NEW YORK – Financial Times Washington bureau chief Megan Murphy is joining Bloomberg News as its Washington bureau chief and executive editor for U.S. government, according to a memo obtained by The Huffington Post.
Murphy will report to senior executive editor Marty Schenker, who will move from New York to Washington to oversee global coverage of government, politics and economics.
In the memo, Bloomberg editor in chief John Micklethwait said the company's “priority in Washington is to get the whole bureau to work as one team.”
Micklethwait, the former top editor at The Economist, was tapped by founder and chief executive Michael Bloomberg to lead the media company late last year. In recent months, Micklethwait has been addressing tensions between the New York and Washington operations.
Some Bloomberg News staffers in Washington felt marginalized as New York editors took the lead on political coverage last year following the launch of the Mark Halperin and John Heilemann-led Bloomberg Politics. In June, a Bloomberg News employee in Washington sent a letter to top managers in New York describing low morale and a "culture of fear" among staffers. The Washington bureau has been without a chief since April.
Schenker was one of two top New York-based executives dispatched in April to try and remedy the situation.
Murphy, a former Bloomberg News legal affairs correspondent, joined Financial Times in 2007 and served in several reporting roles, as well as leading its digital service, fastFT, from London.
Micklethwait said the changes mark “a new beginning for our team in Washington," which moves into a larger office next year.