Bloomberg News: No Longer Just the Facts, Ma'am

Bloomberg News, which boasts it has more reporters and feet on the street worldwide than any other media brand, is expanding from its triple-checked focus on market-moving news to (gasp!) opinion.

Yes, the media empire that NYC's Mayor Mike built will soon start publishing editorials across all its media platforms in order to extend greater influence on politics. And it will, for the first time, incorporate more of its namesake's views — previously off-limits, especially with Bloomberg now being an elected official.

Dubbed Bloomberg View, the new op-ed franchise will embody Michael Bloomberg’s personal philosophy and global view, a departure from his agreement of non-involvement in “day-to-day operations” of his company. How "ideology-free" will it be?

“I think it’s very important that everyone understands that our editorial page is going to be, for sure, consistent with the values and beliefs of the founder — even if he happens to be mayor of New York City,” commented Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler to the New York Times.

Winkler and his editors will be stepping carefully to avoid any appearance of conflict-of-interest, or any charges that this is now a bully pulpit for its founders agenda on news. With Michael Bloomberg's wide-ranging involvements — beyond politics, there's philanthropy, corporate interests, education, environmental policy and public health, just to name a few, it's going to be a delicate dance for Bloomberg LP as a trusted media brand.

Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser argued to the Times that Bloomberg will remain strict accord with his terms as mayor of New York, although “Weighing in from time to time is consistent with his being the majority shareholder of the company he founded.”

Bloomberg View will run on the news brand's various platforms, including Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, on Bloomberg.com and on the 300,000 financial data terminals globally that provide the brand's bread and butter, via subscriptions to financial analysts, traders and businesses.

The new venture will be overseen by two high-profile hires: James P. Rubin, assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, and David Shipley, former editor of theNew York Times Op-Ed page. It’s a clear move to expand the brand’s influence beyond a financial news service.

Bloomberg View, the company argues, will embrace a diversity and variety of opinion, and the views expressed will be "ideology-free, empirically-based editorial positions about the pressing issues of our time," as Winkler told New York magazine.

As for whether those pressing issues including making a run for the White House, Bloomberg continues to deny any interest in a Presidential run. Should he change his mind, his media platform is lining up very well indeed.