government of the day". Subsequent reporting said Micklethwait was referring to a team of specialized investigative reporters, as opposed to the overall political team, but he would not elaborate or issue a public clarification despite newsroom staff wishing for him to do so. Investigative journalists and political reporters operate separately but reporting indicates this distinction would not be clear to the general public. Following Bloomberg's announcement, the Houston Chronicle dropped Bloomberg as a source for the 2020 Presidential campaign, saying that "journalists should not choose targets based on their political affiliation." Former Bloomberg News DC Bureau Chief Megan Murphy also criticized the decision, saying it bars "talented reporters and editors from covering massive, crucial aspects of one of the defining elections of our time" and calling the decision to avoid coverage "not journalism". Responding to the controversy, Michael Bloomberg told CBS News: “We just have to learn to live with some things." He added that his reporters “get a paycheck. But with your paycheck comes some restrictions and responsibilities.” Bloomberg suspended his campaign on March 4, 2020, the day after Super Tuesday. Controversy China coverage Bloomberg News received a 2012 George Polk Award for its series of stories about China's political elite, "Revolution to Riches." One story in the series focused on the family wealth of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Journalist and author Howard W. French reported in the May/June 2014 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review that prior to publication of the Xi story, high-level Bloomberg officials met with Chinese diplomats twice without informing the journalists who were working on the story. The first meeting was between Winkler and Zhang Yesui, the Chinese ambassador to the United States. Zhang is said to have told Winkler, "If Bloomberg publishes this story, bad things will happen for Bloomberg in China. If Bloomberg does not publish the story, good things will happen for Bloomberg." The second meeting occurred shortly thereafter in New York and included Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer, the company's then Chief Executive Daniel Doctoroff, and an unnamed Chinese diplomat. Around the time of the second meeting, during a lengthy conference call with Bloomberg reporters and editors, Doctoroff insisted on changes in the story that softened its impact by revising the language used to describe the Xi family's assets. After the Xi story appeared, terminal sales in China slowed because government officials ordered state enterprises not to subscribe. The Bloomberg News