Morning Must-Read: James Fallows: Another Bloomberg Editor Explains Why He Has Resigned, Over Its China Coverage

James Fallows: Another Bloomberg Editor Explains Why He Has Resigned, Over Its China Coverage: “The New York Times… contend[ed] that Bloomberg editors had quashed an investigative report about corruption among leaders in China…

Higher-ups at Bloomberg were worried that the story would hurt the company’s sales of financial terminals—the mainstay of its business—inside China, since the main purchasers would be directly or indirectly subject to government control… Bloomberg was already “on probation” with the Chinese government, because of some very brave and probing official-corruption stories the previous year—including the one on “Red Nobility”…. The FT did a similar report… saying that Matthew Winkler, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, had ordered the story killed, for fear of ramifications…. Amanda Bennett… promptly resigned as head of Bloomberg’s investigative unit…. Michael Forsythe… joined the NYT staff. Bloomberg continued to deny the allegation of knuckling-under but refused to address any specifics. The story that reportedly was underway has not yet appeared…. I wrote to the man who reportedly gave the spiking order, editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler, and did not hear back….

The latest news… is Ben Richardson’s resignation as a Bloomberg editor…. I wrote to Richardson asking if he would say more about the situation…. Ben Richardson:

I was one of the two editors on the story that was spiked last year, and one of three who helmed the 2012 stories on the hidden wealth of China’s Communist Party leaders, so I have a pretty intimate knowledge of what happened. Unfortunately, I am bound by a confidentiality agreement that prevents me from disclosing the details. That said, much has already become a matter of public knowledge. I felt the NYT and FT articles were a fair account…