You clearly don't know anything about the news photo business or photojournalism for that matter. It's not grip-and-grin posed ribbon cuttings and staged portraits for annual reports. It's photojournalism. An AP wire story written quickly about an explosion isn't going to have the literary gravitas of James Joyce. That doesn't mean that the AP writer is 'incompetent.' They're doing completely different work. Rarely you do get a Hemingway-level reporter or photojournalist that can elevate the mundane to high art, but those photographers aren't getting assigned to Theranos stories but stories of more value than some quick corporate headshot.
When I shot for Reuters (1996-2002) some of my most 'boring' images played all over the world and my favorite photos only occasionally made the wire. Did I look incompetent? I don't really care; My byline in The NY Times for a crap photo was much more valuable than the 'perfect' photo nobody sees.
Pro news photographers don't care; they aren't trying to audition to be your wedding photographer, they're chasing news and not giving a second thought to where some quick corporate headshot is running.
I'm not sure how Bloomberg News stores/sells their photos, but on a service like Getty Images, you'll find plenty of b-roll type images, because some clients will want "normal" photos, or alternate angles. Here's the Getty results for Elizabeth Holmes: http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/elizabeth-holmes?family=ed...
In any case, it's not the publication's job to make someone look good or glamorous. It's not the most flattering photo of Holmes but it's not terribly off from what she normally looks like (in general, photos of someone while they're talking/eating aren't going to be ideal, in terms of attractiveness).
No, the photo makes the subject look odd it does not make the photographer look incompetent. The fact that the picture was used by the WSJ shows the picture is good enough for publication.
1. It's part of the Bloomberg News catalog
2. It may have been published on Bloomberg's own stories of Theranos.
3. WSJ had to pay for the right to use that photo.
How would any of those things reflect badly on the photographer?