Matthew Winkler is the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. Today, little else needs to be said by way of introduction. It wasn’t always that way.

In 1989, Mike Bloomberg, who then ran a specialized financial information service, decided he had to get into news and called a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, who had done a story on his firm in that paper a month ago, for advice. Shortly afterwards, Winkler left the Journal to set up Bloomberg News. Today, Bloomberg News headlines move markets and stock prices around the world like little else can. In the financial world, where timely information can make or mar fortunes, the Bloomberg news ticker has come to assume a unique and central role. Winkler, at 54, presides over a news gathering operation that makes this enviable dominance possible—2,200 news and multi-media professionals in 146 bureaus across 72 countries. And the statistics continue to surge favorably for his organization even as uncertainty looms over the future of the business of news.

Not surprisingly, Winkler has found himself under the spotlight of late with everything from his dislike for the word ‘but’ and his fondness for bow ties to his temper popping up in lengthy magazine stories.  In a telephone interview with contentSutra, Winkler discussed Bloomberg’s recent tie-up with UTV News, the company’s plans for India and its pending acquisition of BusinessWeek. Rumours about his retirement are vastly exaggerated, he says. Here are some edited excerpts: 

ContentSutra: Bloomberg News recently announced a content partnership with India’s UTV News. But many observers are surprised, given Bloomberg’s financial strength and its obvious interest in this market, that you have chosen not to buy an equity stake in that channel. Is the company thinking of expanding the partnership with an investment?

Matthew Winkler: The short answer is, I don’t know. What I’m interested in, as the editor of Bloomberg News, is to make sure that wherever possible, we are able to better report stories on money, markets, companies and policy from India … to report on the impact of policy on the markets. Our relationship with UTV is nicely compatible with that goal. It would be presumptuous of me to talk about what future course this relationship will take.

Bloomberg reportedly held discussions with other potential partners before zeroing in on UTV? What makes them an ideal partner for Bloomberg in India?

We were impressed by the enthusiasm, commitment, knowledge of the local market and the awareness of what Bloomberg News is all about. That made the relationship very compelling.

Where does emerging markets such as India figure in Bloomberg’s scheme of things both as a company and a news organization?

The Bloomberg consumer, since its inception in 1981, has been the one with the most at stake, whether she is based in Tennessee, London, Singapore, Los Angeles, Dubai or Bangalore. 
Those people with the most at stake are concerned with markets everywhere, and especially with emerging markets because they offer the greatest returns and some extraordinary opportunities.

For Bloomberg, as a company and as a news organization, we have to be in all markets and especially in emerging markets. It makes a lot of sense to be in these markets and as a news operation, I don’t think we have a choice. We have to report on these markets very closely.

Could you share what specific plans Bloomberg has for India in the near future? Are you looking at expanding your presence here in wire, television and other areas of your operations?

The answer is yes, yes, yes. We are committed and passionate about India as a country that we report on, to the greatest extent possible. The importance of its companies, markets and government is ever increasing. To continuously step up our coverage of all these aspects of that country is a great obligation for us and one that will constantly challenge us. It’s an extraordinary country from a historical perspective and undoubtedly transformational today both in the domestic and international contexts.

Well, for one, it’s the world’s largest democracy. How about that for a good reason?

Are you looking at hiring more people here at this stage?

Yes, we are. We have increased the number of reporters there by a significant percentage every year for the past three years. I don’t see any reason why that trend won’t continue.

India’s media laws restrict foreign investment in television and print but there are no such restrictions on Internet and mobile. Reuters, for instance, has made a lot of progress in providing consumer information on mobile. Is Bloomberg looking at the new media space to develop new offerings?

I can only say that we are always trying to figure out new ways in which to provide information to our customers everywhere and the digital platforms give us a great new medium to do this. We are just getting started. I’ll just say watch the space!

What is your editorial vision for BusinessWeek, which Bloomberg recently acquired? How do you plan to integrate the two operations and offerings and when does this process begin?

BusinessWeek is a unique platform in global media that has had an exceptional history of path breaking business reporting around the world. We are fortunate to have been given the opportunity to combine Bloomberg and BusinessWeek. We are going to share a great deal of BusinessWeek content on Bloomberg and Bloomberg Media. We also value the journalistic values the magazine brings, which are entirely compatible with our own values. Importantly, there isn’t a great deal of overlap between the two (Bloomberg and BW).

BusinessWeek is a terrific consumer media platform in journalism and combining that with Bloomberg platforms that are professional, would be a wonderful step forward forward for this company. 

When does the process of integration begin?

We have said that we expect the merger to be completed by the end of the year. So December is the expectation.

The news business is in a state of churn everywhere and in some parts of the world, the business models supporting news gathering and delivery are falling apart. Bloomberg is unique in that it continues to thrive through it all. What does the continuing change around you mean for your company?

I cannot comment on others’ business models. But I can say what makes us unique. We are always conscious of the fact that the Bloomberg consumer is the one with most at stake. Her need for relevant news and information is insatiable and our reporting must always satisfy that need.  More, faster, better—that is our mantra. We have been doing that for 20 years and keeping pace with this insatiable demand for all these years has made us increasingly unique.
Other providers of news are either unraveling, going out of business or cutting back on their reporting. Bloomberg continues to expand its reporting and in today’s economic environment, very few news operations are able to do what we do. The scale and quality of our output is unmatched.

Starting with a Vanity Fair profile that ran late last year, there have been speculation about your changing role within the company and even suggestions that you are stepping back at least from some areas of operation?

(Laughs) I can assure you that I’m not stepping back. As Mark Twain said about reports of his death, rumors of my stepping back are vastly exaggerated. I’m as involved, if not more, with all our activities as I have always been. I’m speaking to you at 7 in the morning from my office and I got here about an hour ago. That must tell you something.

My responsibility here is to help bring the smartest and most committed people to Bloomberg and I think we have had great success in this area in the past few years. The amount of extraordinary journalistic talent that has joined Bloomberg News in the past 18 months is unprecedented. I don’t think there’s a news organization anywhere in the world that has been consistently attracting such extraordinary journalistic talent.

So that is my role here and I continue to do it as I have done all these years.