How To Pitch: Bloomberg Businessweek

Offer offbeat takes on the business side of news

By Adam Conner-Simons - March 27, 2012

The information in this article is current and accurate.

Circulation: 980,000
Frequency: 50 issues a year
Special issues: None

Background: It's fitting to reflect on the history of Bloomberg Businessweek in the wake of a massive global recession: The first issue of the original BusinessWeek was published just weeks before the stock market crash of 1929. Framed as a layperson's antidote to the more academic tone of Forbes (its only competition at the time), it initially focused more explicitly on the U.S. economy. For several decades, its cover was graced by a thermometer that gauged the country's economic "temperature." Over the ensuing years, the publication developed a reputation for delivering stellar business journalism without getting too ponderous or self-important.

Like many magazines, revenues were on the decline in the early 21st century. In 2009, Bloomberg LP bought BusinessWeek and revamped it significantly. Besides making that "W" lower case and adding their name to the front of it, the Bloomberg upper brass replaced resigning editor-in-chief Stephen Adler with Time's Josh Tyrangiel and brought in creative director Richard Turley for a redesign the following year.

The change in leadership resulted in a shifting of editorial tides, with an emphasis on recruiting esteemed long-form magazine journalists from places like The Atlantic and New York. "The idea was to elevate the editorial quality and make the publication truly indispensable to readers," said features editor Sheelah Kolhatkar....