Hello, it is the most recent "Weekly Notes" memo from inspirational be-bowtied Bloomberg leader Matthew Winkler. Imagine him shouting the entire text at you, to get the full effect.

Confirm Conclusions; Covering World News; Initials: Weekly Notes
2010-01-15 23:35:24.67 GMT

1. Confirm Conclusions
2. Covering World News
3. First Two Paragraphs
4. Middle Initials
5. Secured
6. Best of the Week
7. Greatest Hits

1. CONFIRM CONCLUSIONS
The Bloomberg Way is emphatic about the three most
important things in journalism: Accuracy, accuracy and accuracy.
(See {WAY } Bloomberg Way, How We Work, Ethics, Sourcing).
While many in the media increasingly assert the news, Bloomberg
insists that news be reported because Bloomberg believes in
accuracy above everything else: If it isn't true, it isn't news.
The difference between a story that's reported and a story
that's asserted is demonstrated when assumptions and/or
conclusions are confirmed with an authority or demonstrably
correct. Such transparency diminishes the risk of error and the
process helps discover mistakes before we might publish them.
We wrote:
"Google and Microsoft are paying Twitter $25 million to
crawl the short posts, or tweets, that users send out on the
micro-blogging service. It sounds like big money. Enough for
Twitter to turn a small profit in 2009, say two people familiar
with the company's finances.
"But do the math and the payments look less impressive.
Last year, Twitter's 50 million users posted 8 billion tweets,
according to research firm Synopsos, which means Google and
Microsoft are paying roughly 3¢ for every 1,000 tweets. That's a
pittance in the world of online advertising. Top media sites
often get $10 or $20 per thousand page views; even remnant
inventory, leftover Web pages that get sold through ad networks,
goes for 50¢ to $1 per thousand. The deals put "almost no
value" on Twitter's data, says Donnovan Andrews, vice-president
of strategic development for the digital marketing agency Tribal
Fusion."

The math in this story was wrong. The value is $3 per 1,000
tweets, a figure that undermines the integrity of the story and
makes its conclusion invalid.
Had the reporter and editor followed the Bloomberg Way,
there's a much greater chance the process of reporting the math
would have led to the discovery of faulty arithmetic before the
story was published. That's because the calculation itself would
have been made transparent to readers as it is the premise for
the story. Instead of proving to readers the integrity of the
math by having it confirmed by Twitter or an independent
authority, the reporting and editing process obscured the
integrity of the math.
While the reporter contacted Twitter, which declined to
comment, and interviewed people at Google and Microsoft, he
didn't — in the spirit and practice of the Bloomberg Way —
make transparent the math that led to his conclusions. While the
Bloomberg Way isn't unique in addressing such lapses, it was
conceived to anticipate them.
Anyone wondering where the Bloomberg Way explicitly
addresses these points, is reminded by the following from the
Bloomberg Way: "The three most important words in journalism
are accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Every story should explain how
we know what we know. ... Attribution should be precise,
detailed and ubiquitous. Take special care with figures,
especially those we calculate. Editors need to review with the
reporter the math used for valuations. ... We should be precise
about how we know what we report. The best journalism is
transparent. ... Reporters should check all facts, including
names of people, companies, organizations and locations. They
should check all ages (including birth dates), dates of events,
time periods, financial figures, statistics, units of measure.
Every fact in an anecdote must be checked. The information must
come from people who are in a position to know what happened.
... Reporters should know where every fact in a story comes from
and should tell the editor in writing, in person or on the
telephone before publication. ... Editors, as Bloomberg's
gatekeepers for news judgment and language, can never be too
rigorous. Nothing asserted in a story should get by without
questions. How do we know this? What are the facts? Are you sure
about this? How do you know it's true? What are the examples?
Have you seen it? If you haven't seen it?, how do you know it's
true? An editor is a reporter's last best hope."

2. WORLD NEWS
To increase the opportunity to deliver exceptional
reporting that isn't specific to companies, markets or the
economy — such as man-made and natural disasters — and that
necessitates timeliness, especially for TOP, World News
reporters and editors have new team assignments. All teams will
be asked to help report on all events that relate to their
regions. The speed desk will be responsible for the First Word
on this so-called general news by producing headlines and a
short story. Top editors will decide whether to assign more
substantial reporting, and will contact team leaders, bureau
chiefs, and managing and executive editors.
Here's a list of subjects and the teams that will cover
them:
Terrorism — Government
Earthquakes, climate change — Environment
Hurricanes — Environment/Insurance/Energy/Commodities
Mass transit - Transportation
Air transit — Government/Transportation
Crime — Legal
Obituaries — Obituary writer with the relevant team
Elections — Government
Schools — Education
Sports — Sports
Celebrities — Media

3. FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS
The first two paragraphs should address why am I reading
this and why now. Compare how the lead and the second paragraph
of the updated story include more compelling size and scope and
appropriate context.

Before:
Wesleyan University has sued its former chief investment
officer, Thomas Kannam, for fraud and breach of contract,
charging he was working for outside companies while on the job.
The Middletown, Connecticut, school charged in its lawsuit
that Kannam had "engaged in outside employment in breach of his
duty of loyalty, his employment agreement and the university's
conflict of interest policy," according to portions of the
complaint supplied by the Wesleyan Argus, the campus newspaper,
which first reported the story.
After:
Wesleyan University, in a rare legal dispute over conflicts
of interest managing its $520 million endowment, sued former
chief investment officer Thomas Kannam for fraud, claiming he
formed a business while an employee and joined a New York
investment company that started two hedge funds in March.
Wesleyan, founded in 1831 in Middletown, Connecticut, and
ranked 13th among liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World
Report, said in its lawsuit that Kannam defrauded the university
"of thousands of dollars" and "engaged in outside employment
in breach of his duty of loyalty, his employment agreement and
the university's conflict of interest policy."

4. MIDDLE INITIALS
When a person has a middle initial on his or her business
card and his company, government or organization uses the
initial in its press releases, we should follow suit. See {STYL
NAMES }.
Some examples:
Timothy F. Geithner, not Timothy Geithner
Ben S. Bernanke, not Ben Bernanke
U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., not Joseph
McKinley Jr.

5. SECURED
In the debt market, referring to a loan as "secured"
suggests that collateral or assets have been pledged as part of
the deal. Use "secured" only if that is correct. Use obtained,
received or got in all other cases.

Before:
Coca-Cola Hellenic Secures 500 Million-Euro Syndicated Facility
Better:
Coca-Cola Hellenic Obtains 500 Million-Euro Syndicated Facility

Before:
Smith International Inc. said it secured a new 39-month $1
billion revolving credit line.
After:
Smith International Inc. said it received a $1 billion
revolving credit line.

Our lead:
Cablevision Systems Corp. extended the spinoff of its
Madison Square Garden unit into the first quarter and said it
secured $375 million in credit.
Better:
Cablevision Systems Corp. said it's delaying the spinoff of
its Madison Square Garden unit until the first quarter and has
received commitments from banks for a $375 million credit
facility.