Bloomberg News' editor in chief Matthew Winkler made a proclamation today to the staff writers at the wire service: calling the economic crisis what it really is — a recession.

"But wait," you're thinking, "haven't we been referring to this as a recession since last Spring?" Sure, and the broadcast news pundits have no problem throwing that word around liberally. But in print, it's a little harder to find. Sure, there are obtuse references to "appearing" to be in an economic downturn, but trying to pin that phrase on a journalist is harder than catching a greased up pig in lipstick. Remember how pissed everyone got when Sarah Palin mentioned that we might be moving towards a Depression?

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Because Mike Bloomberg-as-mayor hasn't been in the news enough today, promising a decrease in New Yorkers' standard of living and increase media meetings, now there is that salacious Seth Mnookin piece about Bloomberg News that us media types have been salivating for all day.

Sure, things are going to change now that Barack Obama is in charge, but did you know that it's already become much chiller to work for Mike Bloomberg than it's ever been before?

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Reports the completely devoid of spin Bloomberg News: "New York City `Well-Positioned' to Withstand Turmoil": 'New York City, facing less revenue from Wall Street amid bank losses and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., is "well-positioned" to weather the decline, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.'

Glenn Tilton, the CEO of United Airlines, must be pretty freakin' pissed at everybody from Bloomberg News, Google, Tribune Co.'s Florida Sun-Sentinel, and financial newsletter Income Securities Advisors, which turned a six-year-old news story about the airline's 2002 bankruptcy filing into a current, breaking alert — sending shareholders into fire sale mode and driving down the price of the stock so low and so quickly, NASDAQ froze all trading. So what retribution does United have? Well, they could sue any of those parties. Except they'd probably be laughed out of court.

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Yesterday we told you about how United Airlines went from a $12 stock for a $0.01 in a single morning, when a reporter from the financial newsletter Income Securities Advisors found a six-year-old story about United's former bankruptcy (it entered protection in 2002, and exited in 2006), treated it like it was breaking news, and posted the item to Bloomberg News, which got picked up by Tribune Co.'s Florida Sun-Sentinel. It turns out, Income Securities was just performing a regular Google News search when it found the item, which was posted to the Sun-Sentinel's list of most-viewed stories, but without a 2002 date. Which means Google News, supposedly powered by a complex algorithm superior to human editing, erroneously pulled the story into its newsfeed and treated it as a brand new article, leading others to believe the story was fresh. Shareholders jumped on the news, selling off United stock, and driving the shareprice down rapidly before trading was frozen. Congrats, Brin & Page.

Bloomberg News does it again: 'Shares of United Airlines lost nearly all their value Monday morning when a false rumor swept financial markets that the struggling carrier had filed for bankruptcy protection. United shares traded at one cent in late morning on the New York Stock Exchange, down 99.92 percent, or $12.29. … The circumstances surrounding the rumor were still being sorted out Monday afternoon. In a statement, United said the rumor occurred when the Web site of The Sun-Sentinel, a Florida newspaper, posted a six-year-old story from The Chicago Tribune archives about United's previous bankruptcy filing. The airline operated under bankruptcy protection from 2002 through 2006. "United has demanded a retraction from The Sun Sentinel and is launching an investigation," the airline said in a statement. On its Web site, however, The Chicago Tribune offered a different set of events. The Tribune said a reporter for Income Securities Advisors, an investment research firm based in Miami, found a Tribune story in the Sun-Sentinel archives during a search for information about bankruptcy situations. The reporter at Income Securities posted the story to Bloomberg News, where the rumor then spread rapidly, The Tribune said.' [NYT]

First, Bloomberg runs Steve Jobs obituary, even though the man is still alive. Then, Bloomberg claims Sarah Palin was arrested for drunk driving, when it was actually her husband with the DUI. And soon, Bloomberg will claim Michael Bloomberg is buying the New York Times. Following the trend, they will be wrong.

But it's not like anyone is getting a bonus, either. [Portfolio]

Workers at Bloomberg News will soon be able to "request schedules better suited to their personal lives — including flexible hours, a shorter work week and working from home." [Reuters]

If you're working at Bloomberg and making over $200,000, sorry: Your salary isn't going to get any higher right now. The current economic client has the financial news giant hedging its bets, with a hiring freeze en route. If it makes you feel any better, though, editor-in-chief Matt Winkler got himself a bigger conference room. [NYP]