The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, Matthew Winkler, has posted a letter apologizing for allowing journalists at the company to access some information about individual subscribers to the Bloomberg Terminal. Journalists at the company were able to access some personal information and login activity at executives at major Wall Street firms and even potentially government agencies, in an effort to get scoops on big stories.

As I wrote in “The Bloomberg Way,” our guide for reporters and editors, “The appearance of impropriety can be as damaging to a reputation as doing something improper. Because we hold others accountable for disclosure, we expect the same of ourselves. While disclosing errors of judgment may be embarrassing, the sooner the lapses are reported, the sooner there is nothing more to say….”

Our reporters should not have access to any data considered proprietary. I am sorry they did. The error is inexcusable. Last month, we immediately changed our policy so that reporters now have no greater access to information than our customers have. Removing this access will have no effect on Bloomberg news-gathering.

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This week the World Economic Forum is once again  being held in the sleepy ski town of Davos, Switzerland, and the business networks are on the scene to try and score chats with market shakers and world leaders.

CNBC has anchors Maria Bartiromo and Andrew Ross Sorkin in Davos, along with senior economics reporter Steve Liesman, Sorkin will co-anchor “Squawk Box” from Davos Wednesday-Friday, while Bartiromo and Liesman will be appearing on various programs throughout the week.

Fox Business Network has Liz Claman in Davos, with coverage kicking off Wednesday at 11 AM, and continuing through Friday.

Bloomberg TV has Erik Schatzker, Tom Keene and Francine Lacqua at the Forum, along with reporter Olivia Sterns. BTV coverage starts at 1 AM ET (6 AM GMT) tomorrow, and continues through Friday. Lacqua will anchor “On the Move,” Keene will anchor “Bloomberg Surveillance” and Schatzker will co-anchor “Market Makers” from Davos.

The three business networks have turned their focus to severe weather coverage today as Hurricane Sandy forced the close of the stock markets. Bloomberg TV, Fox Business and CNBC have all set special coverage plans for today that focus on the economic impact of the storm, expected to make landfall later today.

Bloomberg TV will shift into special Hurricane Sandy coverage at 1pmET, which is when the storm’s intensity is supposed to increase on the East Coast. Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker anchor the 1pmET hour, Betty Liu anchors the 2pmET hour and Trish Regan and Adam Johnson anchor from 3-6pmET. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is handling weather forecasts.

Fox Business broadcast a special report in place of “Imus in the Morning” this morning, anchored by Dagen McDowell and Connell McShane. FBN’s Robert Gray is in Battery Park and Sandra Smith is at the CME throughout the day. Neil Cavuto will host primetime coverage of the storm tonight beginning at 7pmET.

CNBC will have regular programming until 7pmET. The network is replacing “The Kudlow Report” with a live two-hour special report anchored by Bill Griffeth and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

FNC’s Roger Ailes sits behind Pres. Obama, Gov. Romney and Cardinal Dolan at annual Al Smith dinner.

Pres. Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney set aside their political differences for a few minutes to poke fun at themselves, at each other, and at the media, at the annual Al Smith dinner last night in New York City. But the politicians weren’t the only ones to break bread with their rivals at the event, which this TVNewser attended: media executives and personalities from competing networks mingled over dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.

The candidates, who sat on either side of Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the New York Catholic Archdiocese, were flanked on the dais by some of the television industry’s most famous faces. Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes sat among two people who have him to thank for their start in TV: on his left, Maria Bartiromo, who Ailes hired at CNBC in 1993, and on his right, one seat away, Chris Matthews, who Ailes hired in 1994 at the network that would become MSNBC. Katie Couric and Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr. were also seated on the dais.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews chats with Roger Ailes.

Both candidates took aim at the media in their lighthearted speeches, which all three of the general cable networks broadcast live.

“I particularly want to apologize to Chris Matthews,” Pres. Obama said of his performance in the first Presidential debate. “Four years ago, I gave him a thrill up his leg. This time around, I gave him a stroke.”

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Back in April we noted that Bloomberg TV would be shaking up its daytime lineup after the departure of Margaret Brennan. Now we have a date for the new lineup: tomorrow, Monday June 18th.

What are the changes? A refresher:

A simulcast of Tom Keene‘s radio program “Surveillance” which airs from 6-8amET replacing “Inside Track” which was hosted by Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle…

Betty Liu will continue to anchor “In the Loop” from 8-10amET. Then, Schatzker and Ruhle will host a new show at 10am, replacing Brennan’s “In Business.”

We have more details now: Keene’s show will actually be an all-new show across TV, radio and digital, not just a simulcast of his existing radio show. In addition Bloomberg is launching a new noon show called “Lunch Money.”

Margaret Brennan, who has been with Bloomberg TV for nearly three years, is leaving the network, TVNewser has learned. Brennan joined Bloomberg from CNBC in 2009. Brennan’s departure, described as mutual, comes as the network plans changes to its morning lineup later this Spring.

Andrew Morse, head of U.S. TV for Bloomberg, says the changes are a continuation of Bloomberg’s “evolution into a digital, multi-platform news organization.” The changes have included a round of staff cuts as well as the posting of new positions, last month.

The programming shifts include a simulcast of Tom Keene‘s radio program “Surveillance” which airs from 6-8amET replacing “Inside Track” which was hosted by Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle.

“It’s not just doing TV on the radio,” Morse tells TVNewser, “but a true multi-media program.” The show will stream on Bloomberg.com and on the Bloomberg TV+ and Radio+ tablet apps. Keene will be joined by Sara Eisen, Scarlet Fu and Ken Prewitt.

Betty Liu will continue to anchor “In the Loop” from 8-10amET. Then, Schatzker and Ruhle will host a new show at 10am, replacing Brennan’s “In Business.”

In a Media Beat interview last summer, Brennan told us about her decision to leave CNBC for Bloomberg, and also hinted at a true passion: international reporting. Brennan’s final day hosting “In Business” is this Friday.

Keene’s NoonET program goes away and will be replaced by a what Morse calls a “high-profile ensemble cast” who will be assessing the market at Midday.

For Bloomberg TV anchor Erik Schatzker, putting his experience reporting from Davos into words is a challenge.

“There are too many superlatives to even begin to use one,” Schatzker tells TVNewser. “From a reporting standpoint, this is the single greatest reporting opportunity anyone in my business could have.”

Schatzker is one of several reporters, including Fox Business Network’s Liz Claman and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, in Switzerland this week for the World Economic Forum. In is his fourth year covering the event, Schatzker is anchoring “InsideTrack” live from Davos through Friday.

With the world’s economic leaders all convened in the Swiss village today through Sunday, Schatzker says the key to making his coverage stand out is the ability to grab guests from the Congress Center on the fly.

“I try not to be chained to the studio,” he said. “It’s important to see people, talk to them about what’s going on, and make my reporting as effective as possible.”

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Bloomberg TV is launching its first advertising campaign, seeking to steal viewers away from cable business news leader CNBC. The campaign will be focused on the New York tri-state area (where most of the Wall St. power brokers live and work) and will feature both television and out-of-home spots.

Bloomberg TV’s Margaret Brennan was in the mediabistro.com offices yesterday for a Media Beat interview. Among other subjects, she talked about her place in the ad campaign:

Look for the full interview on TVNewser July 11.

The campaign also features Bloomberg anchors including Erik Schatzker, Deirdre Bolton and Betty Liu. As part of the campaign, Bloomberg ads will take over the entire 4/5 subway station on Wall St. in September. The New York Times has more on the ads:

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Bloomberg TV will televise a one-hour special at 6 PM this evening on Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a Middle East media mogul and the largest investor in News Corp. not named Murdoch.

Erik Schatzker will host the program.

Al-Waleed talks to Bloomberg about his future plans for his media company Rotana, as well as his desire to launch an Arabic news channel to compete with Al Zazeera and Al Arabiya.

As one might imagine, Al-Waleed’s life is quite unlike most people’s, and the special will follow him to his desert camp, where he ”makes deals surrounded by falcons, camels and satellite hook-ups.”

It will also have “exclusive footage of the Prince praying, bicycle-riding on the streets of Riyadh, practicing archery and other sports as well as hosting Saudi citizens at his desert camp for majlis.”

More information, after the jump.

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Bloomberg Television anchor Erik Schatzker sits down with Benzinga and says many of the stylistic changes seen on the network of late are directly attributable to CEO Andy Lack who was brought on board in 2008: “He realized that we could do more with Bloomberg Television than we had been doing before.”