A top editor at Michael Bloomberg’s media empire has left the company, citing concerns over how it will cover the former New York City mayor’s presidential aspirations.
Kathy Kiely, the Washington news director at Bloomberg Politics, said she resigned from her post after growing uncomfortable with the way her outlet responded to news that Bloomberg is considering an independent White House bid.
Kiely’s resignation was first reported by the Huffington Post.
“I was not comfortable with how we were reacting to this story and I didn’t see any indication that the situation was going to improve soon,” Kiely told CNNMoney on Wednesday. “I think that every candidate should be covered the same way.”
The New York Times reported last Saturday that Bloomberg, the billionaire mogul and former three-term mayor of NYC, has “taken concrete steps” toward a potential White House run. Bloomberg Politics aggregated the Times report that day with a brief post. Kiely submitted her letter of resignation on Sunday.
“I agonized about it because I really like the people I work with at Bloomberg,” Kiely said. “We built a team and we built a website, and I admire my colleagues very much. But I’ve been a political journalist all my life and I felt I was not able to do the job I should be doing.”
Kiely declined to say if there was a directive on how to handle Bloomberg’s latest presidential trial balloon. When asked what specifically prompted the resignation, she said, “I just think the fact that we didn’t jump on the story the way other organizations did. I was not comfortable with that.”
Bloomberg Politics reporters and commentators have covered the story about Bloomberg’s political ambitions since Kiely turned in her resignation. Mark Halperin, the managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, discussed the story Monday on both MSNBC and Bloomberg TV. On Wednesday, the site ran a story on the “bleak history of third-party presidential bids.”
Ty Trippet, a spokesman for Bloomberg News, defended the company’s coverage.
“We’ve covered the speculation every day since the Times story was published,” Trippet said. “Our Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait is in charge of decisions about coverage.”
Kiely said she hopes her resignation “might help the folks who are trying to do the right thing.”
“I think there are a lot of people at Bloomberg who are trying in their own way to allow a really good news organization to do the good work it’s capable of,” she said. “And this was my way.”
