Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait says multiple staffers have been disciplined for breaking the embargo on news of Thursday's historic prisoner swap with Russia. says it and other outlets briefed by the White House had agreed to delay reporting on the release of Americans including reporter Evan Gershkovich to avoid jeopardizing the process. Bloomberg, however, posted its story online almost four hours before the White House lifted the embargo, the reports.
Sources tell CNN that Bloomberg refused a request from the White House to take the story down, though it was updated to say the prisoners had not been freed yet. Bloomberg, which was one of the outlets briefed by the White House, published its report while planes were still en route to the swap at an airport in Turkey, according to the . The report "could have endangered the negotiated swap that set them free," Micklethwait wrote to Bloomberg staff on Monday.
"Even if our story mercifully ended up making no difference, it was a clear violation of the editorial standards which have made this newsroom so trusted around the world." He said Bloomberg's Standards editor conducted a full investigation. Micklethwait said Bloomberg is reviewing its processes and has taken "disciplinary action against a number of those involved.
" Micklethwait said he had personally written letters of apology to the prisoners. He said he apologized "immediately" to editor-in-chief Emma Tucker. "We take accuracy very seriously," he said in .
