Howard Luxenberg
Not a feel-good story
Thursday 02 February 2012
Stephen Adler’s position as editor-in-chief is not a feel-good story. A year into his job, he has managed to eliminate a wealth of talent and shred a reputation that has been built on trust and integrity. In its place comes his award-winning crew, mostly with ties to The Wall Street Journal where Adler himself had spent 16 years before moving on to Business Week. Interestingly, his hand-picked team, which displaced a group of well-respected, long-time editors and reporters, is building its own reputation – none of it in the proud tradition of years past. Unfortunately, the errors mount and, worse, the corrections are cumbersome and attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. The announced reorganization of global news desk operations looks more like a cost-cutting measure rather than a step to address the inaccuracies flowing from his prized news team.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Another new era is beckoning
Thursday 15 December 2011
Amazingly, with every management change and abrupt staff dismissals there comes a new era. First, there was chief executive officer Tom Glocer, who only a few months ago painted a bright future and said he had no plans to leave. Well, he is out the door at year-end, replaced by James Smith, who even before taking the helm says Thomson-Reuters integration has been completed and “the company now enters a new era”. Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler says he has the full support of Smith and that he is “optimistic, energized, and eager to embrace the opportunities ahead”. Well, let’s hope so because recent blunders by Adler’s prize-winning staff additions are not a good beginning to a new era.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Big names and bright lights
Thursday 08 December 2011
This is the season to be jolly, except, of course, when it comes to the mess that needs cleansing from the Tom Glocer era, whose dismissal was long overdue and certainly not without regret from long suffering shareholders and perhaps much of the Thomson Reuters staff, as well.
But is his ousting enough to right a ship that has wandered far off course? That may not be known for months, perhaps a year or so at least, although one thing is obvious: The organization, under the rein of Glocer and his editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, has gradually drifted away from what customers most expected – being first with the news and getting it right! Adler, rightly so, wanted more; he wanted award-winning journalists to enhance the company’s status. Well, he got his journalists, but right out of the box were a host of blunders, including errors from his award winners and a need to withdraw stories, all at great embarrassment to the company.
Surprisingly, Adler says he believes that newly appointed chief executive James Smith will continue to support Adler’s mission of making big name journalists the cornerstone of the company’s effort to push its brand forward. Well, that cannot be good news for a dedicated staff that has fought long and hard to keep TR the leader in financial news reporting against its most formidable competitor, Bloomberg, which has narrowed the gap considerably in recent years.
Big names and bright lights are wonderful, but not at the expense of what has long made the name Reuters one of the most respected news organizations in the world.
Howard Luxenberg
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But is his ousting enough to right a ship that has wandered far off course? That may not be known for months, perhaps a year or so at least, although one thing is obvious: The organization, under the rein of Glocer and his editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, has gradually drifted away from what customers most expected – being first with the news and getting it right! Adler, rightly so, wanted more; he wanted award-winning journalists to enhance the company’s status. Well, he got his journalists, but right out of the box were a host of blunders, including errors from his award winners and a need to withdraw stories, all at great embarrassment to the company.
Surprisingly, Adler says he believes that newly appointed chief executive James Smith will continue to support Adler’s mission of making big name journalists the cornerstone of the company’s effort to push its brand forward. Well, that cannot be good news for a dedicated staff that has fought long and hard to keep TR the leader in financial news reporting against its most formidable competitor, Bloomberg, which has narrowed the gap considerably in recent years.
Big names and bright lights are wonderful, but not at the expense of what has long made the name Reuters one of the most respected news organizations in the world.
Howard Luxenberg
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Tom Glocer
Saturday 05 November 2011
Howard Luxenberg doesn’t say anything about Tom Glocer’s vision (if any), which is more a declaration of commitment to long-termism.
There was a lot of techno-undertow in the Reuters I knew (systems not working) so I can imagine why he believes the effects won’t be seen until 2013. But if he doesn’t sharpen up the infrastructure any positive effects will be swamped by the inability of staff to perform as they should.
Peter Farrell-Vinay
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There was a lot of techno-undertow in the Reuters I knew (systems not working) so I can imagine why he believes the effects won’t be seen until 2013. But if he doesn’t sharpen up the infrastructure any positive effects will be swamped by the inability of staff to perform as they should.
Peter Farrell-Vinay
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Tom Glocer
Thursday 03 November 2011
Tom Glocer no doubt sealed his fate [● Tom Glocer: ‘We’re not magicians’]. His comments that the benefits of his reorganization may not fully kick in until 2013 is unlikely to instill confidence in the Thomson Reuters hierarchy, already disillusioned with the company’s sagging stock price, a seemingly never-ending stream of staff shake-ups and product makeovers not receiving the envisioned enthusiastic reception. If conditions “remain tough”, as Glocer says, then his tenure as chief executive may well end sooner rather than later.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Stick to standards
Thursday 20 October 2011
Stephen Adler’s need to again spell out the Reuters standards [● Stephen Adler spells it out: stick to Reuters standards] demonstrates he is not getting the message across, much to the embarrassment of the organisation and to the world at large. Long proud of our heritage, Adler and his new team of award-winning journalists, in a few short months, has done much to unravel an image of fairness in our reporting and one where honesty and integrity were beyond reproach. While he says “stick to the editorial standards,” his actions and those of his hand-picked editors show there is utter confusion among the staff on what the message is and where TR is headed.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Putting the customer first
Thursday 06 October 2011
How many times in the past have we heard of the strategy of “putting the customer first” [● James Smith aims for change plan by 1 January]? It just seems like every time there are changes in the organization’s hierarchy the new person thinks he is reinventing the wheel. Spending more than 30 years at the Baron, I’d lost track of the number of times these words were uttered by one of the company’s top executives. It’s hard to imagine that in the current economic climate there are any businesses that would not claim that customer satisfaction is the top priority.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Tom Glocer
Thursday 29 September 2011
Tom Glocer’s latest “major shake-up” [● Another major shake-up as Thomson Reuters abandons dual structure] must be viewed as an act of desperation by a chief executive attempting to hold on to the reins of power. His leadership and frequent shifts in the chain of command, the latest in less than two months, certainly questions his grasp of the organization’s problems and what is required to regain the confidence of the Thomson hierarchy. While he says he is “not planning to go anywhere,” perhaps it is time for him to reconsider.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Undercutting morale
Friday 16 September 2011
Just because your team is loaded with MVPs [most valuable players] doesn’t make you the very best team [● Reuters aims to become best in the world - Stephen Adler]. You don’t have to look much further than the Bronx, where a baseball team is stacked with future Hall of Famers at a team salary of $200 million. Certainly, that team is the best on paper, but not always in performance. Stephen Adler would do much better if he understood that the team concept with a very solid mix of in-house players would likely enable him to reach his goal much faster than some of his recently acquired Pulitzer Prize winners. In one short stroke, Adler has done much to undercut the morale of a dedicated staff, who has long worked to make the organization one of the most respected in the world.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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The good old days
Monday 12 September 2011
If these are the good old days, as Tom Glocer says [● The good old days, they’re now - Tom Glocer], then he is living in a world unfamiliar to many of us. Unemployment is running out of control, Congress can’t seem to put America first and the US currency looks more like Monopoly money with each passing day.
Howard Luxenberg
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Howard Luxenberg
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Editorial advancement
Tuesday 03 May 2011
Reuters editors/journalists must be wondering about their prospects for advancement following the hiring of yet another former Wall Street Journal staffer, this time as global enterprise editor [● Reuters taps top WSJ editor for global role]. When will this love fest with the WSJ end? Injecting new, outside blood (editor-in-chief Stephen Adler's words) into the organization may be a good thing, but there also can be too much, when the “outside” comes from one place. Approval for what obviously is a large expenditure for putting together his new team at a time when Newspaper Guild of New York employees were grudgingly awarded salary increases of 1.5 per cent annually for the next three years sends the wrong message. From the new editor-in-chief's actions, one must assume that to climb the ladder at Reuters you need the WSJ on your résumé – not exactly a morale builder for current staff.
Howard Luxenberg
Howard Luxenberg
Pensioners' lunch
Friday 14 May 2010
It hardly seems possible, but Tom Glocer’s behavior has become even more mind boggling. First, he expresses support for Goldman Sachs in a possible government fraud case, and then says Thomson Reuters can no longer afford the Pensioners’ Lunch [● No more pensioners’ lunches - Tom Glocer]. If I’m interpreting this correctly, he is essentially saying that the people who actually built the company’s stellar reputation are no longer worth the price of a meal, even if they are willing to pay most of the cost. It doesn’t speak much for his sense of values.
Howard Luxenberg
Howard Luxenberg
Tom Glocer and Goldman Sachs
Thursday 06 May 2010
It seems Tom Glocer not only resides in the Ivory Tower; he now thinks he owns it, as well. Interestingly, he appears to stand alone as his sole supporter for his bizarre comments in support of Goldman Sachs against fraud charges. Of course, it did take him more than a week, no doubt after huddling with a bunch of high-priced lawyers, to decide his course of action was correct. Goldman Sachs may well be exonerated of the charges, but to paraphrase the earlier comments of Michael Reupke: Why are we not hearing from the Trustees about the behavior of the CEO? You have to wonder how long a Reuters journalist would survive a blog critical of their top executive.
Howard Luxenberg
Howard Luxenberg
Tom Glocer and Goldman Sachs
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Tom Glocer should be mindful of his position as head of a news organization that does a considerable amount of business with Goldman Sachs. The financial behemoth will certainly have its day in court. That said, Glocer, as a trained lawyer, should refrain from remarks that collide with Reuters business interests. Reuters reporters are held to the highest principles of journalistic ethics, but perhaps it’s too much to expect the same of the company’s top executive.
Howard Luxenberg
Howard Luxenberg
Editorial appraisal objectives
Sunday 25 October 2009
What Thomson Reuters has undertaken is simply a redressing of a system that has existed for years. It was reasonably accurate when I was around (I left at the beginning of 2004) but it very likely will be more difficult to measure today in an Internet driven world. I wonder if Reuters has the means to be accurate and objective. This had been one of my major undertakings over those last years, and many editors and reporters alike did not view my account in a favorable light, particularly with respect to some of their staff’s reporting. An outside source probably is required to gauge such effectiveness, but here, again, the key word is cost and I imagine that issue is difficult to overcome.
Howard Luxenberg
Howard Luxenberg
