Bloomberg's Premature Publication Could Have Put Prisoner Swap at Risk

Bloomberg broke the news of the prisoner swap on August 1, before it had even happened. According to New York Magazine, this caused outrage among American journalists and officials.

The publication writes that Bloomberg was the first to report on the exchange of journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, but at the time of publication, the plane with political prisoners was flying over Russian territory.

Ten minutes after the news was published, Bloomberg's editor wrote on his page on the social network X: "I am honored to release this breaking news. I love my job and my colleagues." The post was soon deleted, and Bloomberg's article was edited. The new version of the text indicated that the political prisoners had not yet been released.

New York Magazine, citing unnamed sources at The Wall Street Journal and other major publications, claims that “Bloomberg’s scoop has enraged journalists and government officials.” One Wall Street Journal reporter said that a man with binoculars, Yaroslav Trofimov, was in Ankara watching Gershkovich exit the Russian plane.

"The plane could have simply turned around and returned to Moscow, so The Wall Street Journal and other publications agreed to delay [publication]," New York Magazine writes.

As the publication notes, journalists received information about the exchange several days before from the White House, which asked news agencies to refrain from publications until the political prisoners were in the United States. Officials feared that excessive attention to the deal could jeopardize it.

"We all want to report stories. We also need to consider the risks involved," said an anonymous reporter. Another unnamed journalist said "people are very disappointed with Bloomberg."

New York Magazine journalist Charlotte Klein reported on her page on the social network X, citing an unnamed source, that Bloomberg fired Jennifer Jacobs, one of the authors of the article about the exchange, because the article was published ahead of schedule. This was later confirmed by sources of Washington Post journalist Elahe Izadi.

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