Betty Wong
Major Reuters editorial shake-up to be unveiled
Friday 15 April 2011
The new editor-in-chief, Stephen Adler, is expected to announce the changes as soon as Monday. A former editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek magazine, now owned by Bloomberg, he replaced David Schlesinger as editor-in-chief in February. Adler said then he would spend the next 60 days evaluating news operations to determine what changes needed to be made to improve performance.
Talking Biz News, a website run by the Carolina Business News Initiative, said that according to three current employees, “those changes will largely focus on editing positions and are seen as Adler putting his stamp on the organisation”.
“When you look at the organisational chart, you see some editors with titles like managing editor of news research strategy for people you’ve never heard of and who are doing jobs similar to other positions at the company,” it quoted one editor as saying.
Talking Biz News said Adler has apparently been advised on the re-organisation by Stuart Karle, former general counsel for The Wall Street Journal.
It said one Reuters editor noted the company has three editor hierarchies – specialist editors such as those overseeing company coverage, stock market coverage, treasuries, commodities and other specialisations; bureau chiefs who oversee regional coverage; and a team of managing editors. There is also a group of editors called Top News. One of those levels is likely to be cut, said two staffers, with the reorganised editing team grouped under Top News editors.
Talking Biz News said the changes were foreshadowed in an e-mail sent to staff on Friday in which Amy Stevens, executive editor of the Thomson Reuters professional news operation, and Tiffany Wu, editor of company news in the Americas, referred to organisational and physical moves at Thomson Reuters’ headquarters in Times Square, New York.
Wong, one of the highest-ranking women in business journalism and the most prominent Asian woman in journalism, will formally leave the company at the end of May but is understood to have already gone. She deferred comment to Reuters PR staff but on her Facebook page wrote that, starting in June, she plans to begin work on a book about her great grandfather, a four-star general in Chiang Kai-shek’s army who was killed during the regime of Mao Tse-tung. A journalism graduate of New York University, she began her career at The Wall Street Journal in 1985 and joined Reuters in 1989, becoming managing editor and head of editorial operations in 2004 after a stint as global equities editor.
Adler spent 16 years at the Journal. He joined Reuters at the beginning of 2010 after Bloomberg acquired BusinessWeek.
● SOURCE Talking Biz News
Expanded digital media roles for Thomson Reuters executives
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Thomson Reuters has promoted two executives to lead a push into digital media.
Alisa Bowen, who as global head of consumer publishing had a leading role in the redesign of the ● Reuters.com website and development of mobile applications for the BlackBerry, iPhone and iPad platforms, was made global head of business operations. She joined Reuters in 2001 as a business analyst for media strategy.
Keith McAllister, former global editor of Thomson Reuters' online projects, becomes editor and publisher of consumer media. Before joining Reuters in April 2009 he was chief executive of an online syndicator and also worked for CNN where he was senior executive in charge of newsgathering. His new role will consolidate management of Reuters’ editorial and business teams.
Christoph Pleitgen, managing director of Reuters news agency, is appointed head of client operations.
The appointments follow the creation of a new team of managing editors for five editorial regions. “The new team structure reflects the growth of our news organisation, and the increasing demand we’re seeing from our customers for news and information from emerging markets,” said global managing editor Betty Wong.
In the past year Reuters has added columnists with its acquisition of commentary website Breakingviews, invested in enterprise journalism, and launched Reuters Insider, a video service for financial professionals.
A key task of the new managing editors will be to ensure Reuters makes the best use of its new investments and technologies while supporting collaboration across the various platforms.
The new managing editors, who will report directly to Wong, are:
● Caroline Drees, Middle East editor since late 2008, becomes managing editor, Middle East and Africa in mid-July and will remain based in Dubai. Drees joined Reuters in 1994. On secondment to the Reuters Foundation in 2006/7 she ran a project to help set up Iraq's first independent news agency.
● Sarah Edmonds, continental Europe editor since 2008 and deputy EMEA managing editor, becomes managing editor, Europe in mid-July and will be based in Frankfurt. She was previously bureau chief of the Nordics and Baltics, based in Stockholm. Edmonds began her Reuters career 18 years ago in her native Toronto as a financial markets and telecommunications reporter.
● Saul Hudson, Latin America editor since April 2009, becomes managing editor, Latin America in mid-July and will remain based in Sao Paulo. He previously worked with Reuters for 13 years in The Americas.
● Jack Reerink, global company news editor, becomes managing editor, United States and Canada in September and will remain based in New York. He led coverage of company news and stock markets in the Asia Pacific region from 2002 to 2007 with a short stint as Asia treasury editor. Reerink joined Reuters in 1997.
● Brian Rhoads, Americas managing editor based in New York since September 2008, will move to Hong Kong in July to become managing editor, Asia. Previously, he worked for Reuters in Asia for 12 years, eight of them in China.
● SOURCE Media Bistro | Paid Content | Thomson Reuters
Alisa Bowen, who as global head of consumer publishing had a leading role in the redesign of the ● Reuters.com website and development of mobile applications for the BlackBerry, iPhone and iPad platforms, was made global head of business operations. She joined Reuters in 2001 as a business analyst for media strategy.
Keith McAllister, former global editor of Thomson Reuters' online projects, becomes editor and publisher of consumer media. Before joining Reuters in April 2009 he was chief executive of an online syndicator and also worked for CNN where he was senior executive in charge of newsgathering. His new role will consolidate management of Reuters’ editorial and business teams.
Christoph Pleitgen, managing director of Reuters news agency, is appointed head of client operations.
The appointments follow the creation of a new team of managing editors for five editorial regions. “The new team structure reflects the growth of our news organisation, and the increasing demand we’re seeing from our customers for news and information from emerging markets,” said global managing editor Betty Wong.
In the past year Reuters has added columnists with its acquisition of commentary website Breakingviews, invested in enterprise journalism, and launched Reuters Insider, a video service for financial professionals.
A key task of the new managing editors will be to ensure Reuters makes the best use of its new investments and technologies while supporting collaboration across the various platforms.
The new managing editors, who will report directly to Wong, are:
● Caroline Drees, Middle East editor since late 2008, becomes managing editor, Middle East and Africa in mid-July and will remain based in Dubai. Drees joined Reuters in 1994. On secondment to the Reuters Foundation in 2006/7 she ran a project to help set up Iraq's first independent news agency.
● Sarah Edmonds, continental Europe editor since 2008 and deputy EMEA managing editor, becomes managing editor, Europe in mid-July and will be based in Frankfurt. She was previously bureau chief of the Nordics and Baltics, based in Stockholm. Edmonds began her Reuters career 18 years ago in her native Toronto as a financial markets and telecommunications reporter.
● Saul Hudson, Latin America editor since April 2009, becomes managing editor, Latin America in mid-July and will remain based in Sao Paulo. He previously worked with Reuters for 13 years in The Americas.
● Jack Reerink, global company news editor, becomes managing editor, United States and Canada in September and will remain based in New York. He led coverage of company news and stock markets in the Asia Pacific region from 2002 to 2007 with a short stint as Asia treasury editor. Reerink joined Reuters in 1997.
● Brian Rhoads, Americas managing editor based in New York since September 2008, will move to Hong Kong in July to become managing editor, Asia. Previously, he worked for Reuters in Asia for 12 years, eight of them in China.
● SOURCE Media Bistro | Paid Content | Thomson Reuters
