Credit:MSNBC.com
Bloomberg TV is apologizing and correcting an ad featuring anchor Betty Liu after it came to light that it was deceptive. The ad pictures Liu, along with the words “Pulitzer Prize-Nominated, Has All The Heavy Hitters On Speed Dial. And That’s Just The Anchor.”
The problem, as noted by MSNBC.com’s Bill Dedman, is that anyone can be Pulitzer Prize-nominated, provided you wrote something, and had the money to pay the submission fee. The Pulitzer committee selects finalists, and then a winner, but does not reveal everyone submitted for nomination.
Liu did not submit herself for the prize, but was submitted for a Pulitzer by her editors for a series she did while she was the Atlanta Bureau Chief at the Financial Times.
An old version of Liu’s official bio says: “The FT also nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her series of articles on immigrant labor in the South.” That is a more appropriate way to list the accomplishment. Apparently the copy editor of the new ad campaign decided to trim a little too much from the bio, and ended up changing the context altogether.