Breaking News at Bloomberg

By Dean’s Intern Daniel Papscun at Bloomberg Industry Group

How do you break news about the Teamsters, one of the largest and most famous American labor unions? I didn’t know, at least not until an editor at Bloomberg Law asked me to help preview an upcoming Teamsters convention. When I dove into the assignment with another reporter, working quickly to develop sources in the storied union, I discovered rumblings that the five-year convention could spark the biggest organizing drive in Teamsters history by targeting Amazon for unionization.

Our first story on the subject highlighted my scoop, which was later confirmed by Motherboard and then came to pass as the union delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of the action.

My summer on Bloomberg Law’s Labor and Employment desk was one of the most fulfilling and pivotal of my life. I learned to write for a specific legal audience, break news of lawsuits and court filings, dive deep into the minutiae of court decisions, and build robust data and enterprise stories on everything from the trend of museum workers unionizing to what a Democratic-majority National Labor Relations Board could mean for graduate student unions.

Over ten weeks and two dozen stories, I’ve discovered that labor reporting is a passion of mine. The beat isn’t just limited to unions, either: I wrote twice about the NCAA, covered the legal issues that stem from using TikTok for hiring, and delved into some of GrubHub’s current litigation.

It’s worth exploring new beats whenever the opportunity arises, I’ve learned, and I can’t wait for my next chance.