The perks of working at Bloomberg LP are legendary: free cereal, free yogurt, free espresso drinks, free Swedish Fish, free healthcare and more all thanks to the benevolence of former Mayor Mikey B.

However, beneath the veneer of unlimited free carbohydrates, Bloomberg's media empire is nothing more than a glorified prison for journalists put out to pasture (the company has a tendency to scoop up NYT castoffs and pay other miscellaneous newsmen of questionable talent over-inflated salaries for doing god-knows-what).

And since the return of Warden Bloomberg from his stint at City Hall, conditions at the Bloomberg Correctional Facility for Wayward Hacks have worsened.

Ravi Somaiya has more in today's Times:

Emails between staff members are marked with the time the employee entered the office, a measure that has been reinstated since Mr. Bloomberg returned and that some suspect is intended to encourage employees to arrive earlier (or to shame them for arriving late). In a memo, he asked his staff members to make sure their security cards do not cover their name badges so that he can identify them more easily.

Just another friendly, convivial workplace conducive to producing great journalism.

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[Pic via AP]