It said that the exchange had already taken place and Gershkovich was released (this happened later, a few hours later, at Ankara airport). Shortly after that, according to The Intelligencer, another employee of the agency, the editor (his name is not given), wrote to X: "It is a great honor for me to help break this news. I love my job and my colleagues."

Then his post was deleted, and the article on the Bloomberg website was updated, indicating that the prisoners had not yet been released at that time.

According to CNN, on the eve of the exchange, the White House informed the American media about the upcoming event, and also banned the publication of news about it. In addition, journalists from several publications agreed not to disclose the details of the exchange until the agreed time, so as not to harm the process. In particular, the WSJ was not going to publish an article about Gershkovich's release until he was handed over to the American side at Ankara airport. After the release of the Bloomberg article, White House representatives called the editorial office and asked to remove the material, but the agency refused, which disappointed the US administration, CNN reports.

Micklethwait personally apologized to the participants of the exchange, as well as to the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker. Jacobs wrote in her X that, telling about the release of Gershkovich, she did not want to do anything that "could put anyone involved at risk."