Bloomberg apologizes for early report of Ankara-mediated prisoner swap

WASHINGTON

Bloomberg News has apologized and taken “disciplinary action” against a number of its editorial staff after the outlet “prematurely” published news of the Türkiye-mediated historic prisoner swap between Russia and the United States last week.

In an email to staff on Aug. 6, the editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, wrote that a number of staff members were disciplined.

At least one reporter on the story appears to have been fired in a rare case in which a journalist was punished for a decision to publish a major news story that would probably have been reviewed by senior editors at the outlet.

The White House confirmed to several news organizations, including Bloomberg, advance details of a swap between the United States, Russia and other countries, which it put under an embargo — or an agreement to withhold publishing the news until officials confirmed that the Americans were safely in U.S. custody.

However, Bloomberg published its scoop that American citizens were being released as part of the largest prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War at 7:41 a.m. ET, while a plane from Moscow carrying them was still en route to Ankara for the exchange.

Soon after, a Bloomberg editor wrote on X: “It is one of the greatest honors of my career to have helped break this news. I love my job and my colleagues.”

The early report elicited outrage from other outlets, as the news “could have endangered” their release.

Jennifer Jacobs, a White House reporter for Bloomberg News, was no longer with the company, according to reports by New York Magazine and the Washington Post. An operator at Bloomberg News told the Guardian that today was Jacobs’s last day.

In a statement posted on X, Jacobs said she did not knowingly break any embargo and said she had worked closely with editors on the story.

The National Intelligence Agency (MİT) said on Aug. 1 that it coordinated an extensive prisoner swap between the United States, Russia and other countries.

The exchange of 26 individuals took place in Esenboğa Airport in the Turkish capital Ankara on Aug. 1. Both countries have deployed their planes to Esenboğa Airport through the mediation of the MİT personnel.

The prisoners were transported to Türkiye by a total of seven aircraft, including two from the U.S. and one each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia, as part of the prisoner exchange operation, the agency said.