Reuters
Huge challenges for Reuters in 2012 - Stephen Adler
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Reuters faces enormous challenges in 2012 and beyond, editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said on Wednesday.
“We must accelerate our pursuit of journalistic excellence, with the understanding that our news is a central resource for Thomson Reuters that must serve all the company’s customers,” he said in an end-of-year message to editorial staff seen by The Baron.
“As we’ve discussed many times, winning in our highly competitive markets requires us to differentiate ourselves by offering more value – not just more of the same. We will succeed by providing a combination of smart, forward-looking news coverage, more exclusives, richer enterprise journalism, effective data mining, memorable story-telling, targeted community-building, trenchant commentary and analysis, and better designed, easier-to-navigate news delivery channels.”
Adler said: “Throughout the year, many of you have asked: How do we remain fast, accurate, and fair while also providing the depth and insight you keep talking about? How do we consider the needs of a broad customer base when we’ve been asked to focus more narrowly in the past? There’s no easy answer, so we will have to ask the right questions with each assignment. Sometimes the value of a story will come from chasing the news and reporting each incremental move. Sometimes it will come from stepping away from the day-to-day to develop a longer-term story that will ultimately benefit the reader more. Often we will need to operate on two tracks simultaneously, with some people focusing on immediate news and others looking beyond the moment to go deeper and help our coverage win not just the hour or day, but the week, month and year. All this requires judgment more than blanket rules, which is why we’ve tried to cut down on many of the edicts.”
Adler said Reuters moves into 2012 with extraordinary backing from the new corporate leadership, the same staunch support received from Tom Glocer and his team in 2011. “Tom’s commitment to excellence, and his clarion call that news is the heart and soul of the company, have brought us to this moment and helped us lay the groundwork for stronger performance in the coming months. We will now be led by incoming CEO Jim Smith, to whom I reported when he was running the professional businesses and I was working to integrate news into their products. Jim spent much of his career in Thomson newspapers and has a deep understanding of, and great passion for, journalism. I can tell you from personal experience that Jim will be an ardent advocate for news quality and editorial integrity. As you get to know him, you'll also find that he is an extraordinary leader who combines great business instincts and discipline with humor, warmth, and decency.
“Bottom line: I am optimistic, energized, and eager to embrace the opportunities ahead. Our goal today, as it was when I began the job, is to be the number-one news provider in the world. As before, I’m in favor of anything that gets us there and against anything that gets in the way.”
● SOURCE Reuters
“We must accelerate our pursuit of journalistic excellence, with the understanding that our news is a central resource for Thomson Reuters that must serve all the company’s customers,” he said in an end-of-year message to editorial staff seen by The Baron.
“As we’ve discussed many times, winning in our highly competitive markets requires us to differentiate ourselves by offering more value – not just more of the same. We will succeed by providing a combination of smart, forward-looking news coverage, more exclusives, richer enterprise journalism, effective data mining, memorable story-telling, targeted community-building, trenchant commentary and analysis, and better designed, easier-to-navigate news delivery channels.”
Adler said: “Throughout the year, many of you have asked: How do we remain fast, accurate, and fair while also providing the depth and insight you keep talking about? How do we consider the needs of a broad customer base when we’ve been asked to focus more narrowly in the past? There’s no easy answer, so we will have to ask the right questions with each assignment. Sometimes the value of a story will come from chasing the news and reporting each incremental move. Sometimes it will come from stepping away from the day-to-day to develop a longer-term story that will ultimately benefit the reader more. Often we will need to operate on two tracks simultaneously, with some people focusing on immediate news and others looking beyond the moment to go deeper and help our coverage win not just the hour or day, but the week, month and year. All this requires judgment more than blanket rules, which is why we’ve tried to cut down on many of the edicts.”
Adler said Reuters moves into 2012 with extraordinary backing from the new corporate leadership, the same staunch support received from Tom Glocer and his team in 2011. “Tom’s commitment to excellence, and his clarion call that news is the heart and soul of the company, have brought us to this moment and helped us lay the groundwork for stronger performance in the coming months. We will now be led by incoming CEO Jim Smith, to whom I reported when he was running the professional businesses and I was working to integrate news into their products. Jim spent much of his career in Thomson newspapers and has a deep understanding of, and great passion for, journalism. I can tell you from personal experience that Jim will be an ardent advocate for news quality and editorial integrity. As you get to know him, you'll also find that he is an extraordinary leader who combines great business instincts and discipline with humor, warmth, and decency.
“Bottom line: I am optimistic, energized, and eager to embrace the opportunities ahead. Our goal today, as it was when I began the job, is to be the number-one news provider in the world. As before, I’m in favor of anything that gets us there and against anything that gets in the way.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Thai minister 'certain' military killed Reuters cameraman
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Witness testimony confirmed with certainty that the bullet that killed him was fired by a soldier, Chalerm Yubamrung told reporters. “For certain, the death was caused by a government official because we have witnesses who state that they saw the event when it happened,” he said following a meeting with Japan’s ambassador to Thailand. Muramoto, pictured, was a Japanese national based in Tokyo. “The direction in which the bullet was shot was confirmation that it came from the government officials’ side,” Chalerm said.
Muramoto, 43, was killed by a high-velocity bullet wound to the chest while covering clashes between anti-government “red shirt” protesters and troops in Bangkok on 10 April 2010. He was among 25 people, including several soldiers, who died that night in one of the worst bouts of political violence in Thailand in decades. Unidentified gunmen dressed in black clothes and balaclavas were seen among the demonstrators.
Chalerm’s comments followed the issue on Monday of a police summons for former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban to answer questions related to the unrest, during which 91 people were killed and more than 1,800 wounded.
The evidence stated by Chalerm concurs with witness accounts in a leaked copy of a preliminary investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) seen by Reuters last December, which said the shot came from the direction of troops. A witness was quoted as saying he saw “a flash from a gun barrel of a soldier”, then watched Muramoto fall to the ground after he was shot while filming security forces.
The issue of whether the military was behind Muramoto’s death is sensitive in a country where the armed forces are extremely powerful and deeply politicised.
DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit issued a statement on 27 February that contradicted the initial findings, saying the bullet came from a type of rifle not used by soldiers that day. But in September, the DSI pressed for a new probe into the case, a dramatic reversal from its earlier stance.
Chalerm said he told the ambassador during Tuesday’s meeting that the probe would soon be concluded and there would be no political intervention in the proceedings. “I expressed to the Japanese ambassador: ‘Let us be certain as regards our investigation. There will be no intervention’,” he said. The head of the probe, police Major-General Anuchai Lekbumrung, told Reuters that work on the case was continuing. It had yet to be sent to public prosecutors and Suthep and Abhisit would be questioned on Friday, he added.
Tharit told Reuters on Tuesday the DSI and the police were in agreement on the findings reached so far and believed there was sufficient evidence to show Muramoto was killed by a gun fired by a soldier.
The protracted investigation appears to have picked up pace since prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra took office in August after her Puea Thai Party’s resounding victory over Abhisit’s Democrat Party, which was in power at the time of the unrest. Yingluck is the sister of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the figurehead of the red-shirt protest movement long opposed by the military and Thailand’s establishment.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters affirms Thailand commitment despite layoffs
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Reuters Software (Thailand) said it remains committed to Thailand despite a recent reorganisation that resulted in layoffs. The country's largest software employer said Thailand is still one of the top three development centres for Thomson Reuters.
Vichitra Sophon, head of human resources at Thomson Reuters Thailand, said the local unit was rotating resources to serve a dynamic environment. The company last month laid off 40 quality assurance staff out of its 1,400 employees. She said job rotations were considered normal for global firms but acknowledged that layoffs of a particular group were significant for the company. The company's focus on technology to improve software would result in a reduced need for quality assurance staff in the future. It would also focus on automated quality assurance.
“We have several development centres globally. Each location has its own expertise from different countries including specialists from the Philippines responsible for content, Indian experts on accounting and Thai experts for financial systems,” Vichitra said.
Thomson Reuters Thailand has two business units: Thomson Reuters operating intelligent information with 200 employees, and Reuters Software (Thailand) with 1,400 staff handling software development.
● SOURCE Bangkok Post
Vichitra Sophon, head of human resources at Thomson Reuters Thailand, said the local unit was rotating resources to serve a dynamic environment. The company last month laid off 40 quality assurance staff out of its 1,400 employees. She said job rotations were considered normal for global firms but acknowledged that layoffs of a particular group were significant for the company. The company's focus on technology to improve software would result in a reduced need for quality assurance staff in the future. It would also focus on automated quality assurance.
“We have several development centres globally. Each location has its own expertise from different countries including specialists from the Philippines responsible for content, Indian experts on accounting and Thai experts for financial systems,” Vichitra said.
Thomson Reuters Thailand has two business units: Thomson Reuters operating intelligent information with 200 employees, and Reuters Software (Thailand) with 1,400 staff handling software development.
● SOURCE Bangkok Post
Reuters switches sources for Hollywood news to include criticism
Friday 01 July 2011
Reuters has dropped The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard as its lead providers of US entertainment news. Effective today,
● TheWrap.com takes over and the Hollywood website is expanding to meet Reuters’ needs.
TheWrap, set up in 2009, began its relationship with Reuters last year with aggregation through Reuters America, a new wire that delivers breaking news, analysis, features and sidebars tailored to the needs of US publishers and broadcasters. The service includes national, regional and state-by-state reports.
“This runs deeper,” PaidContent website reported. “TheWrap will provide reviews, along with coverage of movie, television, music and media news.”
“Reuters clients need and expect reviews, so we needed to expand to meet that demand,” said Wrap founder Sharon Waxman, who began her career in journalism as a Reuters reporter in Israel in the 1980s. She has hired a lead movie critic and a lead music reviewer and reporter.
● SOURCE PaidContent
● TheWrap.com takes over and the Hollywood website is expanding to meet Reuters’ needs.
TheWrap, set up in 2009, began its relationship with Reuters last year with aggregation through Reuters America, a new wire that delivers breaking news, analysis, features and sidebars tailored to the needs of US publishers and broadcasters. The service includes national, regional and state-by-state reports.
“This runs deeper,” PaidContent website reported. “TheWrap will provide reviews, along with coverage of movie, television, music and media news.”
“Reuters clients need and expect reviews, so we needed to expand to meet that demand,” said Wrap founder Sharon Waxman, who began her career in journalism as a Reuters reporter in Israel in the 1980s. She has hired a lead movie critic and a lead music reviewer and reporter.
● SOURCE PaidContent
Reuters still stumps majority of Americans - poll
Friday 27 May 2011
Three years after the takeover by Thomson and a major push into the United States, a majority of Americans still have trouble recognising Reuters as a global news agency, according to a poll.
A combined 60 Minutes (CBS News) and Vanity Fair magazine survey found 42 per cent of respondents knew Reuters is a global news agency — not much more than the 36 per cent who couldn’t say what it is. “A fast-food chain? That college in New Jersey? Maybe it’s the airline that took you to Germany. No, a bank in London!” the US journalism website Poynter reported.
Reuters had better name recognition – 68 per cent – among US college graduates, Poynter said.
The poll of 1,021 randomly selected adults was conducted by telephone between 31 March and 3 April.
● SOURCE Poynter
A combined 60 Minutes (CBS News) and Vanity Fair magazine survey found 42 per cent of respondents knew Reuters is a global news agency — not much more than the 36 per cent who couldn’t say what it is. “A fast-food chain? That college in New Jersey? Maybe it’s the airline that took you to Germany. No, a bank in London!” the US journalism website Poynter reported.
Reuters had better name recognition – 68 per cent – among US college graduates, Poynter said.
The poll of 1,021 randomly selected adults was conducted by telephone between 31 March and 3 April.
● SOURCE Poynter
Silence in Reuters newsrooms marks Press Freedom Day
Tuesday 03 May 2011
Reuters newsrooms fell silent for one minute on Tuesday – World Press Freedom Day – to remember journalists killed in the pursuit of their profession.
The minute's silence was observed at the most appropriate time for regions and bureaus. UNESCO has called for the mark of respect to take place every year to raise awareness about the safety of journalists who are exposed to violence as they go about their work.
Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: "We are committed to making the working environment for journalists as safe as possible and are proud to support such industry-wide initiatives."
The main international event was held in Washington on the theme 21st century media: new frontiers, new barriers.
At Thomson Reuters' London offices, UNESCO and the International News Safety Institute hosted a panel discussion on the Arab Spring: freedom to report.
● SOURCE Reuters
The minute's silence was observed at the most appropriate time for regions and bureaus. UNESCO has called for the mark of respect to take place every year to raise awareness about the safety of journalists who are exposed to violence as they go about their work.
Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: "We are committed to making the working environment for journalists as safe as possible and are proud to support such industry-wide initiatives."
The main international event was held in Washington on the theme 21st century media: new frontiers, new barriers.
At Thomson Reuters' London offices, UNESCO and the International News Safety Institute hosted a panel discussion on the Arab Spring: freedom to report.
● SOURCE Reuters
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
Rupert Murdoch saw Reuters as a rival to the WSJ
Monday 11 April 2011
Ken Auletta, in his Annals of Communications column in the 11 April issue, pictured, said that in March 2009 Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Journal and editor-in-chief of the Dow Jones New Wires, sent a letter to the staff that was dubbed the “Knackery Memo”.
“Thomson understood that he was competing not just against newspapers such as the Times but against electronic services including the A.P., Reuters, and Bloomberg. He wrote that the old system of trying to quickly disseminate Journal news to Dow Jones wires – a reform labelled ‘the Speedy’ – wasn’t working.
“A headstart of a few seconds is priceless for a commodities trader or a bond dealer…” Auletta quoted from Thomson’s memo. “Henceforth all Journal reporters will be judged, in significant part, by whether they break news for the Newswires. With these objectives in mind, we are sending Speedy to the knackery and saddling up a successor.”
Members of the newsroom looked up the meaning of “knackery”, said Auletta, and found “any premises where livestock are slaughtered when they are worn out and useless. Reporters moaned that they were being asked to become wire-service reporters. Investigative reporting, which takes time and had not been a priority at Murdoch’s newspapers, was headed to the knackery. They thought that Thomson was dismissive of the Journal and its gloried past.”
Many of the Journal’s most talented reporters and editors left for the Times, CNBC, Fortune, The Economist, or Bloomberg, Auletta wrote. “According to internal documents, Bloomberg has hired a hundred and six journalists from Dow Jones since Murdoch’s bid became public. Matthew Winkler, a former Journal reporter who left in 1990 to establish Bloomberg News, where he is editor-in-chief, says, “The Journal I came from, which focussed on in-depth reporting, is no more.”
● SOURCE The New Yorker
NZPA set to close by year-end
Thursday 07 April 2011
The New Zealand Press Association, which is owned by the country's daily newspaper publishers, said the future of its news wire was being reviewed after Fairfax Media, one of its major shareholders, gave notice of its withdrawal from the co-operative. NZPA chairman Michael Muir said the other major shareholder, APN, would be reviewing its own newspaper and online news services. A final decision on the future of NZPA would be made at the end of the month after staff feedback had been considered. It would be operating as usual in the meantime.
Fairfax Media group executive editor Paul Thompson said the NZPA service was no longer as valuable as it once was.
Fairfax’s New Zealand chief executive Allen Williams said the company had been investing heavily in the development of unique content. “News should not be treated as a commodity – media companies can and should establish points of difference with their coverage. Fairfax has made a choice to concentrate on development of its own unique content rather than subscribing for non-exclusive content from NZPA.”
NZPA was founded in 1878 as the United Press Association. It adopted its present name in 1942. The New Zealand agency and the Australian Associated Press became junior partners in the ownership of Reuters alongside Britain’s Press Association and Newspaper Proprietors’ Association in 1947. NZPA bought 2,500 shares for £11,250, a useful cash injection to Reuters at that time. As part of the deal, Reuters accepted approved Australian and New Zealand journalists as joint correspondents, especially in the Pacific area.
● SOURCE Stuff | 3News
Reuters people named in top 100 media movers and shakers
Monday 19 July 2010
They are John Witherow, John Makinson and Ilicco Elia.
A panel of experienced media watchers from the worlds of politics, journalism, advertising, television and the internet judged entrants using three criteria: cultural influence, economic clout and political power.
● Witherow, 58, trainee correspondent from 1977 to 1980, is placed at 56 in the top 100. Editor of The Sunday Times since 1994, he is the longest-serving editor in the history of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire. He joined the paper in 1984 and has been its Focus editor, foreign editor and managing editor (news).
● Makinson, 55, former journalist and a new entry at 76, is chairman and chief executive of Penguin Group. He wants to re-invent publishing for the digital age. "The definition of the book itself is up for grabs," he has said. "The transition from physical to digital is a momentous moment for the industry," said Makinson, who compared the rise of the ebook to the 15th-century invention of the printing press. "The decisions that we take now on behalf of authors will determine the future of publishing."
"You might not know the name but he makes things happen," said The Guardian’s panel. “Ilicco Elia has championed how important it is for traditional journalists to work with bloggers. He sees the blogosphere as a laboratory for the future of mobile journalism – just as the principles of journalism filter through to the bloggers, so their innovative techniques filter back to Reuters.”
The MediaGuardian list is topped by Steve Jobs, chairman and chief executive of Apple, displacing Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google, who held first place for the past three years.
● SOURCE The Guardian
Reuters multi-media show nominated for Emmy
Friday 16 July 2010
Times of Crisis, a multi-media narrative on the global impact of the financial crisis in the year following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is up for an award for new approaches to news and documentary programming: current news coverage. Launched in September 2009, it was produced by the same team that was behind Bearing Witness about the war in Iraq which was nominated for an Emmy award last year.
Winners are due to be announced at a presentation ceremony in New York on 27 September.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger won a lifetime achievement Emmy in 2008.
● Times of Crisis | VIDEO
● SOURCE Emmy Online
Reuters to relaunch UK website, may charge for some content
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Based in Tokyo, he had arrived in Thailand on Thursday. He was shot in the chest while covering clashes in the Thai capital between anti-government "red shirt" protesters and security forces. The bullet passed through him and exited his back. The picture shows him working on Saturday only hours before he was shot.
Muramoto, 43, had worked for Reuters since 1992, first as a freelance cameraman before becoming a full-time employee in 1995.
His wife Emiko and other family members arrived in Bangkok late on Sunday night and on Monday were taken to the hospital where Muramoto's body lies. A note written by her during the flight from Tokyo was read by a Reuters colleague on her behalf. It said: "It is a great shame that Muramoto could not come home with his usual smile. It happened all of a sudden, and I am at a loss as to what to do. In the eyes of our family, he was the best husband and father.”
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, in a message to staff, linked the death of Muramoto to the newly leaked video of the 2007 deaths of Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh in Iraq and said he was devastated.
Japan bureau chief Rodney Joyce told staff: "This is a time to support each other and grieve. Our thoughts are with Hiro and his family. Yes, there are many questions and efforts are being made to answer them. We will keep you informed as best we can."
Muramoto’s camera was returned to Reuters by the protesters. Seven minutes of footage shot by him show how a scrappy street protest turned lethal. The footage starts behind army lines, with soldiers framed by the Democracy Monument, scene of Bangkok's worst street violence in 1992 near the Phan Fah Bridge in the city's old quarter. Soldiers in full riot gear are standing with their rifles pointing in the air. There is the continuous sound of gunfire. One soldier glances at Muramoto twice in a nervous but non-threatening way. Then an explosion just yards in front of where Muramoto is standing sends at least four soldiers to the ground in a spray of sparks and smoke. Two get up and limp away. Another television cameraman runs frantically into Muramoto and past him. Soldiers carrying riot shields jostle into him as they, too, get away. Muramoto, walking slowly backwards, keeps filming.
The camera focuses on a soldier lying on the ground with a bloody wound to the neck. Colleagues undo his flak jacket. In the next frame, troops drag a soldier, obviously in pain, by the arms, his rifle scuffling along the road alongside him. Another motionless body is dragged away. The camera focuses on a trail of blood on the tarmac that shines in the street lights under the banners celebrating this week's Songkran festival, one of the happiest holidays in the Thai calendar. The soldiers retreat and suddenly the camera angle changes to show the red shirt ranks. Most are carrying sticks and some are wielding shields apparently taken from the soldiers. Many are waving, beckoning someone from behind the camera.
Some are frantically talking to soldiers, others are throwing objects in the air, one of which catches bunting overhead and falls harmlessly to the ground. No one in sight is paying any attention to the camera, which keeps rolling. But it is around this point, at an intersection, that TV footage from other sources show gunmen on the run, dressed not in red shirts or green army fatigues, but in black and dark civilian clothes.
The Thai government has talked of a "third force" involved in the protests and has promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding Muramoto's death.
Muramoto was active in charity projects and in 2008 and 2009 participated in an event that entails walking 100 kilometres of mountain trails in two days in areas surrounding Mount Fuji to raise money for impoverished communities in Africa. He had planned to return to Japan on 22 April to take part in this year's event due to begin the following day.
The entire Thomson Reuters group is to observe a minute's silence on Tuesday.
Schlesinger, in his e-mail, said Muramoto died for the story. "That is not a price we ever want to pay.
"There is no more important cause for us as a company and for us as professionals than journalistic safety.
"To have Hiro die just after we watched on the newly leaked video the 2007 deaths of our colleagues Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh is devastating to me; I’m sure most of you feel similar emotions.
"We know that covering the story forces us to rush towards danger when others rush away. We know that death can come from anywhere. We know how dangerous the places we cover are.
"Yet, we’re never prepared for the dreadful reality when a colleague loses his life. Nor should we be. Nor should we ever just accept it.
"If death is caused by military action, then we must work tirelessly to influence the generals and the civilians who command them to recognise the vital work journalists do, to provide full investigations and transparency whenever tragedies occur, and to enable true justice and accountability.
"If death occurs in the midst of chaotic rioting, then we must strive to review our procedures and training again to make sure we are doing absolutely everything we can to make the dangerous work safe.
"Our mission as journalists is to tell the story.
"Our mission as a company is to make sure our journalists can tell that story safely.
"This is a time of great sadness. But it is also a time of great resolve to redouble our efforts for journalist safety throughout the world."
● SOURCE Reuters | Global News Journal | David Schlesinger
Brouhaha in the blogosphere over spiked story
Friday 08 January 2010
The manager, Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors, called Devin Wenig, CEO of the markets division that includes Reuters news agency, last month to complain about a story by reporters Matthew Goldstein and Svea Herbst-Bayliss who had been looking into allegations that Cohen engaged in insider trading in the 1980s.
The brouhaha has quickly been taken up in the blogosphere.
“Wenig passed Cohen's concerns onto Schlesinger, who put the kibosh on the story, raising question about what, precisely, the point of Reuters is if rich people can quash inconvenient stories with a phone call,” Manhattan media blog Gawker said.
Schlesinger said in a conference call with staff on Wednesday it was not a bad story and could have run. The call was tense, according to Gawker, which obtained a recording of it. Schlesinger faced down a string of angry and confused Reuters journalists demanding to know precisely why their boss spiked the story, it said.
During the conference call Schlesinger also fielded questions about contract negotiations with the Newspaper Guild of New York and the controversial redesign of the reuters.com website.
“To judge by the conference call, the Cohen episode has severely demoralized the wire service's staff, which was already preoccupied by bitter contract negotiations between its union members and management,” said another blog, Talking Biz News.
“Schlesinger acknowledged that Wenig had called him about the Cohen story, and that after reading it at Wenig's request, he told his deputy Jack Reerink that he had problems with it. But he denounced the ‘false blog stories’ accusing Reuters of caving to a wealthy hedge fund manager and insisted that his concerns had nothing to so with Cohen's complaint. And he lambasted his staffers for ‘running to a blog and spreading[ing] tittle-tattle’ … instead of raising concerns internally.
“Editors make judgments. You might not always agree with those judgments, and that’s fine,” Schlesinger said in the call. “If you disagree with those judgments, then come to me. Keep it within editorial, and don’t go running to a blog.”
At one point near the end of the call the editor-in-chief interrupted one staff member who said that his editorial judgment was on trial. ”My judgment is not on trial here,” he said, apologizing for losing his temper. “It was a question of judgment, and that judgment is not up for a vote or trial.”
Gawker reported: “When Reuters media reporter Robert MacMillan asked his boss what actually happened, and what was wrong with the story, Schlesinger immediately became testy, and bizarrely seemed to say that there wasn't anything wrong with it: ‘We're not going to do news editing by plebiscite...so I'm not going to go into the details of it. The story could have run. I mean, it was not a bad story. It could have run. But I had questions about it.’ Schlesinger said that the decision to kill it wasn't actually his — he raised his questions with Reerink, who made the ultimate decision: ‘I was actually in Tokyo. I said, look, it's up to you, I'm going to bed. He made a decision not to run it. That's it.’”
Schlesinger declined to explain his decision beyond saying “You obviously have a choice — you can either believe me or not. And if you don't believe me, fine. But I'm telling you that I was hired as an editor to make judgments. And I make those judgments free of pressure.”
Talking Biz News said Reerink, global company news editor, wrote a note to staff on Friday in which he mocked the blogs and said: “In the real world, we live by the trust principles. In the real world, we kick back stories for more reporting, balance or insight. In the real world, we don’t run every story just because we wrote it.
“Are we going to be right all the time? No. But we’ll try very hard. And we’ll learn from our mistakes. (and this was not a mistake, by the way).”
Talking Biz News published what it said was an e-mail sent by Schlesinger. It said: “There’s been blog chatter in the US this week that I spiked a story because Devin told me to after he got a call from the story’s putative subject. I know many of our journalists have been concerned by the reports and even wondered if they were true.
“Don’t believe them.
“We make decisions on stories for editorial and journalistic reasons only.
“Those decisions, by their nature, are judgement calls and you of course are always free to question the judgement or debate the issues. But never doubt the commitment of this company and of me to our Trust principles and journalistic ethics.
“In my three years as Editor-in-Chief (and in the three years before that when I was running editorial operations), neither Tom [Glocer, chief executive] nor Devin has ever asked me to kill a story or to run a story. I would have objected loudly if they had.”
● SOURCE Gawker | Talking Biz News | The Business Insider
Thomson Reuters seeks more office space in London’s Docklands
Monday 14 December 2009
Four years after Reuters moved to London’s Docklands, Thomson Reuters is searching for more office space at Canary Wharf.
The company is consolidating from its City of London buildings occupied by the former Thomson group into space closer to the 283,000 square feet building at 30 South Colonnade to which Reuters transferred in 2005 after selling its landmark headquarters at 85 Fleet Street.
The website Need Office Space said likely properties for the relocation include 5 Churchill Place, which was sold last week for £208 million, and 328,000 square feet at 30 North Colonnade.
The Thomson arm of the group occupies almost 200,000 square feet in the City, including 56,000 square feet at Aldgate House, 50,000 square feet at 1 Mark Square, 46,000 square feet at 71-80 Hatton Garden and 42,000 square feet at 58-64 City Road.
● SOURCE Need Office Space
The company is consolidating from its City of London buildings occupied by the former Thomson group into space closer to the 283,000 square feet building at 30 South Colonnade to which Reuters transferred in 2005 after selling its landmark headquarters at 85 Fleet Street.
The website Need Office Space said likely properties for the relocation include 5 Churchill Place, which was sold last week for £208 million, and 328,000 square feet at 30 North Colonnade.
The Thomson arm of the group occupies almost 200,000 square feet in the City, including 56,000 square feet at Aldgate House, 50,000 square feet at 1 Mark Square, 46,000 square feet at 71-80 Hatton Garden and 42,000 square feet at 58-64 City Road.
● SOURCE Need Office Space
Reuters website unveils bold new look to mixed reception
Friday 04 December 2009
For Reuters.com, the future is now, said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief. “We want this to be the world’s best website covering business and finance news, analysis, and opinion. Full stop.”
In addition to a bolder logo – a red background replaces the washed-out grey look - the new website presents a less-cluttered home page and a slimmed-down toolbar offering a choice of News & Markets, Sectors & Industry and Analysis & Opinion, with a long list of topic sections under each. The site looks leaner, cleaner, brighter and more inviting.
“This site is for you; we want it to be your ticket to a wealth of news, information, and analysis presented in a cutting-edge format, including text, video, pictures, graphics, user interaction, and personalization features (try the new toolbar at the bottom of every page),” Schlesinger said.
But many respondents to Schlesinger’s message damned the facelift and some said they would be looking elsewhere for their news.
Schlesinger responded: “Wow - it’s great to read the passion of some of these comments, even when they hate what we’re doing! I feel really gratified that people take Reuters so seriously and are moved to write when we make changes.
“To those who love the new site – thanks, and we promise to continue to make it better and easier to use. And from the editorial side, we promise to continue to improve the multimedia content to make this a compelling experience.
“To those who hate the new site – thanks to you, too. I understand that your views are motivated by your loyalty to the old design and for how it served you. I can simply promise you that we’ll work to make this new design live up to its potential. I would urge you to experience with what we’ve got – I personally find the pop out market displays and the pop down menus, all filled with information, to be pretty exciting and useful.”
Alisa Bowen, Thomson Reuters’ head of consumer publishing, said: “We’ve only been in consumer publishing for the past six years, and the old version of the site reflected that. The new site reflects all the assets that were brought together with Thomson’s acquisition of Reuters in the spring of ‘08. We regard this as more than just a facelift.”
Redesigned websites in the UK, India, Japan and China as well as 13 additional local language markets will follow next year.
● SOURCE Reuters | David Schlesinger
Thomson Reuters completes acquisition of Breakingviews
Tuesday 01 December 2009
Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday it had completed its acquisition of Breakingviews, a leading provider of online financial insight, positioning the newly combined commentary organisation as the global leader in point-of-view journalism for financial markets.
The output of the combined team of Reuters’ original commentary writers and the Breakingviews people will be known as Reuters Breakingviews to make a clear distinction between the news service and commentary offerings.
"A fundamental plank of our Editorial strategy for making Reuters the indispensable news service for the 21st century is to expand our traditional fact-based news coverage to also offer agenda-setting point-of-view journalism. I am confident we will build upon reputation and expertise from both Reuters and Breakingviews and leverage the expertise of the combined organization," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief.
The Reuters Breakingviews attribution will designate the commentary and opinion of the named authors, while Reuters will designate the expert sourced news and analysis that has moved markets and provided insight for more than 150 years.
Reuters Breakingviews has about 30 columnists based in London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, Washington, Moscow and Madrid, with immediate plans for expanded coverage in the Gulf, Japan, Germany and India.
The newly combined service is available on all Thomson Reuters desktops with selected commentaries appearing on reuters.com. Reuters Breakingviews also reaches a broader audience of nearly 4.5 million investors and opinion formers via daily columns in many of the world's most influential newspapers, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Daily Telegraph and the International Herald Tribune.
Hugo Dixon, editor, Reuters Breakingviews, who will be running the combined commentary team, said: "The enlarged team will have global reach, allowing us to react more rapidly to breaking news and cover more stories. We will also now be able to reach hundreds of thousands more influential readers through Thomson Reuters desktops."
Breakingviews was founded in 1999 to provide online financial commentary aimed at a professional audience. It is one of a handful of journalism websites to have successfully introduced a subscription model. The company also has a thriving syndication business.
● SOURCE Marketwire
The output of the combined team of Reuters’ original commentary writers and the Breakingviews people will be known as Reuters Breakingviews to make a clear distinction between the news service and commentary offerings.
"A fundamental plank of our Editorial strategy for making Reuters the indispensable news service for the 21st century is to expand our traditional fact-based news coverage to also offer agenda-setting point-of-view journalism. I am confident we will build upon reputation and expertise from both Reuters and Breakingviews and leverage the expertise of the combined organization," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief.
The Reuters Breakingviews attribution will designate the commentary and opinion of the named authors, while Reuters will designate the expert sourced news and analysis that has moved markets and provided insight for more than 150 years.
Reuters Breakingviews has about 30 columnists based in London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, Washington, Moscow and Madrid, with immediate plans for expanded coverage in the Gulf, Japan, Germany and India.
The newly combined service is available on all Thomson Reuters desktops with selected commentaries appearing on reuters.com. Reuters Breakingviews also reaches a broader audience of nearly 4.5 million investors and opinion formers via daily columns in many of the world's most influential newspapers, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Daily Telegraph and the International Herald Tribune.
Hugo Dixon, editor, Reuters Breakingviews, who will be running the combined commentary team, said: "The enlarged team will have global reach, allowing us to react more rapidly to breaking news and cover more stories. We will also now be able to reach hundreds of thousands more influential readers through Thomson Reuters desktops."
Breakingviews was founded in 1999 to provide online financial commentary aimed at a professional audience. It is one of a handful of journalism websites to have successfully introduced a subscription model. The company also has a thriving syndication business.
● SOURCE Marketwire
Mark Wood to head health and fitness TV station
Sunday 29 November 2009
Mark Wood, former Reuters editor-in-chief, is to become chairman of a pan-European satellite TV station dedicated to health and fitness, The Sunday Times reported.
Wood, editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000, moves to Body in Balance, which began in 2006 as Alfra, a German television company. Alfra merged with its main programme supplier, Fiton TV, in 2007 to former Body in Balance. Its programmes focus on disciplines including pilates and yoga.
Wood joined Reuters in 1976 and was a correspondent in Vienna, East Berlin, Moscow and Bonn. In 2000 he took charge of Reuters’ strategic media investments and alliances. After Reuters he was chief executive of Independent Television News from 2003 and also its chairman from 1998. He left ITN earlier this year.
● SOURCE The Sunday Times
Wood, editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000, moves to Body in Balance, which began in 2006 as Alfra, a German television company. Alfra merged with its main programme supplier, Fiton TV, in 2007 to former Body in Balance. Its programmes focus on disciplines including pilates and yoga.
Wood joined Reuters in 1976 and was a correspondent in Vienna, East Berlin, Moscow and Bonn. In 2000 he took charge of Reuters’ strategic media investments and alliances. After Reuters he was chief executive of Independent Television News from 2003 and also its chairman from 1998. He left ITN earlier this year.
● SOURCE The Sunday Times
Reuters again suspends Australian cricket coverage over media rights
Friday 20 November 2009
Reuters has suspended coverage of Cricket Australia matches and events for a second season because of a long-running dispute over media rights and freedom of the press.
Reuters said on Friday it was unable to provide text, pictures or audio-visual coverage of the 2009/10 international season against West Indies and Pakistan after Cricket Australia refused to change its conditions of accreditation. It said it could not agree to terms which impinge on its ability to fairly and freely report on, and disseminate, news.
"We are very disappointed that, yet again, Cricket Australia is not prepared to facilitate full and impartial news coverage of their upcoming season," said Christoph Pleitgen, Thomson Reuters’ Global Head of News Agency. "We remain prepared to enter into discussions and negotiations to secure acceptable accreditation terms for our journalists and we sincerely hope that we will be able to bring news of cricket from Australia to viewers and readers all over the world but, at present, we are unable to accept the limitations that Cricket Australia is imposing."
Reuters advised clients that it "holds firmly to the belief that there can be no better promotion for any sport than the availability of timely, unbiased information to as many newspapers, websites, broadcasters and magazines as possible" and that it would welcome any move by Cricket Australia to review its decision.
Along with The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, Reuters suspended coverage of Cricket Australia events last season over the same dispute, prompting the Australian government to conduct an inquiry to find a balance between the commercial interests of sporting bodies and the rights of media to get fair access to those events.
The inquiry committee agreed that sporting organisations had a right to protect their copyright and explore business opportunities but not at the expense of media freedom. It agreed with media organisations that sporting events were of genuine public interest and urged the sporting bodies to stop using accreditation conditions to control access to events.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters said on Friday it was unable to provide text, pictures or audio-visual coverage of the 2009/10 international season against West Indies and Pakistan after Cricket Australia refused to change its conditions of accreditation. It said it could not agree to terms which impinge on its ability to fairly and freely report on, and disseminate, news.
"We are very disappointed that, yet again, Cricket Australia is not prepared to facilitate full and impartial news coverage of their upcoming season," said Christoph Pleitgen, Thomson Reuters’ Global Head of News Agency. "We remain prepared to enter into discussions and negotiations to secure acceptable accreditation terms for our journalists and we sincerely hope that we will be able to bring news of cricket from Australia to viewers and readers all over the world but, at present, we are unable to accept the limitations that Cricket Australia is imposing."
Reuters advised clients that it "holds firmly to the belief that there can be no better promotion for any sport than the availability of timely, unbiased information to as many newspapers, websites, broadcasters and magazines as possible" and that it would welcome any move by Cricket Australia to review its decision.
Along with The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, Reuters suspended coverage of Cricket Australia events last season over the same dispute, prompting the Australian government to conduct an inquiry to find a balance between the commercial interests of sporting bodies and the rights of media to get fair access to those events.
The inquiry committee agreed that sporting organisations had a right to protect their copyright and explore business opportunities but not at the expense of media freedom. It agreed with media organisations that sporting events were of genuine public interest and urged the sporting bodies to stop using accreditation conditions to control access to events.
● SOURCE Reuters
reuters.com editor quits for new digital media project
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Adam Pasick, pictured, editor of reuters.com, masqueraded in the form of a digital avatar called Adam Reuters in the imaginary environment of Sadville in Second Life. A second Reuters journalist in the two-man virtual bureau, Eric Krangel, was called Eric Reuters.
The opening of the virtual bureau in cyberspace was described as part of Reuters’ strategy of embracing new digital platforms to deliver next generation news and information.
Pasick's new job is with an Atlantic Media project said to target global business executives and due to be launched in early 2010.
● SOURCE Fishbowl NY
Martin Nesirky appointed UN secretary-general's spokesman
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Nesirky, who served with Reuters in Moscow, Berlin, The Hague and Seoul, is currently with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna where he has been spokesman and head of press and public information since 2006.
At Reuters Nesirky covered a number of issues affecting international peace and security, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, events in the Balkans and nuclear non-proliferation issues. In Moscow he was responsible for coverage of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and as a senior editor in London handling global political news stories, including the Middle East and Africa.
At the UN he succeeds Michele Montas of Haiti who is retiring on 30 November, the world body said in a statement on Tuesday.
A stern test confronts Nesirky, his former colleague Patrick Worsnip, now Reuters bureau chief at the UN, wrote in a blog posting.
“After a high-flying career at Reuters that saw him fill senior editorial positions in London, Berlin, Moscow and Seoul, Nesirky has had some time to acclimatize to his new role by working for more than three years as spokesman for the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), based in Vienna. But the move to New York brings much more formidable challenges.
“Like any UN spokesperson, Nesirky, a Briton, will have to take into account the concerns of the 192 nations that belong to the world body. That’s 192 different governments that can get upset by something he might say. But his chief problem may be his boss Ban, whose public image, to put it mildly, could take a little burnishing. Aside from his awkward use of English, which has television producers tearing their hair, Ban has had a rough ride from hostile media that have accused him of failing to use his position to end the world’s conflicts and right its wrongs…
“Then there is the sprawling and ill-defined nature of the U.N. press and public relations operation, with different officials and factions competing for the secretary-general’s attention and waiting to pounce on any mis-step by one of the others.”
In trying to stay close to the South Korean secretary-general, Nesirky could benefit from his knowledge of the Korean language from his time in Seoul. He is also married to a South Korean, Worsnip wrote. But these advantages too could be a double-edged sword. U.N. diplomats have long complained that Ban is happiest in a Korean comfort zone and relies too much on a compatriot who serves as his deputy chief-of-staff, Kim Won-soo.
“In the world of spokespeople, the UN post may look from the outside like a dream job. But insiders were not so envious," Worsnip wrote. "Nesirky joins the world body as Ban is getting ready to try to persuade the great powers who decide these things that he has done well enough in his first five-year term of office, which ends in December 2011, that he deserves a second one. Most analysts give him a good chance, saying he has done nothing to offend key players in Washington and Beijing. But if they are wrong, Nesirky’s job could turn out to be one of his shorter assignments.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters announces new global FX analyst team
Monday 16 November 2009
Reuters announced a new six-member global FX analyst team, part of an effort to deepen foreign exchange, macroeconomic and money market news and analysis coverage.
In addition to serving as core contributors to Reuters' newly launched global treasury chatroom, The Dealing Room, they will make regular appearances on Thomson Reuters Insider's daily FX programmes and contribute market commentary to financial clients.
"Their market intelligence on currency flows, trading strategies, discussion around who's up and who's down and chewing the news with the journalists on the front line is providing a lively, compelling and addictive mix," said Stella Dawson, global editor, treasury news.
The team members are Neal Kimberley and Marco Garavello, based in London, Kevin Weir and Jim Cochrane, based in New York, Rick Lloyd, based in Singapore, and Krishna Kumar, based in Sydney.
● SOURCE CNN
In addition to serving as core contributors to Reuters' newly launched global treasury chatroom, The Dealing Room, they will make regular appearances on Thomson Reuters Insider's daily FX programmes and contribute market commentary to financial clients.
"Their market intelligence on currency flows, trading strategies, discussion around who's up and who's down and chewing the news with the journalists on the front line is providing a lively, compelling and addictive mix," said Stella Dawson, global editor, treasury news.
The team members are Neal Kimberley and Marco Garavello, based in London, Kevin Weir and Jim Cochrane, based in New York, Rick Lloyd, based in Singapore, and Krishna Kumar, based in Sydney.
● SOURCE CNN
No interest in buying print media says Tom Glocer
Friday 06 November 2009
The question was put to the chief executive by correspondent Robert MacMillan, pictured, who covers Thomson Reuters as part of his media beat.
“Covering Thomson Reuters Corp for almost two years has taught me that people like to cast my company in a recurring role in media deal parlor games,” he writes in a Reuters blog. “Now that the company’s arch-rival Bloomberg LP will buy BusinessWeek magazine from McGraw-Hill, lots of my pals in the media world are wondering: Will Thomson Reuters buy a mainstream news or business news magazine? Or newspaper? Why not Forbes? Why not the Financial Times?
“Keep in mind that Thomson Reuters likes to remind people when they ask these questions that Thomson Corp, before buying Reuters, got out of its Canadian newspaper empire for a reason.
“I asked our chief executive, Tom Glocer, a question along these lines on a Thursday phone call he had with reporters to discuss the company’s third-quarter financial results."
Glocer's reply: “Thomson did a remarkable job, far earlier than any other company I know, of seeing what was coming and transitioning their business out of print for the most part… I don’t see any particular time or reason at this juncture why we should go the other way.”
MacMillan returned to the theme when he interviewed Glocer later in the day and used the Financial Times as an example. He got a similarly dismissive response from the CEO.
What about other properties, MacMillan enquired.
"Is it impossible that somewhere in the world that we'd take a print property and move it electronic? No, but we're not looking to go out and buy consumer print publications. That’s not what we think our business is,” Glocer replied.
Robert Daleo, chief financial officer, said Thomson Reuters was a company where “what we shy away from are advertising-based models. We charge for content, we charge for information and news”.
What about reuters.com, an ad-supported site that runs Reuters news? Glocer said: “I would argue that the overwhelming amount of our news is behind the firewall in the sense that you only get it as part of a product that you pay for. It’s great that we have it. I’m very proud of reuters.com. I use it on weekends and evenings when I’m not in front of my bigger service, my subscription service.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Peter Millar's Berlin Wall book is the best read - Economist
Friday 06 November 2009
“The best read is the irreverent and engaging account by Peter Millar, who writes for the Sunday Times among other papers,” the weekly wrote in a review of six books.
“Fastidious readers who expect reporters to be a mere lens on events will be shocked at the amount of personal detail, including the sexual antics and drinking habits of his colleagues in what now seems a Juvenalian age of dissolute British journalism. He mentions his long-suffering wife and children rather too often, but the result is full of insights and on occasion delightfully funny. The author has a knack for befriending interesting people and tracking down important ones. He weaves their words with his clear-eyed reporting of events into a compelling narrative about the end of the cruel but bungling East German regime.”
Peter Millar was a Reuters correspondent from 1977 to 1985. His book 1989: The Berlin Wall: My Part in its Downfall, is published by Arcadia. It is due to be published in the United States in April 2010.
● SOURCE The Economist
● Peter Millar's books
● Steve Somerville's review
Thomson Reuters Q3 profit tumbles in 'challenging environment'
Thursday 05 November 2009
The group earned $162 million, or 19 cents per share, in the three months ended 30 September – down from $404 million or 49 cents per share a year earlier. Underlying operating profit rose three per cent to $711 million in the third quarter, from $690 million a year ago.
CEO Tom Glocer told investment analysts it was a challenging environment.
"Despite difficult market conditions, our businesses delivered solid results in the third quarter," he said. "Our Tax & Accounting and Healthcare & Science businesses continued to perform very strongly, and sales of subscription products in our Markets and Legal units improved in Q3 over what we expect were their bottom in Q2. While the weak year-to-date net sales experienced in recent quarters are now flowing through into revenues, we expect this dip to be shallow and limited to the next few quarters.
"Our ongoing focus on the Reuters integration and close cost management across the company has enabled us to continue to grow underlying operating profit. While we would welcome a quick return to revenue growth, we understand how to operate in challenging markets and we are confident that we are outperforming the competition," Glocer said.
Adjusted earnings from continuing operations slipped to 43 cents per share from 47 cents a year ago, beating average analyst forecasts of 40 cents per share.
Thomson Reuters said its revenue slipped four per cent to $3.22 billion, partly because of unfavourable foreign exchange rates.
"While the weak year-to-date net sales experienced in recent quarters are now flowing through into revenues, we expect this dip to be shallow and limited to the next few quarters," Glocer said.
Revenue from ongoing businesses, excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, fell two per cent to $3.21 billion. The average analyst forecast was $3.23 billion.
In the markets division, revenue from the media operation including Reuters news agency fell by 14 per cent to $90 million amid consolidation among traditional media outlets such as newspapers.
Overall corporate expenses tripled from a year earlier to $163 million in the third quarter, due in part to integration costs.
Thomson Reuters re-affirmed its previous guidance: it expects revenue to grow this year and underlying operating profit margin and free cash flow to be comparable to 2008.
● SOURCE Reuters | Financial Post
Top editor denies Reuters has abandoned accuracy for speed
Wednesday 28 October 2009
But the news business has changed from the supposed golden age of authoritative journalism where sourcing was always rigorous and the pursuit of truth always relentless. And the nature of authority in the news business has also changed.
“Last week I was told that Reuters has lost its ethical bearings,” says Maguire, editor, political and general news. “You’ve sacrificed the sacred tenet of accuracy by rushing to publish information without checking if it is true. Your credibility has suffered, the value of your brand will wither and the service you offer to clients has been devalued, I heard.”
Writing in a Reuters Editors blog, Maguire concedes “It was a meaty accusation, especially as it came in the midst of a debate on ethics in journalism held at the London home of Thomson Reuters, the parent of the Reuters news organisation. The charge came from former Reuters journalists and a senior member of the trustees body that monitors Reuters compliance with its core ethical principles.”
The accusations concerned two inaccurate reports by CNN and Sky News that Reuters picked up.
“It is grating for any journalist to publish information that turns out to be incorrect,” says Maguire, who specialised in eastern Europe in the 1990s covering the fall of Yugoslavia and later conflict in the Middle East, particularly Iraq. “Even if we can say that the original error was made elsewhere some of the flak hits those who replicate the mistake. After all, those who republish a libel are as liable for it as its originator.
“So why did we not check first and publish later?
“The answer goes to the heart of how the news business has changed, how the notion of authoritativeness has altered and how Reuters journalists interpret the values they live by.
“But first let's scotch one myth. Embarrassing publicity notwithstanding, it is relatively rare for Reuters to publish what turns out to be an erroneous report by another news organisation. Since we instituted our current policy on 'pick-ups,' as they are known in the trade, the level of 'echoed mistakes,' has neither grown nor fallen.
“To provide a complete service to our customers our policy is to pick up stories of significance that are being carried by normally reliable media that are in a position to know what they are reporting.” Hence the decision to quote CNN, which has a good record on reporting its own home turf, or Sky, which has broken news on the Lockerbie bomber story and follows it closely. “We protect our reputation by carefully acknowledging the source of the information and speedily checking its veracity.”
Hundreds of times every day Reuters journalists decline to go with a story running on local media because it smells wrong, is trivial, or both, Maguire says. “Mostly that decision is vindicated. The old school would have it that our policy is a failure of journalism. Yet walking the right line between publishing everything and publishing nothing actually requires a finer exercise of judgment. Better journalism, in other words.
“The counter-argument is that we should only publish when we have 100 percent certainty from our own sources. That may be possible for a news organisation with a longer publishing timescale, such as a newspaper, or a periodical magazine. Yet even they, with online arms that are increasingly as ‘real-time’ as Reuters, the Associated Press or Bloomberg, face the same challenges of dealing with fast-breaking stories as the news agencies. With the advent of the Internet has come a cacophony of online voices that amplify and accelerate information, frequently dropping reference to where it originated or how it first became known. In that environment readers look to news services like Reuters to tell them what is known, and how it is known, with clarity and speed, regardless of whether we originated the story or not. In a complex, fast-moving world, no news organisation, no matter how well-resourced, can be first to report everything. All of us target the news we want to break and rely on others, who are sometimes allies and sometimes competitors, to paint their part of the picture."
Maguire asks whether that approach has destroyed the relationship of trust that clients and readers have with Reuters. His response: “The question supposes there was once a golden age of authoritative journalism where sourcing was always rigorous and the pursuit of truth always relentless. History suggests otherwise. Current anxiety over journalistic values is often a proxy for broader worry over the health of the media industry. Declining revenues have driven cost cutting that has threatened, many feel, the standards of journalism. Reuters is stressing speed for fear of losing its audience, critics say, and will do so at the expense of its reputation for accuracy.
“Yet our business has always put a premium on speed, and given that we are one of very few global news organisations that is expanding its staff during the downturn we feel we are doing the right things to maintain our audience.”
The nature of authority in the news business has also changed, Maguire says. “Real-time readers understand breaking news is contingent, uncertain and provisional. Exclusivity evaporates fast as aggregators, citers and plagiarists disseminate the fruits of others’ reporting toil. Respect is won by breaking news and by operating with clear rules and standards. But it also come from guiding readers carefully to the reports of others, binding the audience in with compelling packages of conversation, illumination and curated content.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Speed over accuracy: ex-correspondents raise concerns
Monday 26 October 2009
Former correspondents criticised Reuters’ reporting standards, raising doubts about the primacy of speed over accuracy in an increasingly competitive market.
In at least two examples, Reuters reported inaccurate stories from other media without checking primary sources first, the website Journalism.co.uk said in a report on What Price the News?, a debate hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the company's Canary Wharf, London offices on Thursday 22 October.
Has fact-checking and editing become less of a priority in an age of cost-cutting and “personal” journalism? What are the consequences for news organisations’ commitment to accuracy and freedom from bias? Those were two of the questions billed by the company in advance of the debate, which was introduced by Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards. Others were: Are Western standards of news ethics and standards necessarily correct? Should there be a global standard for what constitutes proper journalism ethics?
This month Reuters initially published a report, first broadcast by Sky News, that the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, had died, until his lawyer corrected it.
Another inaccurate story was CNN's report on a US Coast Guard training exercise on the anniversary of September 11 this year which was wrongly claimed to be a gun battle.
Former Reuters journalist Paul Iredale, speaking from the audience, said he was deeply concerned and sad about what he heard during the debate. "In Reuters it seems to have gone to speed rather than accuracy," he said. "What we used to say about Reuters was we got it last, but we got it right. I don't think that is the case now."
Sean Maguire, global editor, political and general news, said Reuters was completely transparent when the stories were found to be untrue. "When we saw it was wrong, we said we were wrong," he said. "Because Sky had been a good source on the [al-Megrahi death report] story we reported it. We very quickly said what they said was nonsense."
Former correspondent Colin Bickler said from the audience that he believed source-checking standards were slipping in the rush to get the story up. "I worked for Reuters for 28 years and if I had pulled that excuse I would have been shot. It is because it can move the markets it needs to be checked. I'm in shock," Journalism.co.uk reported him saying.
Times have changed, said Maguire. "There is a premium on speed and we will put a story out and say 'this is what we know so far,'" he said. "The business model has changed (…) but we don't recklessly report what we think is wrong."
● SOURCE Journalism.co.uk
In at least two examples, Reuters reported inaccurate stories from other media without checking primary sources first, the website Journalism.co.uk said in a report on What Price the News?, a debate hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the company's Canary Wharf, London offices on Thursday 22 October.
Has fact-checking and editing become less of a priority in an age of cost-cutting and “personal” journalism? What are the consequences for news organisations’ commitment to accuracy and freedom from bias? Those were two of the questions billed by the company in advance of the debate, which was introduced by Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards. Others were: Are Western standards of news ethics and standards necessarily correct? Should there be a global standard for what constitutes proper journalism ethics?
This month Reuters initially published a report, first broadcast by Sky News, that the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, had died, until his lawyer corrected it.
Another inaccurate story was CNN's report on a US Coast Guard training exercise on the anniversary of September 11 this year which was wrongly claimed to be a gun battle.
Former Reuters journalist Paul Iredale, speaking from the audience, said he was deeply concerned and sad about what he heard during the debate. "In Reuters it seems to have gone to speed rather than accuracy," he said. "What we used to say about Reuters was we got it last, but we got it right. I don't think that is the case now."
Sean Maguire, global editor, political and general news, said Reuters was completely transparent when the stories were found to be untrue. "When we saw it was wrong, we said we were wrong," he said. "Because Sky had been a good source on the [al-Megrahi death report] story we reported it. We very quickly said what they said was nonsense."
Former correspondent Colin Bickler said from the audience that he believed source-checking standards were slipping in the rush to get the story up. "I worked for Reuters for 28 years and if I had pulled that excuse I would have been shot. It is because it can move the markets it needs to be checked. I'm in shock," Journalism.co.uk reported him saying.
Times have changed, said Maguire. "There is a premium on speed and we will put a story out and say 'this is what we know so far,'" he said. "The business model has changed (…) but we don't recklessly report what we think is wrong."
● SOURCE Journalism.co.uk
Cambridge honours 'flamboyant, vibrant' David Chipp
Sunday 25 October 2009
Chipp, who died in September 2008 aged 81, was a correspondent and editor from 1950 until 1969 when he left to become editor-in-chief of the Press Association, national news agency of the UK and Ireland. As an old China hand, he regarded the 30 months he spent in Peking for Reuters from 1956 to 1958 as the high point of his life.
A graduate of King’s, he was a benefactor of its chapel and an enthusiastic supporter of its boat club. After retirement his many interests included a period as director of the Reuter Foundation.
The provost of King’s, Professor Ross Harrison, recalled Chipp’s puckish charm and said more than £20,000 had been raised through donations in his memory for the college’s supplementary exhibition fund to provide welfare support for students and books.
After Saturday's Evensong a reception given by the provost provided the occasion for the launch of Mao’s Toe: Memoirs of David Chipp, A Serious Correspondent, published posthumously by his estate in a private edition of 500 copies. The title derives from two compliments paid to Chipp by the Chinese leadership.
● In October 1956, when he was the first non-communist Western correspondent resident in Peking since the 1949 communist takeover, Chipp inadvertently stepped back onto the foot of chairman Mao Zedong. The Great Helmsman’s immediate response was one of huge amusement. He roared with laughter and afterwards referred to Chipp as “Lacquered Defender of Morals”. To this day, there are still a few people in China who refer to him as “the Englishman who trod on Chairman Mao’s toe and got away with it”, Chipp recounts in the book.
● The second part of the title is drawn from a remark by premier Zhou Enlai who was interviewed by Chipp and who apparently told a colleague, “We like Mr Chipp. He is very interested in everything about China; he gets a lot wrong; and is always laughing and joking. But he is a very serious correspondent.” Chipp was delighted and later wrote: “A serious correspondent: as a reporter, I find that the greatest compliment I have ever been paid, and can think of no better epitaph.”
Reuters people at the service included Diana Drayton, Robert Elphick, John Entwisle, Anthony Grey, Adam Kellett-Long, Barry May, Michael Neale, Michael Nelson, Manfred Pagel, Timothy Pearce, John Ransom, David Schlesinger, David Sells, Peter Smith, Stephen Somerville, Tom Thomson and Donald Read, author of Reuters’ official history, The Power of News.
● Mao's Toe: Memoirs of David Chipp, A Serious Correspondent
New website trumpets firsts and exclusives
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Reuters has launched a new website to showcase news firsts and exclusives. Reuters Firsts promotes market-moving coverage where Reuters was first or alone with the story.
The collection of winning coverage is organised by topic and geography. Highlights include:
● Categorisation of first and exclusive summaries by asset class and region
● Extensive archive that offers the ability to search past wins by date, region and country
● Ability to print and e-mail a first or exclusive summary to share with clients and colleagues.
Key facts on coverage as well as a timeline of major wins over the last decade are also available.
The site includes statistics on Reuters coverage including more than 9,400 market-moving firsts and exclusives each year.
“Reporting on more asset classes and news genres than any other media organization, Reuters journalists aim to connect the dots on the stories that matter most to financial and media professionals around the globe," it says. Output is over:
● 2.5 million unique news stories a year
● 855,000 alerts per year
● 1,700 picture images per day
● 52,000 video stories per year.
Reuters overall total message volume has risen nearly 35 per cent over the past four years. Value is added to news coverage with
● 5,000 polls a year covering economic indicators, interest rate moves, stocks, bonds, currency, commodities markets, FX rates and asset allocation plans by fund managers
● 6,000 analyses a year covering companies, industry sectors, market trends, political risk and financial industry developments
● Expert columns which provide context and opinion on key areas such as commodities and energy, macroeconomics, technology, European policy, emerging markets and M&A.
More than 51 million people visit Reuters web sites each month.
Reuters scores over 18,000 interviews a year with CEOs, central bankers, finance ministers, and politicians.
● Reuters Firsts
● SOURCE Reuters
The collection of winning coverage is organised by topic and geography. Highlights include:
● Categorisation of first and exclusive summaries by asset class and region
● Extensive archive that offers the ability to search past wins by date, region and country
● Ability to print and e-mail a first or exclusive summary to share with clients and colleagues.
Key facts on coverage as well as a timeline of major wins over the last decade are also available.
The site includes statistics on Reuters coverage including more than 9,400 market-moving firsts and exclusives each year.
“Reporting on more asset classes and news genres than any other media organization, Reuters journalists aim to connect the dots on the stories that matter most to financial and media professionals around the globe," it says. Output is over:
● 2.5 million unique news stories a year
● 855,000 alerts per year
● 1,700 picture images per day
● 52,000 video stories per year.
Reuters overall total message volume has risen nearly 35 per cent over the past four years. Value is added to news coverage with
● 5,000 polls a year covering economic indicators, interest rate moves, stocks, bonds, currency, commodities markets, FX rates and asset allocation plans by fund managers
● 6,000 analyses a year covering companies, industry sectors, market trends, political risk and financial industry developments
● Expert columns which provide context and opinion on key areas such as commodities and energy, macroeconomics, technology, European policy, emerging markets and M&A.
More than 51 million people visit Reuters web sites each month.
Reuters scores over 18,000 interviews a year with CEOs, central bankers, finance ministers, and politicians.
● Reuters Firsts
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters sets new editorial appraisal objectives
Tuesday 20 October 2009
"What do we expect? That Reuters journalists will own the big stories, focus on higher value content, be first and handle news quickly, better serve customer needs, work as a team and be innovative," global managing editor Betty Wong, pictured, said in a note to staff.
"Rather than be prescriptive in what these mean for journalists, the NLT [News Leadership Team] asks managers to keep the overarching themes in mind as well as editorial targets when building individual development objectives."
The broad objectives for journalists' and editorial managers' twice-yearly appraisals are:
1. Own the big stories, emphasise higher-value content
2. Be first, handle news quickly
3. Understand customer needs
4. Teamwork
5. Innovate
6. Lead, communicate, be a face for Reuters/Thomson Reuters
7. Stay within budget targets.
The news leadership team is a steering group of senior editorial management. It sets editorial's operational agenda. The team's members are:
● Kelly Anderson, global head of communications
● Sarah Cavanagh, head of human resources
● John Clarke, global editor, TV/assistant US publisher, visuals
● Jackie Combine, global head of finance, editorial and content
● Chris Cramer, global editor of multimedia
● Stella Dawson, editor, treasury news
● Adrian Dickson, managing editor, Asia
● Thomas Kim, senior vice president and deputy general counsel, markets division
● Michael Lawrence, global head, news specialists
● Richard Mably, commodities & energy editor
● Sean Maguire, global editor, political & general news
● Andrew Meagher, global head real time financial publishing
● Jack Reerink, global editor, company news
● Gary Regenstreif, global editor, domestic news services
● Brian Rhoads, managing editor, Americas
● David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief
● Alex Spinelli, head of news technology
● Thomas Szlukovenyi, global editor, pictures
● Mark Thomson, managing editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa
● Betty Wong, global managing editor
● Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news values.
● SOURCE Reuters
Important lessons learned from financial turmoil - David Schlesinger
Friday 09 October 2009
“One lesson was that our standards needed to be constantly examined and sometimes strengthened. Another is that transparency is rewarded by trust.”
The media industry was in its own crisis at the same time as it was reporting on the financial downturn, Schlesinger said in a speech.
“Our sources and our readers were in crisis, too, and this meant that our stories were watched extremely carefully and people were quick to complain about anything they didn’t like.
“I am proud that most of our reporting was excellent, but those times when we didn’t get it right it was vital to correct our errors swiftly and publicly.
“Maintaining our trust with our audience is fundamental to our mission as a news service. Reporting truthfully, reporting accurately, correcting errors, obeying our standards are all vital and can’t be compromised, especially not in the heat of a major and complex story.”
This year Reuters put its entire 500+ page ● Handbook of Journalism free online for anyone and everyone to read and comment on.
“We welcome that scrutiny from around the world. Where our standards are good and we live up to them, we want the attendant praise. Where we need to improve, or where we fail to live up to our ideals, we want the criticism. That should be the attitude that we in the media should strive for.”
Schlesinger was speaking at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on transparency and the role of media in China. The occasion was a World Media Summit hosted by Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The increasing internationalisation of financial markets has at least two dimensions relevant to financial information in China, he said. First, Chinese markets participants and investors need to be efficiently informed about foreign markets, while second, their non-Chinese counterparts overseas need to be efficiently informed about China. Mutual benefit and success depend upon this reciprocal relationship.
“I believe journalism at its best is a mirror, exposing back to society a true and brutally honest picture of what is going on,” Schlesinger said.
“When we fail at that, when our picture is not clear or at all distorted, we deserve to be criticised. We must strive to be that perfect mirror. But for societies and economies to truly work, to be effective and to be healthy, they need to look into that mirror unflinchingly and honestly.
“That is where the virtue of transparency comes in. That is why companies and government departments and government officials need to be ready to be open. That is why they need to take interviews and to reveal figures. That is why the instinct for secrecy needs to be resisted. That is why all involved need to help the media help society, by accepting that while openness, transparency and accountability may lead to momentary discomfort and sometimes embarrassment, they are ultimately worthwhile and, in fact, are a precondition to a truly healthy, stable and successful system.
“Similarly, a commitment to these practices is also a precondition for China’s development of healthy, sound and internationally competitive financial markets that protect domestic investors and encourage foreign investors to place their capital.”
Schlesinger, a former bureau chief in Beijing (1991-1994), added: “As Chinese financial journalism professionalises further, I look forward to mutually beneficial competition. I also look forward to Chinese nationals having full careers within foreign media organisations in China. My fervent wish is that one day soon Reuters financial news editor in China will be a Chinese national – one step on that person’s path to be global editor-in-chief!”
● SOURCE Reuters
● Reuters Handbook of Journalism
News in the digital social media era, by Chris Cramer
Thursday 08 October 2009
Passive audiences are gone, the digital conversation is the future and convergence and the consumer are king, says Reuters' global multimedia editor Chris Cramer.
Chris Ahearn, president of Reuters media, calls it Journalism 3.0 – where stories by Reuters journalists are automatically linked to other, equally relevant stories and websites – with business models that can be all-inclusive.
“The media world is changing so rapidly and so quickly that many of us who work in it are almost overwhelmed by what’s going on, frequently frightened at the speed of change and frightened as well that we may be left behind,” Cramer says.
“Mostly everything has changed. For a start, we are no longer the gatekeepers of information. These days it seems that the whole world is a newsgatherer. Everywhere you look someone is holding a camera and shooting what’s around them.
“You can upload all that stuff to Facebook or to YouTube, add some commentary, and you have potential access to millions of people overnight. You can become the brand.”
Social media trades in information of first resort — raw, unfiltered and there for the taking. This new electronic dialogue, the online conversation, is here to stay and it has enormous power, as a much more targeted approach than anything we have been exposed to, Cramer says.
How does the traditional news and information business adapt in the era of social media?
Reuters holds true to the Reuters Trust Principles and the firm belief that editorial trust and integrity make a much stronger business.
“We think that customers, end users, place a true value against these qualities, which is why when we make mistakes — and we do – we are quick to own up to those. to explain how they happened, to put guidelines in place to ensure they don’t happen again,” he says.
“So we are very excited by social media becoming the newsgathering of first resort – but also wary that everything we find there needs to be validated, checked and checked again before it goes out in our name.
“Far from being despondent about ceding our status as a major information provider, we believe that new and stronger business models will come from curating global information, filtering it, editing and placing it in context.
“We think the future of successful journalism is to produce information, intelligent information that matters to people and has context — news that enhances their lives, news that has a point and a relevance, and news that remains a good business model.”
Cramer, who joined Reuters last year, was speaking at the annual conference of the UK Association of Online Publishers in London on 7 October.
● SOURCE Reuters
● Chris Cramer's speech to the Association of Online Publishers annual conference
Chris Ahearn, president of Reuters media, calls it Journalism 3.0 – where stories by Reuters journalists are automatically linked to other, equally relevant stories and websites – with business models that can be all-inclusive.
“The media world is changing so rapidly and so quickly that many of us who work in it are almost overwhelmed by what’s going on, frequently frightened at the speed of change and frightened as well that we may be left behind,” Cramer says.
“Mostly everything has changed. For a start, we are no longer the gatekeepers of information. These days it seems that the whole world is a newsgatherer. Everywhere you look someone is holding a camera and shooting what’s around them.
“You can upload all that stuff to Facebook or to YouTube, add some commentary, and you have potential access to millions of people overnight. You can become the brand.”
Social media trades in information of first resort — raw, unfiltered and there for the taking. This new electronic dialogue, the online conversation, is here to stay and it has enormous power, as a much more targeted approach than anything we have been exposed to, Cramer says.
How does the traditional news and information business adapt in the era of social media?
Reuters holds true to the Reuters Trust Principles and the firm belief that editorial trust and integrity make a much stronger business.
“We think that customers, end users, place a true value against these qualities, which is why when we make mistakes — and we do – we are quick to own up to those. to explain how they happened, to put guidelines in place to ensure they don’t happen again,” he says.
“So we are very excited by social media becoming the newsgathering of first resort – but also wary that everything we find there needs to be validated, checked and checked again before it goes out in our name.
“Far from being despondent about ceding our status as a major information provider, we believe that new and stronger business models will come from curating global information, filtering it, editing and placing it in context.
“We think the future of successful journalism is to produce information, intelligent information that matters to people and has context — news that enhances their lives, news that has a point and a relevance, and news that remains a good business model.”
Cramer, who joined Reuters last year, was speaking at the annual conference of the UK Association of Online Publishers in London on 7 October.
● SOURCE Reuters
● Chris Cramer's speech to the Association of Online Publishers annual conference
New desktop platform not aimed at business broadcasters – Chris Cramer
Wednesday 07 October 2009
Although the company wants to be the one-stop shop for its clients, it does not wish to encroach on the territory of Bloomberg, Fox News or CNBC, Cramer said on the sidelines of the UK Association of Online Publishers annual conference in London.
The desktop platform – Project Utah due to be launched in 2010 – is designed to be “global, simplified, scaleable” to its customers' specific needs.
"I think it's one of the most significant developments when it comes to multimedia around at the moment,” Cramer said. “We listen to our clients – they're screaming at us [for this type of service] and they have been for years," he said.
Financial clients wanted a vertical platform offering them content and information relevant to their business interests and allowing them “to go look at that, and only that”, he said.
An important part of Utah is Project Insider, a web-based television service currently in beta test for about 5,000 to 6,000 clients.
Cramer, former head of CNN International and now Reuters’ global head, multimedia, was interviewed by a reporter for website Journalism.co.uk. He was a leading speaker at the conference.
● SOURCE Journalism.co.uk
Treasury news editing in shake-up as part of TR integration
Monday 05 October 2009
The reason is a drive for deeper specialisation and a need to “gear ourselves up for the rapidly changing financial and competitive landscape”, according to an internal memo by Michael Lawrence, global editor, news specialists, Stella Dawson, editor, treasury news, and Keith Mullin, editor in chief, IFR markets.
Treasury news editing is to be divided into economics and financial markets. A new global financial markets editor will be appointed to join the team of global editors with a brief “to elevate our markets coverage; work closely with the business to identify our strategic goals and commercial requirements; deliver on strategic priorities, from communities to market commentators and intra-day analysis; and accelerate our integration with IFR and the other professional teams”.
In what they called a big shift in the way Treasury is structured, the three editors said that as part of the restructuring existing treasury editors will become economics editors to better reflect their area of focus. “We expect them to work very closely with the markets team to retain the investor and markets focus in our coverage of economics and policy,” they said. At the same time, the loans teams with Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation and IFR are being combined and a new loans editor is to be appointed.
“Now that we are One Editorial, we want these teams working together and, when we do, they will be folded under the markets umbrella.
“By bringing markets, RLPC and IFR together under the one specialist editor, we will emphasize the centrality of markets to our coverage – it is the very cornerstone of what we do and the focus for the majority of our financial clients.”
The editors said the restructuring does not reflect any dissatisfaction with the current team or the Treasury news editors. “It’s the result of having more resources with the addition of IFR, the fierce competitive environment, new opportunities that we can explore with the business divisions and the need to accelerate the changes that are already under way. There is a huge amount of work to be done to implement integration and new initiatives such as commentary, communities and chat rooms. Quite simply, we need the additional bandwidth and focus to do that.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Social media 'an amplification, a megaphone'
Monday 05 October 2009
Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have transformed the news industry forever, a paper from the Reuters Institute of Journalism says.
Where such websites have led, traditional newspapers have now followed and are encouraging their users to spread and discuss stories, the paper’s author, Nic Newman, controller future media and technology in BBC journalism, said at its launch.
It’s time for traditional news organisations to take note. "The social media revolution is not a fad and it has absolutely revolutionised the media," he said at the BBC's Broadcasting House, London recently.
"The one-way broadcast is over. People want to interact and answer back."
Readers' comments, blogs and tweets are now almost ever-present features on news websites, allowing users to interact with reporters and editors in a way not previously possible.
This transformation is now central to the future of traditional news outlets because it increases the reach of their content, boosts engagement and loyalty levels and potentially tells a better story by increasing reporters' source base, Newman said.
"Social media is like an amplification, like a megaphone," Meg Pickard, head of development of social media at The Guardian, said. She said it was important for journalists to understand the editorial imperative of social media.
Kate Day, communities editor at ● telegraph.co.uk, explained how the The Daily Telegraph had created an online community at its website ● my.telegraph.co.uk with about 25,000 to 30,000 registered users. "Some blog but most use it as a social networking site," she said.
But what social media is not – or not yet, anyway – is an answer to newspapers' financial woes. Social media increases the number of people using media but does not have an answer to the industry's core challenges – falling advertising revenues and the spread of free content.
"It is still early days in the social media revolution," Newman wrote in the conclusion to his paper. "There is much still much to be learned, but overall there is new confidence in the underlying values of journalism and the role that social media might play in keeping those values relevant in the digital media age."
Not all agree. A response posted to Newman’s paper said the distinction ought to be drawn between taking social media into account as necessary and taking social media too seriously, ever. “Social media is to reality as Reality TV is to TV. Though their existence is scarcely to be denied, neither is their inherently parasitic quality, above which one (seriously) ought to remain at all times able to rise.”
● Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is based at Oxford University and receives most of its funding from ● Thomson Reuters Foundation.
● SOURCE Reuters
Where such websites have led, traditional newspapers have now followed and are encouraging their users to spread and discuss stories, the paper’s author, Nic Newman, controller future media and technology in BBC journalism, said at its launch.
It’s time for traditional news organisations to take note. "The social media revolution is not a fad and it has absolutely revolutionised the media," he said at the BBC's Broadcasting House, London recently.
"The one-way broadcast is over. People want to interact and answer back."
Readers' comments, blogs and tweets are now almost ever-present features on news websites, allowing users to interact with reporters and editors in a way not previously possible.
This transformation is now central to the future of traditional news outlets because it increases the reach of their content, boosts engagement and loyalty levels and potentially tells a better story by increasing reporters' source base, Newman said.
"Social media is like an amplification, like a megaphone," Meg Pickard, head of development of social media at The Guardian, said. She said it was important for journalists to understand the editorial imperative of social media.
Kate Day, communities editor at ● telegraph.co.uk, explained how the The Daily Telegraph had created an online community at its website ● my.telegraph.co.uk with about 25,000 to 30,000 registered users. "Some blog but most use it as a social networking site," she said.
But what social media is not – or not yet, anyway – is an answer to newspapers' financial woes. Social media increases the number of people using media but does not have an answer to the industry's core challenges – falling advertising revenues and the spread of free content.
"It is still early days in the social media revolution," Newman wrote in the conclusion to his paper. "There is much still much to be learned, but overall there is new confidence in the underlying values of journalism and the role that social media might play in keeping those values relevant in the digital media age."
Not all agree. A response posted to Newman’s paper said the distinction ought to be drawn between taking social media into account as necessary and taking social media too seriously, ever. “Social media is to reality as Reality TV is to TV. Though their existence is scarcely to be denied, neither is their inherently parasitic quality, above which one (seriously) ought to remain at all times able to rise.”
● Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is based at Oxford University and receives most of its funding from ● Thomson Reuters Foundation.
● SOURCE Reuters
Live blogging draws new readers to Reuters
Monday 05 October 2009
Live blogging – bite-sized snippets filed directly by journalists to the Internet – is thriving at Reuters, drawing thousands of new readers to coverage.
Two recent major stories, the G20 summit in Pittsburgh and the German elections, provided opportunities for correspondents to publish directly and almost instantly.
To see what it looks like ● click http://live.reuters.com/Event/G20_Pittsburgh, which featured tweets from correspondents Steve Holland, Michelle Nichols and Sumeet Desai alongside links to key stories, pictures and video as the news developed.
As G20 wound down, bureaus in Germany ramped up a live blog of their national elections, says Richard Baum, global editor, consumer media.
“Live blogs are fast becoming popular with journalists – and readers – because they allow almost instant publishing of any type of media,” Baum says. “And because the tools integrate easily with Twitter, they allow reporters in the field to publish directly from apps on their BlackBerry or iPhone. The pages update live without the need for a manual refresh, giving readers a true multimedia wire.”
● Reuters.com editor Adam Pasick, who edited the live blog from Pittsburgh, said: "Multimedia coverage of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh was perhaps the best example yet of how the many strands of Reuters journalism can be pulled together into a rich, cohesive package for our readers and clients.
“At the height of the protests in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening, the page was drawing as many as three visitors a second. Over the whole event, more than 78,000 people visited the blog, which was also embedded in our main G20 page.”
The German blog was the idea of Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin who had “about 10 different contributors" including Reuters Television.
In the UK, journalists have been live blogging Prime Minister Gordon Brown's recent travels and the Labour Party conference.
● SOURCE Reuters
Two recent major stories, the G20 summit in Pittsburgh and the German elections, provided opportunities for correspondents to publish directly and almost instantly.
To see what it looks like ● click http://live.reuters.com/Event/G20_Pittsburgh, which featured tweets from correspondents Steve Holland, Michelle Nichols and Sumeet Desai alongside links to key stories, pictures and video as the news developed.
As G20 wound down, bureaus in Germany ramped up a live blog of their national elections, says Richard Baum, global editor, consumer media.
“Live blogs are fast becoming popular with journalists – and readers – because they allow almost instant publishing of any type of media,” Baum says. “And because the tools integrate easily with Twitter, they allow reporters in the field to publish directly from apps on their BlackBerry or iPhone. The pages update live without the need for a manual refresh, giving readers a true multimedia wire.”
● Reuters.com editor Adam Pasick, who edited the live blog from Pittsburgh, said: "Multimedia coverage of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh was perhaps the best example yet of how the many strands of Reuters journalism can be pulled together into a rich, cohesive package for our readers and clients.
“At the height of the protests in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening, the page was drawing as many as three visitors a second. Over the whole event, more than 78,000 people visited the blog, which was also embedded in our main G20 page.”
The German blog was the idea of Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin who had “about 10 different contributors" including Reuters Television.
In the UK, journalists have been live blogging Prime Minister Gordon Brown's recent travels and the Labour Party conference.
● SOURCE Reuters
WWII correspondent Stewart Sale commemorated in Italy
Thursday 01 October 2009
Sale, 38, was killed on 28 September 1943 at Scafati near Salerno with Alexander Austin of the Daily Herald, and William J. Munday, of the News Chronicle and the Sydney Morning Herald. They were covering the Battle of Scafati during the Italian campaign. All three were buried at the Montecorvino Commonwealth war cemetery.
Sixty-six years later, the local town council has unveiled a commemorative plaque in the town centre and another at the spot where they died. A Città di Scafati journalism prize is to be established in their names.
Sale’s son, Anthony Sale, was present as an honoured guest at the ceremonies and visited his father's grave. The direct descendents of the other two correspondents who also died on that day were also present. They were greeted by the mayor and people of Scafati.
The commemoration was the idea of Angelo Pesce, Scafati’s official historian, who has written a book about the three journalists who died in his town.
● CLICK to read the entry on Stewart Sale in Reuters’ Memorial Book.
Takeover ill-timed says analyst, but upgrades TR shares
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Thomson’s acquisition of Reuters was ill-timed, investment bank Piper Jaffray said in a note accompanying an upgrade from Underweight to Neutral for the stock.
"In retrospect, Thomson's acquisition of Reuters was ill-timed. Thomson ‘doubled-down’ on the financial services industry at a time when industry dynamics were rapidly deteriorating, translating into significant pressure on revenues and earnings,” Piper Jaffray’s analyst said.
“That said, execution has been solid, with cost efficiencies beating expectations and translating into an upward bias in estimates despite the challenging industry backdrop...We like Thomson Reuters' leadership position in the global information service market, its strong record of execution and its appealing business model. With the worst of the financial industry downcycle likely behind us, we are upgrading our rating on Thomson to Neutral."
Deutsche Bank upgraded Thomson Reuters from Sell to Buy nine days ago and said that with two consecutive quarters of net sales in the markets division the mechanics of the subscription model means a negative Q3 figure is a given, and probably so for the first half of 2010.
Margins in Legal were guided to fall modestly, breaking a long pattern of growth, and the company was flagging slower revenue growth in Legal in the second half, it said. “The company is sounding a cautious note, but in fact the trough now looks sooner and shallower than we expected. But also a shallower trough and stronger turn; consensus too low.
“All the above is rather grim and the last year has seen management gradually back away from the view that TR could get through this slump without revenues falling. That said, we now expect the trough in Markets to be shallower / shorter than we thought likely in late 2008...”
Goldman Sachs initiated its analyst coverage on Thomson Reuters with a Neutral rating and $38.30 price target following the unification of the dual listing. It said that while Thomson Reuters is one of the strongest international professional publishing companies it trades at a 35 per cent premium to most peers.
● SOURCE Street Insider
"In retrospect, Thomson's acquisition of Reuters was ill-timed. Thomson ‘doubled-down’ on the financial services industry at a time when industry dynamics were rapidly deteriorating, translating into significant pressure on revenues and earnings,” Piper Jaffray’s analyst said.
“That said, execution has been solid, with cost efficiencies beating expectations and translating into an upward bias in estimates despite the challenging industry backdrop...We like Thomson Reuters' leadership position in the global information service market, its strong record of execution and its appealing business model. With the worst of the financial industry downcycle likely behind us, we are upgrading our rating on Thomson to Neutral."
Deutsche Bank upgraded Thomson Reuters from Sell to Buy nine days ago and said that with two consecutive quarters of net sales in the markets division the mechanics of the subscription model means a negative Q3 figure is a given, and probably so for the first half of 2010.
Margins in Legal were guided to fall modestly, breaking a long pattern of growth, and the company was flagging slower revenue growth in Legal in the second half, it said. “The company is sounding a cautious note, but in fact the trough now looks sooner and shallower than we expected. But also a shallower trough and stronger turn; consensus too low.
“All the above is rather grim and the last year has seen management gradually back away from the view that TR could get through this slump without revenues falling. That said, we now expect the trough in Markets to be shallower / shorter than we thought likely in late 2008...”
Goldman Sachs initiated its analyst coverage on Thomson Reuters with a Neutral rating and $38.30 price target following the unification of the dual listing. It said that while Thomson Reuters is one of the strongest international professional publishing companies it trades at a 35 per cent premium to most peers.
● SOURCE Street Insider
Job done at Shell
Friday 11 September 2009
Shell said after a meeting in the Hague that Job, a non-executive director, will step down as chairman of the board's remuneration committee on 1 October and leave the company entirely at the next AGM in May 2010. It appointed Hans Wijers, a former Dutch economics minister, as his replacement.
Job, 68, became a focus for unprecedented shareholder anger at Shell's annual meeting in May after awarding what were widely considered to be overly generous bonuses to Shell executives. Investors holding almost 60 per cent of shares voted down the pay settlement. There were cheers at the humiliating board defeat.
Following the vote, some of Shell's institutional investors called for Job's resignation. Franklin Mutual, part of the Templeton group of funds in America, said the defence offered by Job was “pathetic”.
Under a three-year scheme he set out in 2005, Shell directors would have earned up to 200 per cent of their salaries in shares if the company outperformed three of its competitors. The company finished fourth but the remuneration committee decided to exercise discretion and allow some of the award anyway.
Since May, Shell’s chairman Jorma Ollila has met many of the group’s top shareholders. One said: “We made clear we expected to see the chairman of the remuneration committee move on. The company is paying the price for two years of contentious pay schemes.”
Friday's announcement from Shell pointed out that by the time Job retires from Shell he will have served as a non-executive director for nine years — affecting his independence as a director. He joined Shell in 2001. He is also a non-executive director of Schroders and TIBCO Software and a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank.
Under corporate governance guidelines, serving for more than nine years is seen as a potential conflict with requirements for certain directors to be independent. Those who do serve for longer than nine years are expected to face annual re-election.
Peter Montagnon, former Reuters correspondent now director of investment affairs at the Association of British Insurers, said: 'The rejection by shareholders of the remuneration report at the last AGM required a response from the company. This is now an opportunity for a fresh start.”
The Financial Times' Lombard columnist commented that the outcome looks very much like that envisaged by a review of governance and remuneration at financial institutions which said a vote against pay policy should oblige the chairman of the remuneration committee to stand for re-election the following year. "Shell’s elegant solution spares Sir Peter Job that indignity, but institutional investors can still claim a scalp in their campaign to get a proper hearing on pay: Sir Peter will step down as remco chairman in three weeks’ time and leave the board when his nine years are up next year. One small step for a man, one giant leap for pay restraint."
Job joined Reuters as a graduate trainee journalist in 1963. After assignments as a correspondent in Paris, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, he served as manager in Buenos Aires before taking over the Asian operation in 1978. He became chief executive in 1991 and retired in 2001.
● SOURCE Reuters | The Daily Mail | Financial Times | The Times | The Daily Telegraph | The Wall Street Journal
Reuters repositioning news for 21st century
Tuesday 08 September 2009
Reuters is no longer a traditional wire service. It is one of the largest multimedia news agencies in the world, he said in a recent interview.
“We're committed to enhancing our news file with considerable investments in commentary and investigative journalism and by melding the work of correspondents into a file that out-smarts the competition. We are a strong and diverse global network with a formidable line up of journalists who are able to make connections that other news organisations don't have the resources to do.
“We are investing now towards repositioning our news for the twenty-first century in an effort to anticipate the future needs of our clients -- many of whom are now of the Google/YouTube generation.
Reuters has invested $1 billion in "innovation and next-generation information products" this year. The centrepiece of this effort is Project Insider, an interactive TV service that delivers personalised financial news and insight direct to clients’ desktop and mobile devices.
“This is something no one else is doing and we believe it transforms the viewing experience from a passive, one-way broadcast model into an interactive and powerfully personalised medium. Think narrowcasting rather than broadcasting.
“Insider has been developed by some scary smart people inside the company and will leverage exclusive Reuters content and the editorial expertise from our 2,700 journalists around the world, packaged in a way that makes the most sense for our clients. Our programming will include market outlooks, live newsmaker interviews, deep technical analysis and market reactions to important events. We reckon that a combination of Reuters content with targeted content from third party financial information providers will enable our clients to cut through all the noise and clutter of existing financial news programming and receive a single, complete source of information.”
Cramer, former head of CNN International, says Thomson Reuters has done a great job of turning challenges into opportunity, especially with regards to its innovation strategy.
“In my opinion, great companies are defined in challenging times and it takes a great company to have the courage to invest in a tough period. Across the company we are investing a remarkable $1 billion this year in innovation and next-generation information products."
● SOURCE MediaBistro
Ibrahim Jassam: one year without justice
Wednesday 02 September 2009
Neither Jassam and his family nor Reuters, which employed him as a freelance TV cameraman and photographer, have been told exactly why he has been detained by US military forces in Iraq.
Jassam's mother, Fadhila Alwan, said: "We asked his lawyer, we asked military officers, we've asked all the officials we meet, but not one of them knew why he's been in jail for a whole year."
The evidence against him is classified, but the accusations have to do with "activities with insurgents", said Lt. Col. Pat Johnson, a spokeswoman for the US military in Iraq, Reuters reported from Baghdad. The term "insurgents" in Iraq generally refers to Sunni Islamist groups, like al Qaeda. Jassam is a Shi'ite Muslim.
"In a year of trying to get specifics, we've heard only vague and undefined accusations – to me this is unacceptable," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief.
"It is only right and fair that any specific accusation against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to defend himself properly."
Jassam, who is being held in a prison camp built in the desert on the Iraq-Kuwait border, will eventually be released.
Under a US-Iraqi security pact, called a Status of Forces Agreement, the US military must hand over the thousands of Iraqis it still has in its custody as Iraq gradually regains its sovereignty more than six years after the US-led invasion.
Those facing Iraqi charges will be tried; the rest freed.
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled last November there was no case against Jassam. But the US military says it considers Jassam a security threat to Iraq. It says that under the security agreement it is entitled to hold Jassam as long as possible.
"Though we appreciate the decision of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the Ibrahim Jassam case, their decision does not negate the intelligence information that currently lists him as a threat to Iraqi security and stability," Johnson said.
Reuters argues the US army is misinterpreting its remit.
"Ibrahim Jassam has never been charged by the US military or the Iraqi authorities, and has never had a single piece of evidence or even a specific allegation of wrongdoing presented to him," said Thomson Reuters deputy general counsel Thomas Kim.
"We believe this is not consistent with the spirit behind either the Status of Forces Agreement ... or the Rule of Law." The US military detained many Iraqi journalists during the sectarian slaughter and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 invasion. None have been known to have been charged.
Journalists rights groups say US forces may be misinterpreting legitimate journalistic activities in war zones. Taking pictures of Shi'ite militiamen battling US troops, for example, might look like enemy propaganda to a US soldier.
"The year-long detention of Ibrahim Jassam without charge or due process is not only unjust it also undermines the ability of the US government to effectively advocate for press freedom around the world," said Joel Simon of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
The US military said it expected all high security threat detainees to go before an Iraqi judge starting in December 2009. The intelligence information against Jassam will be aired then.
● SOURCE Reuters
Thomson Reuters aims to click with the Internet generation
Sunday 30 August 2009
For the first time, all 200 financial products will be moved to a common platform, replacing 3000Xtra and making the company’s systems simpler to use.
The new product is likely to be more like a conventional web portal in look and feel when it comes to market early next spring. All 500,000 customers will be moved on to it.
“It is the first time we are going to properly launch a product,” Wenig told veteran Reuters watcher James Ashton in The Sunday Times. “We never really launch products. They just emerge. This will have proper marketing and advertising.”
Wenig said: “You see very different behaviour from a 25-year-old just out of the London School of Economics to a 55-year-old who has been trading for the last 25 years.
“People who grew up with Google have totally different expectations of how to interact with information and media. We can’t ignore that.”
The new product is Project Utah, the final part of a $1 billion technology upgrade.
“We are not going to be the greatest technology company in the world and nor should we be,” said Wenig. “But technology is an enabler. We have to put money into it. We can’t just talk about it.”
In the 158 years since Reuters began flying pigeons with news alerts tied to their legs, it has had to move with the times, The Sunday Times said. “But the company, which merged with Thomson last year and has delisted itself from the London stock market, has never really been known for its cutting-edge advances.
“New versions of old systems have underwhelmed or been released late. Innovations such as offering instant messaging between users have often been introduced first by its nimbler rival Bloomberg, which has caused a headache for Reuters ever since it set up as a direct competitor almost three decades ago.
“It recently trailed in Bloomberg’s wake in mobile, but the launch of a news application for the BlackBerry and iPhone was a hit, drawing 90,000 subscribers in its first month. However, long-term followers of the industry see a change of tack.”
“The difference now is that Thomson Reuters is taking a more friendly approach to how it presents information,” said Douglas Taylor, managing partner at Burton-Taylor International Consulting and a former executive at both Thomson Financial and Reuters.
“In some cases they are playing catch-up but I think their expectation is to leapfrog Bloomberg.”
Despite the financial crash, underlying sales at Thomson Reuters’ markets division are still growing, although only by 0.2 per cent in the last quarter, the newspaper said.
Taylor forecasts that the $23 billion market for electronic financial information will shrink by 1-3 per cent this year, with Bloomberg holding a 26 per cent share and Thomson Reuters 34 per cent because it dominates in areas such as fixed income. Where they compete directly, the two companies are judged to be roughly neck and neck.
Thomson Reuters is trying to drive down split-second delays in its data feeds, The Sunday Times said. Some investment banks have asked the company to host their applications in its data centres to increase efficiency.
The biggest change to news provision will be Insider, a video news service for the financiers who already use its news terminals. If they pay, they can call up interviews as if they were trawling YouTube and they will also be able to search quickly through transcripts for the key points. “I don’t want to turn us into a consumer company but you ignore at your peril what YouTube and Twitter have done to online behaviour,” said Wenig.
He invoked Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion as the type of company he wants Thomson Reuters to emulate.
“We didn’t tend to think of ourselves as a product innovation company. I am trying to move the company forward and encourage people to think about new things,” he said.
● SOURCE The Sunday Times
Reuters taps ex-NYT man for new ‘enterprise' job
Monday 17 August 2009
Based in New York, he will commission and edit stories that meet the challenge of engaging a diverse global Reuters readership in an increasingly competitive media environment. The aim is to deliver more groundbreaking and innovative stories and multimedia packages for customers throughout the world.
At The New York Times Impoco helped to redesign and relaunch the Saturday and Sunday business sections. He has also served as deputy editor at Condé Nast magazine Portfolio, assistant managing editor at Fortune magazine and executive editor at Men's Journal and was a Tokyo-based reporter for The Associated Press and Tokyo Bureau Chief for U.S. News & World Report.
"Jim's proven ability and experience in generating fresh, innovative feature stories, coupled with his deep understanding of our clients' needs, make him an enormous asset for Reuters," said Howard Goller, editor, political and general news, US & Canada. "We are proud of our reputation for accuracy and speed, and it is important in this increasingly competitive journalism market that we maintain our edge for clients who rely on us to be first with news, trends and analysis in the world of business and finance. Jim will help us lead the way."
Impoco said: "Reuters is an impressively large and influential platform, and I am sincerely flattered that they have asked me to try my hand at this. To be able to shape feature stories at an organization with Reuters’ reach is a dream job. No matter what happens to our industry, Reuters is certain to remain in the thick of it."
● SOURCE PR Newswire
David Nicholson's memory honoured in wine
Sunday 09 August 2009
The toast to a great man, great editor and great friend was raised at a reception after a thanksgiving service for the life of Nicholson, former Night Editor on the World Desk, London, who died on 2 August aged 68.
A piper played a lament at Penge Congregational Church on Friday and a tribute was delivered by Nicholson’s daughter, Sarah. Bible readings were by his son Alec and brother Graeme.
Among the mourners were Jim and Marita Anderson, Ron Askew, Richard Balmforth, Allan Barker, David and Patricia Betts, Graham Colville, Monica Cook, Sandy Critchley, David Cutler, François Duriaud, John Freeman, Robert Hart, Graham and Ann Hillier, Keith Holland, Carol Howard, Michael Hughes, Colin McIntyre, Ian MacKenzie, Bernard Melunsky, Helen Massey, Barry and Dolly May, Ernest Mendoza, Peter Millership, Nicholas Moore, John Morrison, Rick Norsworthy, Tim Pearce, Manfred Pagel, John Rogers, Bill and Lesley Saltmarsh, Len Santorelli, Paul Smurthwaite, Anthony Williams and Richard Williams.
Photo by Helen Brushett shows David Nicholson on 12 July while listening to a Bach string quartet.
David Schlesinger joins debate over links to Reuters stories
Friday 07 August 2009
Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger has weighed in on a public debate over links to Reuters stories on the Internet. His take: it’s about being part of the conversation, adding to the debate rather than just playing postman and passing on others’ views, adding value, and getting rewarded for adding value.
“As head of a journalistic army of 2,700 professionals I obviously have an intense vested interest in ensuring that their work is valuable to readers and valued by them,” Schlesinger said in a Reuters blog posting.
“Part of that involves ensuring that they are in the centre of the action and that they fill their reports with their expertise and experience. Part of that involves ensuring that they are part of the debate, that their reports inform the debate and that the debate, in turn, informs their future reporting.
“Our standards on sourcing have always emphasized the importance of giving proper credit, even when quoting from competitors. And, of course, we expect the same in return.”
Schlesinger said that in the writing Reuters does specifically for the web “we’re as open to outbound linking as we are to the inbound”. But much of its other writing does not currently use outbound links “because of the particular ecosystem of our professional products, for which a lot of it is specifically written.” But he is sure that will change over time.
“The real danger in not being extremely open to linking, it seems to me, is that by moving yourself out of the mainstream debate you risk irrelevancy.
The fact that today the crediting can be done with a hyperlink is to me intellectually no different than the use of an academic footnote or a traditional journalistic “…according to XYZ in an interview”. It’s just better, because it’s fast, direct and creates an instant chain of knowledge.
“What’s more interesting to me is what one does with the link, not the link itself.
Schlesinger added: “I have a passing interest in the link or retweet that simply passes a nugget along.
“I have a bit more interest when the linker or retweeter extracts real gold that was hidden in the original and gives it more prominence.
“I have a lot more interest when the link or retweet uses the original as a jumping off point for argument, debate, or development.
“That’s when it gets interesting.”
● SOURCE Reuters
“As head of a journalistic army of 2,700 professionals I obviously have an intense vested interest in ensuring that their work is valuable to readers and valued by them,” Schlesinger said in a Reuters blog posting.
“Part of that involves ensuring that they are in the centre of the action and that they fill their reports with their expertise and experience. Part of that involves ensuring that they are part of the debate, that their reports inform the debate and that the debate, in turn, informs their future reporting.
“Our standards on sourcing have always emphasized the importance of giving proper credit, even when quoting from competitors. And, of course, we expect the same in return.”
Schlesinger said that in the writing Reuters does specifically for the web “we’re as open to outbound linking as we are to the inbound”. But much of its other writing does not currently use outbound links “because of the particular ecosystem of our professional products, for which a lot of it is specifically written.” But he is sure that will change over time.
“The real danger in not being extremely open to linking, it seems to me, is that by moving yourself out of the mainstream debate you risk irrelevancy.
The fact that today the crediting can be done with a hyperlink is to me intellectually no different than the use of an academic footnote or a traditional journalistic “…according to XYZ in an interview”. It’s just better, because it’s fast, direct and creates an instant chain of knowledge.
“What’s more interesting to me is what one does with the link, not the link itself.
Schlesinger added: “I have a passing interest in the link or retweet that simply passes a nugget along.
“I have a bit more interest when the linker or retweeter extracts real gold that was hidden in the original and gives it more prominence.
“I have a lot more interest when the link or retweet uses the original as a jumping off point for argument, debate, or development.
“That’s when it gets interesting.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Shareholders vote to quit London Stock Exchange
Friday 07 August 2009
Twenty-five years after Reuters floated on the London Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters shareholders voted on Friday to delist, distancing Reuters further from its British roots.
The vote at an extraordinary general meeting in London was 97.4 per cent in favour of quitting the LSE. At a simultaneous EGM in Toronto the figure was 99.6 per cent. Fewer than 100 shareholders attended the London meeting, with a similar number in Toronto.
The Canadian vote was decided by Thomson's family holding company, Woodbridge, which owns about two-thirds of the outstanding shares in Thomson Reuters Corp and had already committed to vote in favour of the move.
It will also delist from NASDAQ, remaining on the main New York and Toronto exchanges.
The delistings are expected to take place on 10 September, subject to UK court approval.
Shareholders in Thomson Reuters PLC are entitled to receive one Thomson Reuters Corp share for every PLC share they hold, while holders of American Depository Shares will receive six Thomson Reuters Corp shares per ADS.
Thomson Reuters, formed in 2008 when Canadian data publisher Thomson bought Reuters, has said it wants to simplify its capital structure and eliminate the persistent discount at which the London shares have traded to the Canadian shares.
The UK shares have traded at a discount to the Canadian shares since the April 2008 merger. The gap has narrowed to 2 per cent from 13.6 per cent before the company announced its plan in June to delist the London shares.
"I expect that a more straightforward capital structure will ensure that the focus of investors will remain firmly on the company itself and not on its capital structure," chief executive Tom Glocer told shareholders in London.
Not all shareholders agreed with the decision. "This country is a link to Europe. It looks like everything is going to shift to America and I'm a bit nervous about that," Allan Ferguson, who holds about 686 Thomson Reuters shares, told the London meeting. "I feel that we're just going to be another outpost."
Glocer has moved his base to New York from London, which remains the company's second-biggest base. Thomson Reuters made 58 per cent of its revenue in the Americas, 32 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 10 per cent in Asia last year.
Paul Julius Reuter opened his news and stock-quote service in London in 1851. It became a global news service and in 1984 became a public company with shares listed in London and New York.
Thomson Reuters says UK shareholders own only about a quarter of its London-listed shares, down from about 58 per cent in 2007, and hold only 5 per cent of the company's total outstanding shares.
Some analysts say London investors were influenced by memories of Reuters' poor performance during the last downturn, and were not convinced of the more defensive qualities of Thomson's products aimed at legal, health and tax professionals.
On Thursday, Thomson Reuters reported a better than expected quarterly profit helped by cost cuts, and said it expected 2009 revenue to grow as the financial industry recovered and banks started hiring again.
Credit Suisse, Bernstein and RBC raised their target price on the shares on Friday, but Jefferies downgraded the stock, saying it expected some UK shareholders to take profits rather than convert into Canadian shares.
● SOURCE Reuters
The vote at an extraordinary general meeting in London was 97.4 per cent in favour of quitting the LSE. At a simultaneous EGM in Toronto the figure was 99.6 per cent. Fewer than 100 shareholders attended the London meeting, with a similar number in Toronto.
The Canadian vote was decided by Thomson's family holding company, Woodbridge, which owns about two-thirds of the outstanding shares in Thomson Reuters Corp and had already committed to vote in favour of the move.
It will also delist from NASDAQ, remaining on the main New York and Toronto exchanges.
The delistings are expected to take place on 10 September, subject to UK court approval.
Shareholders in Thomson Reuters PLC are entitled to receive one Thomson Reuters Corp share for every PLC share they hold, while holders of American Depository Shares will receive six Thomson Reuters Corp shares per ADS.
Thomson Reuters, formed in 2008 when Canadian data publisher Thomson bought Reuters, has said it wants to simplify its capital structure and eliminate the persistent discount at which the London shares have traded to the Canadian shares.
The UK shares have traded at a discount to the Canadian shares since the April 2008 merger. The gap has narrowed to 2 per cent from 13.6 per cent before the company announced its plan in June to delist the London shares.
"I expect that a more straightforward capital structure will ensure that the focus of investors will remain firmly on the company itself and not on its capital structure," chief executive Tom Glocer told shareholders in London.
Not all shareholders agreed with the decision. "This country is a link to Europe. It looks like everything is going to shift to America and I'm a bit nervous about that," Allan Ferguson, who holds about 686 Thomson Reuters shares, told the London meeting. "I feel that we're just going to be another outpost."
Glocer has moved his base to New York from London, which remains the company's second-biggest base. Thomson Reuters made 58 per cent of its revenue in the Americas, 32 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 10 per cent in Asia last year.
Paul Julius Reuter opened his news and stock-quote service in London in 1851. It became a global news service and in 1984 became a public company with shares listed in London and New York.
Thomson Reuters says UK shareholders own only about a quarter of its London-listed shares, down from about 58 per cent in 2007, and hold only 5 per cent of the company's total outstanding shares.
Some analysts say London investors were influenced by memories of Reuters' poor performance during the last downturn, and were not convinced of the more defensive qualities of Thomson's products aimed at legal, health and tax professionals.
On Thursday, Thomson Reuters reported a better than expected quarterly profit helped by cost cuts, and said it expected 2009 revenue to grow as the financial industry recovered and banks started hiring again.
Credit Suisse, Bernstein and RBC raised their target price on the shares on Friday, but Jefferies downgraded the stock, saying it expected some UK shareholders to take profits rather than convert into Canadian shares.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters rocks - US business magazine
Monday 03 August 2009
Reuters rocks, a U.S. business magazine says. Long live Reuters and other news/press agencies that embrace the Internet and fair use.
The source of this endorsement? Statesboro Business Magazine in Georgia.
“The Associated Press (AP), in my opinion is putting the nails in it’s coffin,” wrote publisher Allen Harkleroad. Calling for a boycott of the AP “until they disappear into oblivion”, he added: “On top of that the AP is trying to force sites to pay for fair use and public domain.
“I understand that there are websites out there that copy the AP’s content verbatim. However there are many independent news publications and blogs out there that only use small snippets or quotes and cite the original source. On top of that those cited source links send visitors to the Associated Press website.
“I for one (I am a publisher of a multitude of niche websites) am boycotting the Associated Press entirely and instead elect to support news agencies such as Reuters that don’t have a problem with publishers and bloggers pulling a quote from them. They understand the nature of the Internet and fair use...
“It’s sad to see the Associated Press shooting themselves in the foot like this. I guess there is no law against running your business in the ground, so they can have at it. The Associate Press is not the only news source out there.
“Long live Reuters and other news / press agencies that embrace the Internet and fair use. Goodbye AP, as I for one refuse to pay for fair use or public domain, much less for pulling a quote and sending your traffic back to your website or affiliate sites.”
● SOURCE Statesboro Business Magazine
The source of this endorsement? Statesboro Business Magazine in Georgia.
“The Associated Press (AP), in my opinion is putting the nails in it’s coffin,” wrote publisher Allen Harkleroad. Calling for a boycott of the AP “until they disappear into oblivion”, he added: “On top of that the AP is trying to force sites to pay for fair use and public domain.
“I understand that there are websites out there that copy the AP’s content verbatim. However there are many independent news publications and blogs out there that only use small snippets or quotes and cite the original source. On top of that those cited source links send visitors to the Associated Press website.
“I for one (I am a publisher of a multitude of niche websites) am boycotting the Associated Press entirely and instead elect to support news agencies such as Reuters that don’t have a problem with publishers and bloggers pulling a quote from them. They understand the nature of the Internet and fair use...
“It’s sad to see the Associated Press shooting themselves in the foot like this. I guess there is no law against running your business in the ground, so they can have at it. The Associate Press is not the only news source out there.
“Long live Reuters and other news / press agencies that embrace the Internet and fair use. Goodbye AP, as I for one refuse to pay for fair use or public domain, much less for pulling a quote and sending your traffic back to your website or affiliate sites.”
● SOURCE Statesboro Business Magazine
Reuters correspondent to head White House association
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Reuters’ White House correspondent Caren Bohan has been elected next president of the White House Correspondents Association.
She will begin her one-year term as president in mid-2011 after serving as vice president for a year. The WHCA’s mission is to push for media access to the president and provide input on coverage and travel logistics for journalists who cover the White House beat. It also hosts an annual dinner with the president.
Bohan joined Reuters in 1992 and has covered the White House since 2003. Previously she was part of a team of reporters who won an award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for their coverage of President Bush's 2002 shakeup of his economic team.
Howard Goller, editor for US & Canada political & general news, said: "We are pleased, proud and honored. This is wonderful recognition for Caren, our White House team and Reuters."
The first Reuters correspondent to head the WHCA was Ralph Harris in 1979. He died on 24 December 2008 aged 87.
She will begin her one-year term as president in mid-2011 after serving as vice president for a year. The WHCA’s mission is to push for media access to the president and provide input on coverage and travel logistics for journalists who cover the White House beat. It also hosts an annual dinner with the president.
Bohan joined Reuters in 1992 and has covered the White House since 2003. Previously she was part of a team of reporters who won an award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for their coverage of President Bush's 2002 shakeup of his economic team.
Howard Goller, editor for US & Canada political & general news, said: "We are pleased, proud and honored. This is wonderful recognition for Caren, our White House team and Reuters."
The first Reuters correspondent to head the WHCA was Ralph Harris in 1979. He died on 24 December 2008 aged 87.
David Chipp's memoirs to be published in October
Thursday 16 July 2009
The memoirs of the late David Chipp, former editor of Reuters and director of the Reuters Foundation, are to be published posthumously in October.
The title, Mao’s Toe, comes from an incident in Peking half a century ago when Chipp was Reuters’ first resident correspondent in China since the 1949 Communist takeover. He trod on Chairman Mao Zedong’s toe and, far from taking offence, the Communist leader later gave Chipp his very own Chinese name, Qi Dewei – Lacquered Defender of Morals.
Chipp died in his sleep on 9 September 2008 aged 81. His memoirs will be launched at a reception at his old college, King’s, Cambridge, preceded by a memorial evensong in the chapel on Saturday 24 October at 5:15 pm for 5:30 pm. Those who wish to attend or obtain a copy of the book should contact ● development.office@kings.cam.ac.uk to register their interest.
● Obituary
● Thanksgiving service
The title, Mao’s Toe, comes from an incident in Peking half a century ago when Chipp was Reuters’ first resident correspondent in China since the 1949 Communist takeover. He trod on Chairman Mao Zedong’s toe and, far from taking offence, the Communist leader later gave Chipp his very own Chinese name, Qi Dewei – Lacquered Defender of Morals.
Chipp died in his sleep on 9 September 2008 aged 81. His memoirs will be launched at a reception at his old college, King’s, Cambridge, preceded by a memorial evensong in the chapel on Saturday 24 October at 5:15 pm for 5:30 pm. Those who wish to attend or obtain a copy of the book should contact ● development.office@kings.cam.ac.uk to register their interest.
● Obituary
● Thanksgiving service
Reuters Iraq war documentary nominated for Emmy
Wednesday 15 July 2009
A Reuters documentary on Iraq has been nominated for “a well-deserved Emmy”, editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said on Wednesday.
“It's already a winner in my book,” he said in a message on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War, features graphic still and video images and interviews with journalists Ceerwan Aziz, Alastair Macdonald, Andrew Marshall, Samia Nakhoul, Khaled Ramahi, Goran Tomasevic and Dean Yates.
It has already won numerous prizes including Best Multimedia at the 2008 Online News Association and New York Photo Awards. In June it was awarded the Italian Illaria Alpi Prize for Best International Report. The €2,500 prize was donated to the Rory Peck Trust which supports the families of freelance journalists killed on assignment.
Others among six Emmy finalists are The New York Times, Toronto Globe and Mail and The Washington Post. The winner will be announced at the 30th annual awards ceremony of the US National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in New York on 21 September.
The Academy presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for Business and Financial Reporting to Schlesinger in December.
● CLICK to view Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War | VIDEO
“It's already a winner in my book,” he said in a message on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War, features graphic still and video images and interviews with journalists Ceerwan Aziz, Alastair Macdonald, Andrew Marshall, Samia Nakhoul, Khaled Ramahi, Goran Tomasevic and Dean Yates.
It has already won numerous prizes including Best Multimedia at the 2008 Online News Association and New York Photo Awards. In June it was awarded the Italian Illaria Alpi Prize for Best International Report. The €2,500 prize was donated to the Rory Peck Trust which supports the families of freelance journalists killed on assignment.
Others among six Emmy finalists are The New York Times, Toronto Globe and Mail and The Washington Post. The winner will be announced at the 30th annual awards ceremony of the US National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in New York on 21 September.
The Academy presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for Business and Financial Reporting to Schlesinger in December.
● CLICK to view Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War | VIDEO
Reuters' complete Handbook of Journalism goes online
Thursday 09 July 2009
“The handbook is the guidance Reuters journalists live by — and we’re proud of it,” wrote Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards (pictured).
“Until now, it hasn’t been freely available to the public. In the early 1990s, a printed handbook was published and in 2006 the Reuters Foundation published a relatively short PDF online that gave some basic guidance to reporters. But it’s only now that we’re putting the full handbook online.”
Wright said the handbook is being made available to everyone for a number of reasons. Among them:
● Transparency: At a time when trust is an endangered commodity in the financial and media worlds, it’s important that news consumers see the guidelines our journalists follow.
● Service: As we’ve seen over the past decade, the barriers to publishing have dropped so that anyone with an idea and a computer can be a publisher. But it’s also become clear that publishers have a varying standard of truth, fairness and style. Our handbook is a good place for budding journalists to begin.
● Geography: Reuters serves a global audience and the handbook recognises the cultural and political differences that our journalists face in reporting for the world. This is a handbook not just for English-language journalists in the United Kingdom or the United States, but for wherever English is used.
In the contest between UK and US English, “We take a global approach to the spelling of many words. Often, it’s the United States against the world.”
The sports section of the handbook offers a list of cliches to avoid and advice on “good, bad”: “For financial and commodity markets good news and bad news depends on who you are and what your position is in the market. Avoid them.”
One of the most controversial entries is that of “terrorism.” It reads, in part: “We may refer without attribution to terrorism and counter-terrorism in general but do not refer to specific events as terrorism. Nor do we use the adjective word terrorist without attribution to qualify specific individuals, groups or events. … Report the subjects of news stories objectively, their actions, identity and background. Aim for a dispassionate use of language so that individuals, organisations and governments can make their own judgment on the basis of facts. Seek to use more specific terms like “bomber” or “bombing”, “hijacker” or “hijacking”, “attacker” or “attacks”, “gunman” or “gunmen” etc.”
This policy has been passionately debated inside and outside Reuters, Wright said. As the handbook says, “we aim for dispassionate language” so that our customers can “make their own judgment on the basis of facts.”
Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger puts it this way: “Over the years we have been criticised for this policy on numerous occasions, when people or governments wanted us to label an incident ourselves rather than quote their views. Criticism of our policy was especially fierce when the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Reuters made the decision not to describe the attackers as terrorists, because we thought a label would not add to our vivid description of the thousands of deaths and the destruction of the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center. In the years since, as the world has witnessed numerous other attacks, we’ve chosen to continue that policy of sticking with the facts and letting our readers make up their own minds based on our reporting and the evidence we present them.”
Wright added: “It’s important to point out that the handbook is a living document, one that preserves rules that have guided Reuters journalists through a century and half but also one that may change when the times change. It’s also important to note that the handbook is produced by humans who aren’t infallible — and it’s used by humans who aren’t infallible, so sometimes we make mistakes. I’m sure you’ll let us know when we do, but we’re usually harder on ourselves than anyone else is.”
● SOURCE Reuters | Handbook of Journalism
RSF demands release of Ibrahim Jassam
Saturday 04 July 2009
Advocates say his detention is illegal as the Iraqi central criminal court dismissed all charges against him last November.
"The US armed forces are now withdrawing from the main Iraqi cities after six years of occupation," Paris-based RSF said.
"We hope this will result in the release of detainees still held by the Americans, such as Ibrahim Jassam, who was arrested 10 months ago. His detention is illegal as the Iraqi central criminal court dismissed all charges against him last November. He must be freed."
One of Jassam's sisters told RSF by phone: "Ibrahim began a hunger strike four days ago in protest against his illegal detention. His health is deteriorating. We are very worried about him.” His family says they have been allowed to visit him every two months.
Jassam was arrested by US and Iraqi soldiers in the south Baghdad district of Mahmoudiyah on 1 September. No evidence was produced against him when the central criminal court heard his case on 30 November and dismissed all the charges. Nonetheless, he is still being held in Buki prison in Basra, 550 km south of Baghdad.
The situation of journalists continues to be critical in Iraq and the danger persists as the US forces pull out, RSF said. Three journalists have been killed since the start of the year.
● SOURCE Reporters sans Frontières
How Reuters convinced unions about Geneva HQ, by Michael Nelson
Saturday 27 June 2009
A Reuters plan to relocate to Geneva from London 30 years ago had nothing to do with internationalism but with British trade unionism, Michael Nelson, general manager at the time, said.
The company devised a stratagem to convince the unions that it would leave London, its headquarters since Paul Julius Reuter founded the business in 1851, if it could not get a deal with them during what became known as the 1979 “winter of discontent”.
The plan worked, and Reuters remained at 85 Fleet Street.
On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported in an article on Thomson Reuters’ decision to end trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange: “If there is concern about the decision in London, it won't be on patriotic grounds. Reuters had been a global company for years before the Thomson deal (although according to a history of the group, Peter Job, managing director, dismissed a 1980 suggestion to relocate its HQ to Geneva as "pallid internationalism").”
The FT’s Lombard columnist, publishing Nelson’s clarification under the headline “Reuters’ Swiss solution”, said on Saturday:
“Thomson Reuters’ decision to scrap its London listing should not upset patriots because Reuters has always been a global company. But my parenthetical reference this week to an abortive plan to move the group’s headquarters to Geneva – mentioned in Donald Read’s history of Reuters, The Power of News – prompted a fascinating clarification from Michael Nelson, who was general manager of Reuters at the time.
“He says this had ‘nothing to do with internationalism but with British trade unionism’. In 1979, the year of the ‘winter of discontent’, Mr Nelson suggested Reuters build a data centre in the Swiss city as an alternative to London if a deal could not be struck with the unions.
“Union representatives were periodically flown out, given a tour of the empty building, ‘a good lunch on Lake Geneva’, and a warning ‘that if we could not get what we wanted in London, we would move to Geneva’.
“The ploy worked and, as Reuters expanded, the building was used to serve continental clients, eventually becoming the headquarters for Europe.”
Five years earlier, union officials and Reuters’ union representatives had been flown at company expense to study video editing in operation in New York. Kevin Garry, in charge of staff relations, “hinted that, if London refused to follow New York, the whole Fleet Street editorial operation might be moved outside the United Kingdom”, according to the company’s official history. Agreement was reached in mid-1975 but the introduction of video editing in London with journalists’ right to by-pass telegraphists and transmit news directly to line was delayed for technical reasons until the end of 1979.
Unions are again threatening strikes and (erroneous) parallels are being drawn with the situation 30 years ago, the FT said. But the story is a timely reminder of how much heavier the pressure was in the late 1970s; of the lengths employers went to in order to hedge their bets; and of how Reuters, a media pioneer in so many other ways, came close to showing the way forward to Eddie Shah and Rupert Murdoch. As Mr Nelson points out: “Geneva was not Reuters’ Wapping, but might have been.”
● SOURCE Financial Times
The company devised a stratagem to convince the unions that it would leave London, its headquarters since Paul Julius Reuter founded the business in 1851, if it could not get a deal with them during what became known as the 1979 “winter of discontent”.
The plan worked, and Reuters remained at 85 Fleet Street.
On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported in an article on Thomson Reuters’ decision to end trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange: “If there is concern about the decision in London, it won't be on patriotic grounds. Reuters had been a global company for years before the Thomson deal (although according to a history of the group, Peter Job, managing director, dismissed a 1980 suggestion to relocate its HQ to Geneva as "pallid internationalism").”
The FT’s Lombard columnist, publishing Nelson’s clarification under the headline “Reuters’ Swiss solution”, said on Saturday:
“Thomson Reuters’ decision to scrap its London listing should not upset patriots because Reuters has always been a global company. But my parenthetical reference this week to an abortive plan to move the group’s headquarters to Geneva – mentioned in Donald Read’s history of Reuters, The Power of News – prompted a fascinating clarification from Michael Nelson, who was general manager of Reuters at the time.
“He says this had ‘nothing to do with internationalism but with British trade unionism’. In 1979, the year of the ‘winter of discontent’, Mr Nelson suggested Reuters build a data centre in the Swiss city as an alternative to London if a deal could not be struck with the unions.
“Union representatives were periodically flown out, given a tour of the empty building, ‘a good lunch on Lake Geneva’, and a warning ‘that if we could not get what we wanted in London, we would move to Geneva’.
“The ploy worked and, as Reuters expanded, the building was used to serve continental clients, eventually becoming the headquarters for Europe.”
Five years earlier, union officials and Reuters’ union representatives had been flown at company expense to study video editing in operation in New York. Kevin Garry, in charge of staff relations, “hinted that, if London refused to follow New York, the whole Fleet Street editorial operation might be moved outside the United Kingdom”, according to the company’s official history. Agreement was reached in mid-1975 but the introduction of video editing in London with journalists’ right to by-pass telegraphists and transmit news directly to line was delayed for technical reasons until the end of 1979.
Unions are again threatening strikes and (erroneous) parallels are being drawn with the situation 30 years ago, the FT said. But the story is a timely reminder of how much heavier the pressure was in the late 1970s; of the lengths employers went to in order to hedge their bets; and of how Reuters, a media pioneer in so many other ways, came close to showing the way forward to Eddie Shah and Rupert Murdoch. As Mr Nelson points out: “Geneva was not Reuters’ Wapping, but might have been.”
● SOURCE Financial Times
David Schlesinger on journalism in the age of Twitter
Wednesday 24 June 2009
In the future, old media won’t control news dissemination. Newspapers, magazines and news services won’t die. But they must change.
The only way for news organisations like Reuters to survive is to embrace the change and embrace the new. “Longing for the ways of the past will not work.”
Schlesinger was speaking to the International Olympics Committee Press Commission on Tuesday. His speech was posted on the Reuters Editors’ blog (click on the link below to read the full text).
“I spend my days at Reuters preaching the multimedia gospel to my 2,700 journalists,” he said.
“I want people to think holistically. I need them to. More and more, we’re issuing a multimedia report to multimedia-savvy consumers who no longer make a distinction between information they receive from text and information they receive from images. They demand words and pictures to be blended because… well, because that’s the way the world is! That’s the way the internet is. That’s the way schools work. That’s the way businesses work.
“So that’s my gospel – to bring multimedia to life at Reuters.”
In the face of “citizen journalism” using new social media tools, “what can we do to survive, or more fundamentally, to stay relevant?
“I think the only path is to embrace the change and embrace the new. Longing for the ways of the past will not work,” Schlesinger said.
“We in the traditional media and you in the IOC must concentrate our efforts on defining and developing that which really adds value.
“That means understanding what really can be exclusive and what really is insightful. It means truly exploiting real expertise.”
It means using all the multimedia tools available and all the smart multimedia journalists to provide a package so much stronger than any one individual strand, Schlesinger said.
It means working with the mobile phone and digital camera and social media-enabled public and not against them.
While old distinctions and old definitions are falling, “Our goal has to be to preserve the institutions and not the rules or definitions.
“And the way to do that is to evolve and morph and develop faster than the changes all around us.”
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters' many flags - FT
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Thomson Reuters’ decision to end its London Stock Exchange listing will deny British index funds and those institutions with an outdated mandate to invest only in UK-listed companies the opportunity to share in future growth of the business, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.
Something has gone a bit awry when UK investors keep their exposure to London-listed Kazakh miners that are part of the FTSE 100 index but lose their stake in a global media business with deep roots in Britain, it said in a report under the headline “Reuters' many flags”.
But Thomson Reuters’ experience does not necessary rule out a dual-listed structure the next time somebody wants to mount a cross-border takeover using shares, rather than cash, the FT said.
Companies as diverse as Thomson Reuters' competitor Reed Elsevier, cruise company Carnival, and miner Rio Tinto maintain a dual listing.
“But the structure is an impediment when raising funds - or defending against a hostile bid - it imposes an additional running cost ($10 million a year in Thomson Reuters' case), and it adds complexity when simplicity is in fashion.”
The FT quoted a 1915 leaflet celebrating the 50th anniversary of Reuter's Telegram Company: "Reuter's Agency has always been recognised as a British institution representing the English point of view. [Its managing director] is in all respects an Englishman. The Directors, the Editorial Staff, and the correspondents are British pure and simple, and so, with the exception of a score, are the 1,200 shareholders."
Reuters once had to defend itself against allegations of undue German influence during the First World War, the FT said. “Times have changed. No one will accuse Thomson Reuters of treasonable behaviour for ending its London listing. The media group has recognised the inevitable reality and UK-based shareholders have voted with their feet. Since last year's deal with Canada's Thomson, the proportion of Thomson Reuters PLC's shares held in London has dropped from 58 per cent to less than 25 per cent. The balance of shareholder power has inexorably shifted to New York and Toronto.
“If there is concern about the decision in London, it won't be on patriotic grounds. Reuters had been a global company for years before the Thomson deal (although according to a history of the group, Sir Peter Job, managing director, dismissed a 1980 suggestion to relocate its HQ to Geneva as "pallid internationalism").”
The FT noted that “Paul Julius Reuter, the agency's founder, had two names (he was born Israel Beer Josaphat), two nationalities (German and English) and two religions (Jewish and Christian), so you wouldn't bet against Thomson Reuters adding another listing in future (Shanghai, perhaps). But, barring takeover or break-up, London is, regrettably, unlikely to be one of them.”
● SOURCE Financial Times
Something has gone a bit awry when UK investors keep their exposure to London-listed Kazakh miners that are part of the FTSE 100 index but lose their stake in a global media business with deep roots in Britain, it said in a report under the headline “Reuters' many flags”.
But Thomson Reuters’ experience does not necessary rule out a dual-listed structure the next time somebody wants to mount a cross-border takeover using shares, rather than cash, the FT said.
Companies as diverse as Thomson Reuters' competitor Reed Elsevier, cruise company Carnival, and miner Rio Tinto maintain a dual listing.
“But the structure is an impediment when raising funds - or defending against a hostile bid - it imposes an additional running cost ($10 million a year in Thomson Reuters' case), and it adds complexity when simplicity is in fashion.”
The FT quoted a 1915 leaflet celebrating the 50th anniversary of Reuter's Telegram Company: "Reuter's Agency has always been recognised as a British institution representing the English point of view. [Its managing director] is in all respects an Englishman. The Directors, the Editorial Staff, and the correspondents are British pure and simple, and so, with the exception of a score, are the 1,200 shareholders."
Reuters once had to defend itself against allegations of undue German influence during the First World War, the FT said. “Times have changed. No one will accuse Thomson Reuters of treasonable behaviour for ending its London listing. The media group has recognised the inevitable reality and UK-based shareholders have voted with their feet. Since last year's deal with Canada's Thomson, the proportion of Thomson Reuters PLC's shares held in London has dropped from 58 per cent to less than 25 per cent. The balance of shareholder power has inexorably shifted to New York and Toronto.
“If there is concern about the decision in London, it won't be on patriotic grounds. Reuters had been a global company for years before the Thomson deal (although according to a history of the group, Sir Peter Job, managing director, dismissed a 1980 suggestion to relocate its HQ to Geneva as "pallid internationalism").”
The FT noted that “Paul Julius Reuter, the agency's founder, had two names (he was born Israel Beer Josaphat), two nationalities (German and English) and two religions (Jewish and Christian), so you wouldn't bet against Thomson Reuters adding another listing in future (Shanghai, perhaps). But, barring takeover or break-up, London is, regrettably, unlikely to be one of them.”
● SOURCE Financial Times
Thomson Reuters to quit London Stock Exchange
Monday 22 June 2009
Thomson Reuters said it plans to withdraw its shares from the London Stock Exchange, “severing a key connection with Reuters' British roots”, as Reuters’ own story put it.
The company said it would also remove its shares from NASDAQ and remain listed only on the New York and Toronto exchanges.
Chief executive Tom Glocer played down concerns that Thomson Reuters could lose any UK-based shareholders through the action, noting that only five per cent of all shareholders are in the United Kingdom. He expressed hope that those shareholders would retain their holdings even after the delisting.
"Our shares are now fragmented, divided between North America and London in a way we didn't envision. That's hurting the company because there are investors who would come in but won't," Glocer said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
Thomson Reuters said it would seek shareholder approval for the London and NASDAQ delistings on 7 August.
"In a global electronic world where shares are trading in ones and zeros ... where we trade our shares is, to me, plumbing," Glocer said. "I think we shouldn't get too hung up ... London is still the second largest centre that we've got."
Thomson Reuters shares closed down 78 cents to C$33.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and down 94 cents at $29.08 on the New York Stock Exchange.
● SOURCE Reuters
The company said it would also remove its shares from NASDAQ and remain listed only on the New York and Toronto exchanges.
Chief executive Tom Glocer played down concerns that Thomson Reuters could lose any UK-based shareholders through the action, noting that only five per cent of all shareholders are in the United Kingdom. He expressed hope that those shareholders would retain their holdings even after the delisting.
"Our shares are now fragmented, divided between North America and London in a way we didn't envision. That's hurting the company because there are investors who would come in but won't," Glocer said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
Thomson Reuters said it would seek shareholder approval for the London and NASDAQ delistings on 7 August.
"In a global electronic world where shares are trading in ones and zeros ... where we trade our shares is, to me, plumbing," Glocer said. "I think we shouldn't get too hung up ... London is still the second largest centre that we've got."
Thomson Reuters shares closed down 78 cents to C$33.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and down 94 cents at $29.08 on the New York Stock Exchange.
● SOURCE Reuters
Thomson Reuters to end London share listing - FT
Monday 22 June 2009
Thomson Reuters has decided to end the London listing for its shares, the Financial Times reported.
The board discussed the decision on Monday afternoon, the newspaper said in a report from New York. It is subject to shareholder and court approval.
Thomson Reuters needs 75 per cent majority approval from shareholders to replace the current UK-listed shares and their related US-listed American Depositary Receipts with a single Toronto listing.
The FT said the switch will be conducted through a scheme of arrangement in a manner designed to avoid tax penalties for shareholders and should be completed by the end of September if shareholders and courts give their approval.
It would end a period marked by large valuation gaps between the London and Toronto listings since the dual structure was put in place when Thomson took over Reuters in April 2008.
The UK shares currently trade 10 per cent below the North American stock and 95 per cent of the company is now held by non-UK shareholders, the FT said.
“By improving liquidity in the Canadian stock, which includes most of the Thomson family’s controlling 55 per cent stake, the group hopes to improve its appeal to investors and its chances of raising capital if needed in future,” the FT said.
“The company has been conscious of the long history of Reuters in London, which dates back to Paul Julius Reuter’s pioneering use of carrier pigeons and submarine telegraph cables in the 1850s.
“However, people close to the company told the Financial Times that the change would not affect its sizeable Thomson Reuters markets business in London, nor headcount at its professional division…”
The company could save about $10 million in accounting, legal and other costs associated with the UK listing, they estimated.
The FT said that just 25 per cent of the London listed shares are now in the hands of UK institutions, down from over 50 per cent, of which roughly half were active investors and the other half index tracking funds.
The group expects index trackers and some UK active investors to come out of the stock, but its greater weighting in the Toronto index should in part offset any flow-back issues.
● SOURCE Financial Times
The board discussed the decision on Monday afternoon, the newspaper said in a report from New York. It is subject to shareholder and court approval.
Thomson Reuters needs 75 per cent majority approval from shareholders to replace the current UK-listed shares and their related US-listed American Depositary Receipts with a single Toronto listing.
The FT said the switch will be conducted through a scheme of arrangement in a manner designed to avoid tax penalties for shareholders and should be completed by the end of September if shareholders and courts give their approval.
It would end a period marked by large valuation gaps between the London and Toronto listings since the dual structure was put in place when Thomson took over Reuters in April 2008.
The UK shares currently trade 10 per cent below the North American stock and 95 per cent of the company is now held by non-UK shareholders, the FT said.
“By improving liquidity in the Canadian stock, which includes most of the Thomson family’s controlling 55 per cent stake, the group hopes to improve its appeal to investors and its chances of raising capital if needed in future,” the FT said.
“The company has been conscious of the long history of Reuters in London, which dates back to Paul Julius Reuter’s pioneering use of carrier pigeons and submarine telegraph cables in the 1850s.
“However, people close to the company told the Financial Times that the change would not affect its sizeable Thomson Reuters markets business in London, nor headcount at its professional division…”
The company could save about $10 million in accounting, legal and other costs associated with the UK listing, they estimated.
The FT said that just 25 per cent of the London listed shares are now in the hands of UK institutions, down from over 50 per cent, of which roughly half were active investors and the other half index tracking funds.
The group expects index trackers and some UK active investors to come out of the stock, but its greater weighting in the Toronto index should in part offset any flow-back issues.
● SOURCE Financial Times
Crustaceans, sushi and more at '85'
Saturday 13 June 2009
London’s latest restaurant, named after architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, is opening at 85 Fleet Street, Reuters’ landmark headquarters for more than six decades.
Lutyens restaurant, bar and cellar rooms will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7:30 am to midnight.
The cuisine in the 125-seat restaurant is crustaceans, sushi, classic French and English recipes, and at the bar classic French country style meals.
Lutyens designed the eight-storey Portland stone building, next door to the journalists’ church, Sir Christopher Wren’s famous wedding cake-style St Bride’s, and it opened as the head office of Reuters and the Press Association shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939.
Generations of Reuters people referred to it simply as “85”.
The building cost £450,000, about three times the original estimate, and fetched £32 million when Reuters consolidated all its London offices at Canary Wharf in 2005.
● SOURCE Lutyens Restaurant, Bar and Cellar Rooms
Shifty? Do they mean us?
Friday 12 June 2009
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reuters, media giant. What can they mean? And then there’s the theme, “Shifty Business”.
The fill-in-the-blank clue at 40-Across in The New York Times crossword puzzle on Sunday caught the attention of several Reuters people, past and present.
The Times crossword is syndicated to more than 300 newspapers and journals. Beginning on a Monday, the crosswords become increasingly more difficult as the week progresses. The Sunday crossword, larger than others during the week, is believed to be about the most difficult.
“Shifty Business” was the theme of Sunday’s crossword.
Facebook, Twitter and the Trust Principles: a guide
Wednesday 03 June 2009
Reuters is developing guidelines for how its journalists interact with social media like Facebook and Twitter. The Trust Principles, drafted in 1941, are at the heart of the rules for the new 21st century media.
These are the guidelines:
● If Reuters journalists want to use Twitter or social media as part of their professional role they should seek the permission of their manager.
● If Reuters journalists use Twitter professionally they should use the word “Reuters” in the name of their streams or somewhere else on the page.
● The Trust Principles apply to Twitter and social media – journalists should do nothing that compromises them.
● Microblogging and use of social media tend to blur the distinction between professional and personal lives: When using Twitter or social media in a professional capacity Reuters journalists should aim to be personable but not to include irrelevant material about their personal lives.
The Trust Principles were created in the midst of World War II with the express purpose of preserving Reuters’ independence, integrity and freedom from bias. When Reuters merged with Thomson in April 2008 they were adopted by the combined company.
Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards, pondering the question “Are we too connected?” says that in recent days and weeks he’s been wondering whether our mobile phones, Blackberries, text messaging and constant access to e-mail and social media have brought us too close together for our own good.
“Or maybe the quality of our connected life is only as good as the information we share.”
Wright wonders whether this “me, me, me” quality of Facebook and Twitter is just an early evolutionary stage of something smarter and more useful. “There are some encouraging signs – and that’s a good thing, because we’re becoming ever more connected,” he says.
How connected are we?
“At Reuters, we’re using Reuters Messenger to build chat rooms in which our journalists can expand their conversation with the marketplace through informal, dynamic interactions with a group of engaged financial news clients on our terminals.
“We’re also using Twitter in some intriguing ways:
● “Specialist journalists use it to share articles and build up a following.
● “Online editorial staff and bloggers use Twitter to distribute news and solicit reader comment.
● “Journalists are using Twitter during live events like the World Economic Forum at Davos (editor-in-chief David Schlesinger used it to break news there earlier this year) and to solicit questions for newsmaker interviews.
“There are huge implications for those of us in the news media as we try to reach an increasingly fragmented and distracted audience awash in information, some of it wanted and much of it not.
“And journalists who work and live in the digital world (and that’s just about all of us now) will find that there is little or no difference between our professional and private personae in the wide-open world of social media.”
In an e-mail to editorial staff, Schlesinger said “whether we like it or not, our online identities are inextricably linked with our workplace identities…Things we do online could very easily taint our journalistic activity. If one of us self-identifies as ‘very liberal’ politically, it may well be the truth, but would advertising it simply feed the myth that journalists in general have a liberal bias?”
“The easiest rule,” Schlesinger cautioned, “is to stop, think and imagine: How would you feel and how would you react if someone made your Facebook page or blog or online comment a story? Could you defend your objectivity? Could Reuters defend having you on the beat you’re on? Could your reputation, and ours, survive someone making an issue of it?”
Wright added: “I’m sure neither Schlesinger nor I have had the last word on the relationship of journalism and social media, nor on whether we’re all too connected. What we need to pay attention to is the quality of those connections.”
● SOURCE Reuters
● Trust Principles
These are the guidelines:
● If Reuters journalists want to use Twitter or social media as part of their professional role they should seek the permission of their manager.
● If Reuters journalists use Twitter professionally they should use the word “Reuters” in the name of their streams or somewhere else on the page.
● The Trust Principles apply to Twitter and social media – journalists should do nothing that compromises them.
● Microblogging and use of social media tend to blur the distinction between professional and personal lives: When using Twitter or social media in a professional capacity Reuters journalists should aim to be personable but not to include irrelevant material about their personal lives.
The Trust Principles were created in the midst of World War II with the express purpose of preserving Reuters’ independence, integrity and freedom from bias. When Reuters merged with Thomson in April 2008 they were adopted by the combined company.
Dean Wright, global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards, pondering the question “Are we too connected?” says that in recent days and weeks he’s been wondering whether our mobile phones, Blackberries, text messaging and constant access to e-mail and social media have brought us too close together for our own good.
“Or maybe the quality of our connected life is only as good as the information we share.”
Wright wonders whether this “me, me, me” quality of Facebook and Twitter is just an early evolutionary stage of something smarter and more useful. “There are some encouraging signs – and that’s a good thing, because we’re becoming ever more connected,” he says.
How connected are we?
“At Reuters, we’re using Reuters Messenger to build chat rooms in which our journalists can expand their conversation with the marketplace through informal, dynamic interactions with a group of engaged financial news clients on our terminals.
“We’re also using Twitter in some intriguing ways:
● “Specialist journalists use it to share articles and build up a following.
● “Online editorial staff and bloggers use Twitter to distribute news and solicit reader comment.
● “Journalists are using Twitter during live events like the World Economic Forum at Davos (editor-in-chief David Schlesinger used it to break news there earlier this year) and to solicit questions for newsmaker interviews.
“There are huge implications for those of us in the news media as we try to reach an increasingly fragmented and distracted audience awash in information, some of it wanted and much of it not.
“And journalists who work and live in the digital world (and that’s just about all of us now) will find that there is little or no difference between our professional and private personae in the wide-open world of social media.”
In an e-mail to editorial staff, Schlesinger said “whether we like it or not, our online identities are inextricably linked with our workplace identities…Things we do online could very easily taint our journalistic activity. If one of us self-identifies as ‘very liberal’ politically, it may well be the truth, but would advertising it simply feed the myth that journalists in general have a liberal bias?”
“The easiest rule,” Schlesinger cautioned, “is to stop, think and imagine: How would you feel and how would you react if someone made your Facebook page or blog or online comment a story? Could you defend your objectivity? Could Reuters defend having you on the beat you’re on? Could your reputation, and ours, survive someone making an issue of it?”
Wright added: “I’m sure neither Schlesinger nor I have had the last word on the relationship of journalism and social media, nor on whether we’re all too connected. What we need to pay attention to is the quality of those connections.”
● SOURCE Reuters
● Trust Principles
Reuters active on case of Ibrahim Jassam - David Schlesinger
Thursday 28 May 2009
Progress has indeed been unsatisfactory, Schlesinger said in a message to The Baron in response to a posting by former editor-in-chief Brian Horton (● Click Mail).
“Your readers can be assured we are working actively on this – in Iraq, in Washington and through the Committee to Protect Journalists (where I am a board member),” Schlesinger said.
“My position has been consistent throughout: if there is a charge against or suspicion about any of our journalists, let it be aired publicly. If there is a charge, let the journalist defend his name with the aid of counsel and in an open, fair tribunal. If there is a suspicion about his actions, let us know what it is: we will happily explain why our journalists rush to the scene of conflict instead of away and why they, and we, put such a premium on speed of response.
“We have no interest in harbouring a proven evil-doer on our staff. But I will not tolerate or accept innuendo or vague, unspecified charges against a journalist who has never done anything to cause us to question his probity.”
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Jassam, 31, is close to breaking point. His brother Walid visited him recently in Camp Bucca, the desolate, tented US prison camp in the desert in southern Iraq, it said.
"He used to be handsome, but now he's pale and he's tired," said Walid, who says his brother had no ties to insurgents. "Every now and then while we were talking, he would start crying. He was begging me: 'Please do something to get me out of here. I don't know what is the charge against me.'
"I told him we already tried everything."
Jassam was seized by American and Iraqi troops at his family home in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, on 2 September 2008. They confiscated his computer hard drive and cameras and led him away handcuffed and blindfolded.
The U.S. military rejected an Iraqi Central Criminal Court order on 30 November to release him for lack of evidence, saying he is a “high security threat”. No evidence has been presented.
Detained Reuters cameraman 'close to breaking point'
Sunday 24 May 2009
Jassam's brother Walid visited him recently in Camp Bucca, the desolate, tented US prison camp in the desert in southern Iraq, it said.
"He used to be handsome, but now he's pale and he's tired," said Walid, who says his brother had no ties to insurgents. "Every now and then while we were talking, he would start crying. He was begging me: 'Please do something to get me out of here. I don't know what is the charge against me.'
"I told him we already tried everything."
Jassam, 31, was detained by American and Iraqi troops at his family home in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, on 2 September 2008. They confiscated his computer hard drive and cameras and led him away handcuffed and blindfolded.
The US military rejected an Iraqi Central Criminal Court order on 30 November to release him for lack of evidence, saying he is a “high security threat”. No evidence has been presented.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger has expressed disappointment over Jassam's detention and said there is no evidence against him.
Jassam is the only Iraqi journalist still in US custody. He is the last to be detained under wartime rules that predated a US-Iraqi security agreement signed in December. Under the new accord, US forces must obtain a warrant before they can arrest an Iraqi citizen.
The decision to release him or transfer him to the Iraqi legal system will be made by the Iraqi government. The only timetable for that is by the end of the year, a US military spokesman said.
● SOURCE Los Angeles Times
Reuters hires three more columnists
Thursday 14 May 2009
Reuters announced three more appointments to its commentary team.
Agnes Crane, an editor at Dow Jones Newswires, Matthew Goldstein, a senior writer for BusinessWeek, and Christopher Swann from Bloomberg News are joining over the next three weeks as columnists based in New York.
The 25-member commentary team based primarily in London and New York will produce a blog.
The team will be led by Jonathan Ford, co-founder of Breakingviews. The European team will be led by Peter Thal Larsen, formerly banking editor of the Financial Times, and the US team will be led by Jeffrey Cane, formerly an editor at Portfolio.com and The New York Times.
"I am very excited to have a team of such talented financial journalists," said Cane. "They, along with our New York-based financial blogger, Felix Salmon, and our Washington blogger and columnist, James Pethokoukis, will greatly expand the ability of Reuters to offer smart, fact-based opinion on the big stories in the global financial markets."
● SOURCE PR News Wire
Agnes Crane, an editor at Dow Jones Newswires, Matthew Goldstein, a senior writer for BusinessWeek, and Christopher Swann from Bloomberg News are joining over the next three weeks as columnists based in New York.
The 25-member commentary team based primarily in London and New York will produce a blog.
The team will be led by Jonathan Ford, co-founder of Breakingviews. The European team will be led by Peter Thal Larsen, formerly banking editor of the Financial Times, and the US team will be led by Jeffrey Cane, formerly an editor at Portfolio.com and The New York Times.
"I am very excited to have a team of such talented financial journalists," said Cane. "They, along with our New York-based financial blogger, Felix Salmon, and our Washington blogger and columnist, James Pethokoukis, will greatly expand the ability of Reuters to offer smart, fact-based opinion on the big stories in the global financial markets."
● SOURCE PR News Wire
Reuters builds commentary team
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Reuters on Wednesday announced another appointment to its growing commentary team.
James Pethokoukis, a writer and blogger for U.S. News & World Report, will cover US economic policy, regulation and the economy in Washington. He is also a contributor to CNBC. Previously, he was with USA Today and Investor’s Business Daily. He will report to Jeffrey Cane, US editor, commentary, a former editor at Portfolio.com and The New York Times.
“The credit crisis has tilted the balance of US financial power away from New York and towards Washington, so the hiring of James Pethokoukis, who will cover the Capitol and its environs, is an essential plank in our plans to build a commentary team that will focus on the biggest stories in financial markets globally,” said Jonathan Ford, global commentary editor, who was previously co-founder of the Internet service Breakingviews. “James will post to our global financial blog and will also write longer columns on the evolving debate.”
Reuters’ 25-member commentary team of journalists is primarily based in London and New York. It produces short opinionated columns every day on the world’s top stories as well as longer columns.
The European commentary team will be led by Peter Thal Larsen, formerly banking editor of the Financial Times.
Felix Salmon, a financial blogger, is leading Reuters’ effort to produce a financial blog.
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
James Pethokoukis, a writer and blogger for U.S. News & World Report, will cover US economic policy, regulation and the economy in Washington. He is also a contributor to CNBC. Previously, he was with USA Today and Investor’s Business Daily. He will report to Jeffrey Cane, US editor, commentary, a former editor at Portfolio.com and The New York Times.
“The credit crisis has tilted the balance of US financial power away from New York and towards Washington, so the hiring of James Pethokoukis, who will cover the Capitol and its environs, is an essential plank in our plans to build a commentary team that will focus on the biggest stories in financial markets globally,” said Jonathan Ford, global commentary editor, who was previously co-founder of the Internet service Breakingviews. “James will post to our global financial blog and will also write longer columns on the evolving debate.”
Reuters’ 25-member commentary team of journalists is primarily based in London and New York. It produces short opinionated columns every day on the world’s top stories as well as longer columns.
The European commentary team will be led by Peter Thal Larsen, formerly banking editor of the Financial Times.
Felix Salmon, a financial blogger, is leading Reuters’ effort to produce a financial blog.
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Reuters to beat Bloomberg out of global crisis - FT
Monday 27 April 2009
Reuters may fare better than Bloomberg in the current financial crisis, the Financial Times said on Monday.
Thanks to a technological shift, instead of just wholesaling news and data, wire services can in theory also sell it direct to consumers via the internet or mobile applications. But advertising is scarce and such retail schemes, which cannibalise wholesale revenues, have floundered in the past, it said.
A bigger problem is the banking crisis. Peter Grauer, Bloomberg’s chairman, believes the financial services industry will cut its information spending by 20 per cent this year.
“Such shrinkage offers a replay of the slugging match during the dotcom downturn, when Bloomberg got the better of Reuters, its duopolistic financial information rival,” the FT said.
“This time Reuters may fare better. Bloomberg can’t count on the hedge funds it courted in the 2000s to pick up the slack. It is dominant in fixed-income, not the best place to be; Reuters is stronger in forex and commodities. Furthermore, Thomson Reuters’ legal and medical information provide extra ballast. Bloomberg’s largely one-trick business model, renting terminals at $1,590 per month, hinges on body count. Thanks to savings from the merger, Thomson Reuters shares trade at 15 times forecast earnings, a 32 per cent premium to its peers. Bad news can only await such a high wire rating.”
Analysts expect the global financial crisis to have profound consequences for the industry, but what those will be is far from obvious, the FT said.
Lengthy subscriptions mean cuts by customers take time to filter through, and even in the quarter when Lehman Brothers collapsed, transactional revenues rose thanks to volatility in commodity and foreign exchange markets.
“Only now, as first-quarter figures begin to come through, are investors watching anxiously for the early signs of the credit crunch’s impact. Citigroup analysts noted last week that transaction revenues could be down 40 per cent,” the FT said.
There is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which financial companies will retain overlapping, or similar services given the pressure on services. Although at the same time heightened scrutiny on valuations and increased regulatory demands could help support the industry.
Not all are affected equally. Citigroup argued that Thomson Reuters could fare better than Bloomberg because the latter had been more exposed to harder-hit fixed-income and asset-backed securities traders and hedge funds.
One analyst, who would not be named, said Bloomberg was taking an “aggressively proactive” approach to persuading customers to keep their terminals.
The analyst told the FT that Thomson Reuters, which is less dependent on terminal sales than in past downturns, was fighting back ahead of launching its first common platform since the former Thomson Financial and Reuters businesses combined a year ago.
Thomson Reuters’ London-listed shares are now at the same level as last May. Over the same period the FTSE has dropped 35 per cent.
The London shares closed on Monday at 1,705 pence, 0.99 per cent below their 52-week high of 1,722 set nine trading days ago on 14 April.
● SOURCE Financial Times
Thanks to a technological shift, instead of just wholesaling news and data, wire services can in theory also sell it direct to consumers via the internet or mobile applications. But advertising is scarce and such retail schemes, which cannibalise wholesale revenues, have floundered in the past, it said.
A bigger problem is the banking crisis. Peter Grauer, Bloomberg’s chairman, believes the financial services industry will cut its information spending by 20 per cent this year.
“Such shrinkage offers a replay of the slugging match during the dotcom downturn, when Bloomberg got the better of Reuters, its duopolistic financial information rival,” the FT said.
“This time Reuters may fare better. Bloomberg can’t count on the hedge funds it courted in the 2000s to pick up the slack. It is dominant in fixed-income, not the best place to be; Reuters is stronger in forex and commodities. Furthermore, Thomson Reuters’ legal and medical information provide extra ballast. Bloomberg’s largely one-trick business model, renting terminals at $1,590 per month, hinges on body count. Thanks to savings from the merger, Thomson Reuters shares trade at 15 times forecast earnings, a 32 per cent premium to its peers. Bad news can only await such a high wire rating.”
Analysts expect the global financial crisis to have profound consequences for the industry, but what those will be is far from obvious, the FT said.
Lengthy subscriptions mean cuts by customers take time to filter through, and even in the quarter when Lehman Brothers collapsed, transactional revenues rose thanks to volatility in commodity and foreign exchange markets.
“Only now, as first-quarter figures begin to come through, are investors watching anxiously for the early signs of the credit crunch’s impact. Citigroup analysts noted last week that transaction revenues could be down 40 per cent,” the FT said.
There is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which financial companies will retain overlapping, or similar services given the pressure on services. Although at the same time heightened scrutiny on valuations and increased regulatory demands could help support the industry.
Not all are affected equally. Citigroup argued that Thomson Reuters could fare better than Bloomberg because the latter had been more exposed to harder-hit fixed-income and asset-backed securities traders and hedge funds.
One analyst, who would not be named, said Bloomberg was taking an “aggressively proactive” approach to persuading customers to keep their terminals.
The analyst told the FT that Thomson Reuters, which is less dependent on terminal sales than in past downturns, was fighting back ahead of launching its first common platform since the former Thomson Financial and Reuters businesses combined a year ago.
Thomson Reuters’ London-listed shares are now at the same level as last May. Over the same period the FTSE has dropped 35 per cent.
The London shares closed on Monday at 1,705 pence, 0.99 per cent below their 52-week high of 1,722 set nine trading days ago on 14 April.
● SOURCE Financial Times
The Reuters culture: what was it?
Wednesday 22 April 2009
The Reuters culture: Did Reuters create a characteristic or special corporate culture? What was it?
The questions are raised in an online debate generated by Alfonso Scarano (Reuters 1997-1999), Milan-based financial analyst and founder of the Linkedin group Club ex-Reuters.
Kristian Pedersen (Reuters 1996-2007), a financial analyst now based in Spain, tips his hat at this website as “a very good sensor of the Reuters culture past and present” and also recommends the book Breaking News: How the Wheels Came Off at Reuters by Brian Mooney and Barry Simpson [● Click to read a review].
“It gives a broad picture of the culture that existed at the time new executive management took helm of the organisation to lead it through ongoing series of critical and deep business turnaround and restructurings – including vital large scale simplification, savings and organisational change programs – which in many organisations would be the sources of cultural meltdowns. But I did not see it happen in Reuters. I think it was because people knew why change was critical.
“I cannot speak of the present culture, but in my years in Reuters there was never a shadow of doubt of the enviable stamina, loyalty and ‘esprit de corps’ of the people. The culture created a lasting sense of belonging and a psychological bond with the company and old colleagues after people have left. I have never met a colleague who was not proud to have been associated with Reuters; whatever circumstances they left under.
“The culture was tied to an identification with the integrity and values expressed in the core Reuters Trust Principles…
“For the same reasons, the concern of the Trust Principles was central to the acceptance of the merger with Thomson. Time will tell how fast the cultures adapt and merge in the new Thomson Reuters. An indicator of how the market evaluates this challenge you can see reflected in the share price change during the crisis relative to peers.”
Don York (Reuters 1983-2000), former network operations director now based in Canada, believes it is not so much that Reuters created a culture but that it was allowed to grow and mature.
“They maintained an environment that allowed a unique set of people and skills to gather and develop. After 24 years, I could not find a single person who worked outside of Reuters who would describe their career or company like those in Reuters.”
Rosemary Martin (Reuters 1997-2008), former general counsel and company secretary, believes Reuters had an unusually strong culture that enabled it to go through a great deal of change successfully.
“I believe the culture came from a mixture of the role Reuters plays in the world and the type of people who are attracted to the company. I hope that culture lives on in Thomson Reuters but I do not know as I left the organisation at the time of the takeover.”
Recalling remarks she made at her farewell event, Martin said: “When I joined Reuters over a decade ago it was for a number of reasons. First, I sensed it might be reminiscent of that marvelous book, Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop: a farcical story, full of humour, full of life and very human. That sounded delightful. I was not disappointed.
“Second, someone in the City had remarked to me: ‘Ah yes, Reuters. Extraordinary company. Seems so smooth on the outside; complete anarchy inside.’ That sounded fun. I was not disappointed.
“Third, here was a company that seemed to have a purpose that went beyond just making money; that was guided and governed by the Trust Principles. That sounded honourable. I was not disappointed.
“And here was a company that had offices everywhere, a truly international company. There’d be opportunities to travel and to meet people from far flung corners of the globe. That sounded interesting. I was not disappointed…
“And Reuters was a company that sat at the heart of three of the most exciting sectors of the last decade: media, finance and technology and I had the pleasure – sometimes the frustration – and often the bemusement of watching this funny, loveable company and the funny, loveable people in it chart their way through the roller-coaster of the last decade.”
Zaid Rashdan (Reuters 1986-2007), former general manager in the Middle East now based in Jordan, says that the name Reuters, associated with truth and accuracy across the globe, in the Middle East takes a similar meaning but with a little twist.
“The name Reuter without the ‘s’ is a nickname given to anyone who knows what is happening. In the East Mediterranean area however it’s a nickname for someone who would spread whatever is said in front of him.”
Rashdan believes Reuters had a major role in developing economies in the world and changed the way in which the financial world trades.
“From the first page BAXX to appear on the green Monitor screen to the first Reuters Instrument Code (RIC) created, the financial world has moved in a different direction with no return.
“I would go as far as saying that Reuters’ private communication network established late last century was the first of what we know today as the Internet.
“Reuters surely changed the people that worked for it, and I confirm what Kristian Pedersen noted that this company gave me a lasting sense of belonging and I am extremely proud to have been part of it all…
“As Rosemary Martin said, it is this funny, loveable company. But times are changing and the company has proven that it is really self generating; the natives of the digital age will replace the immigrants.”
The questions are raised in an online debate generated by Alfonso Scarano (Reuters 1997-1999), Milan-based financial analyst and founder of the Linkedin group Club ex-Reuters.
Kristian Pedersen (Reuters 1996-2007), a financial analyst now based in Spain, tips his hat at this website as “a very good sensor of the Reuters culture past and present” and also recommends the book Breaking News: How the Wheels Came Off at Reuters by Brian Mooney and Barry Simpson [● Click to read a review].
“It gives a broad picture of the culture that existed at the time new executive management took helm of the organisation to lead it through ongoing series of critical and deep business turnaround and restructurings – including vital large scale simplification, savings and organisational change programs – which in many organisations would be the sources of cultural meltdowns. But I did not see it happen in Reuters. I think it was because people knew why change was critical.
“I cannot speak of the present culture, but in my years in Reuters there was never a shadow of doubt of the enviable stamina, loyalty and ‘esprit de corps’ of the people. The culture created a lasting sense of belonging and a psychological bond with the company and old colleagues after people have left. I have never met a colleague who was not proud to have been associated with Reuters; whatever circumstances they left under.
“The culture was tied to an identification with the integrity and values expressed in the core Reuters Trust Principles…
“For the same reasons, the concern of the Trust Principles was central to the acceptance of the merger with Thomson. Time will tell how fast the cultures adapt and merge in the new Thomson Reuters. An indicator of how the market evaluates this challenge you can see reflected in the share price change during the crisis relative to peers.”
Don York (Reuters 1983-2000), former network operations director now based in Canada, believes it is not so much that Reuters created a culture but that it was allowed to grow and mature.
“They maintained an environment that allowed a unique set of people and skills to gather and develop. After 24 years, I could not find a single person who worked outside of Reuters who would describe their career or company like those in Reuters.”
Rosemary Martin (Reuters 1997-2008), former general counsel and company secretary, believes Reuters had an unusually strong culture that enabled it to go through a great deal of change successfully.
“I believe the culture came from a mixture of the role Reuters plays in the world and the type of people who are attracted to the company. I hope that culture lives on in Thomson Reuters but I do not know as I left the organisation at the time of the takeover.”
Recalling remarks she made at her farewell event, Martin said: “When I joined Reuters over a decade ago it was for a number of reasons. First, I sensed it might be reminiscent of that marvelous book, Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop: a farcical story, full of humour, full of life and very human. That sounded delightful. I was not disappointed.
“Second, someone in the City had remarked to me: ‘Ah yes, Reuters. Extraordinary company. Seems so smooth on the outside; complete anarchy inside.’ That sounded fun. I was not disappointed.
“Third, here was a company that seemed to have a purpose that went beyond just making money; that was guided and governed by the Trust Principles. That sounded honourable. I was not disappointed.
“And here was a company that had offices everywhere, a truly international company. There’d be opportunities to travel and to meet people from far flung corners of the globe. That sounded interesting. I was not disappointed…
“And Reuters was a company that sat at the heart of three of the most exciting sectors of the last decade: media, finance and technology and I had the pleasure – sometimes the frustration – and often the bemusement of watching this funny, loveable company and the funny, loveable people in it chart their way through the roller-coaster of the last decade.”
Zaid Rashdan (Reuters 1986-2007), former general manager in the Middle East now based in Jordan, says that the name Reuters, associated with truth and accuracy across the globe, in the Middle East takes a similar meaning but with a little twist.
“The name Reuter without the ‘s’ is a nickname given to anyone who knows what is happening. In the East Mediterranean area however it’s a nickname for someone who would spread whatever is said in front of him.”
Rashdan believes Reuters had a major role in developing economies in the world and changed the way in which the financial world trades.
“From the first page BAXX to appear on the green Monitor screen to the first Reuters Instrument Code (RIC) created, the financial world has moved in a different direction with no return.
“I would go as far as saying that Reuters’ private communication network established late last century was the first of what we know today as the Internet.
“Reuters surely changed the people that worked for it, and I confirm what Kristian Pedersen noted that this company gave me a lasting sense of belonging and I am extremely proud to have been part of it all…
“As Rosemary Martin said, it is this funny, loveable company. But times are changing and the company has proven that it is really self generating; the natives of the digital age will replace the immigrants.”
FT man joins Reuters as commentary editor, banking chief
Wednesday 15 April 2009
The Financial Times’ banking editor, Peter Thal Larsen, is leaving after 10 years to join Reuters’ commentary service.
He will become the London-based European editor of the commentary team, commissioning and editing comment articles, as well as taking overall charge of global banking coverage.
Thal Larsen will report to Jonathan Ford, editor of the new commentary team at Reuters which is developing its global commentary output and expanding its range of columns and blogs.
Before becoming FT banking editor he worked in New York from 2000 to 2004, first as the paper's Wall Street correspondent and later as US communications editor, covering the media and telecoms.
● SOURCE The Guardian
He will become the London-based European editor of the commentary team, commissioning and editing comment articles, as well as taking overall charge of global banking coverage.
Thal Larsen will report to Jonathan Ford, editor of the new commentary team at Reuters which is developing its global commentary output and expanding its range of columns and blogs.
Before becoming FT banking editor he worked in New York from 2000 to 2004, first as the paper's Wall Street correspondent and later as US communications editor, covering the media and telecoms.
● SOURCE The Guardian
In the news: the art of expenses
Thursday 09 April 2009
Former correspondent John Morrison has been interviewed on radio about journalists’ expenses following the humiliation of a British government minister over a claim for two pornographic films watched by her husband while she was away.
"Reuters had a legendary journalism tutor called George Short and he used to make sure that young journalists were fully briefed on expenses, which was just as important as writing stories,” Morrison said.
“He used to tell the story about the stringer in the far north of Alaska who used to claim every month for a fleet of husky dogs, and when this was queried and his boss was going to visit and said ‘Can I see the dogs?’ suddenly the dogs had to be put down because they were ill. But that also went on expenses...”
Morrison (Reuters 1971-2000 – Moscow, Vienna, The Hague, Paris, Harare, Westminster lobby correspondent and now a freelance writer) said he picked up a few tips in Moscow and the former Soviet bloc.
“The tip is really to travel to as many countries as possible, all using different currencies,” he said in the interview, which was taped in a Fleet Street pub and aired on Sunday on the BBC Radio 4 programme Broadcasting House.
Did he think everyone was on the fiddle, that there was a culture of legendary expenses on Fleet Street?
“Well, I think it was certainly much easier in those days, because these days if an accountant queries your expenses he can just call you up on your Blackberry wherever you are. Even if you’re paddling up the Zambezi, you’re not out of contact, whereas 20, 30 years ago you sent in your expenses by cleft stick or whatever and it was quite difficult for the accountant to reach you and query them...
“I do remember a trip to, somewhere in Austria or Italy, with the parliamentary lobby. We all went to a summit and we all went out to a restaurant. Lobby journalists are not terribly well known for their language skills so I quite often translated the menu and ordered the food. And I do remember saying to the waiter, ‘Well, we’ll have three bottles of house wine, please’. And there was a deathly silence from all around me, and from the end of the table a loud voice said, ‘I did not come into journalism to drink the house wine’. So I never made that mistake again.
“There is a problem if you go out in a group and you can’t actually spend enough. One of the great George Short mottos was: never charge less than the last bloke did. I do remember a Lobby trip to South Africa. We got together and as usual tried to find the most expensive restaurant in town. This was at a period when the rand had plummeted against sterling. And so we all had our prawns and our lobsters and our bill came at the end for several thousand rand but when we worked it out, catastrophe – it was only £15 a head.”
Rodney Pinder also remembers a few tales about expenses. “I recall one day in bleakest London being invited into Jack Henry's office. We chatted about the weather and some African country I was about to be assigned to and after an hour or so's pleasantries he said he was going to tell me a story. I leaned forward in expectation of a penetrating glimpse of the hazards of hacking in the heart of darkness.
"’A friend of mine was standing in the Strand outside the law courts the other day when he saw someone he knew from the Telegraph sprinting past,’ related Jack.
"’My friend shouted to his friend: 'What are you doing?'
"’Taking a taxi,' his friend gasped.
“Finished, Jack leaned back in his chair, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"’Sorry, Jack,’ was all I could think of saying, ‘Don't get it.’"
Expenses managers and overseers must have had a difficult life, Pinder said. “Old salts and training editors like fabled George Short used to drum into recruits that expenses forms offered fact-bound journalists their greatest opportunity for creative writing. Many grabbed the chance with imagination and wit.
“A big-byline AP correspondent once was assigned to a story, big news at the time but forgotten now, in backwoods Armpitville, Miss.
“He submitted his exes and shortly thereafter was summoned into the presence of the Chief Accountant in his eyrie at Rockefeller Plaza.
"’How on earth can you spend 50 dollars a day in Armpitville?’" demanded the bean counter (this was in the 60s).
"’It was difficult,’ responded the big byline. ‘I just had to do without breakfast.’
“His expenses were approved.
“My introduction to journalist salaries and expenses came at the Hendon Times where I was paid a spectacular £10 a week plus £4 expenses allowance.
“Once I had to go to the Managing Editor and say ‘Please, Sir, I need some more’ as I had overspent my allowance by two shillings, necessitated by taking a taxi to the crematorium for a last-minute assignment. (Too far to run!)
“He was scared witless at the thought of having to justify this extravagance to his boss so he grabbed his purse and shook out the extra two bob himself. Shamelessly, I took it (my rent was four guineas a week).
“A few years later I was moonlighting on the Daily Mirror. I submitted my first expenses and was swiftly called to the desk of the purple-faced News Editor.
“‘This is not acceptable, laddie,’ he spluttered, brandishing my modest paperwork. ‘What are you trying to do to us? Go away and don't come back until you double it. If you can't do proper exes you're not up to the job.’
“Foreign correspondents were high-end practitioners of the fine art of expenses. But they probably had an advantage as they worked in strange, far-flung places of which we knew little, far from the accountants' natural habitats in Croydon and Potters Bar.
“There are tales of costs claimed to replace Louis Vuitton bags thrown out of a hot air balloon as it struggled for height; costs for ladies of the night appearing on hotel bills in the light of day as laundry; costs for (phantom) TV crews accompanying a lone correspondent across Africa; kwacha transmuted by some strange alchemy into sterling between Lusaka and London. And so on.
“One top correspondent was caught out charging for a lawnmower for his home. Someone in Head Office remembered visiting him in his top-floor flat. Another creative writer was about to submit a pet's vet bill as a personal medical expense when at the last minute he or she noticed at the foot of the account amongst services offered by the practice the item ‘euthanasia’.”
John Owen-Davies believes the husky story related by Morrison “may be a spin-off from the one about the Daily Express chap who, in the 1967 Six Day War, claimed on return from Egypt the princely sum of £50 for hire of one camel. When challenged, he added an extra £50 ‘for burial of one camel’ – and won the day.
“On the Daily Telegraph one old timer sent to Prague in 1967 attached to his exes a somewhat flattened pair of shoes of top quality hide. He claimed for a new pair saying they had been flattened by a Soviet tank. He, too, got his cash. Sure, the shoes were flattened but it was believed someone had trod on them in the King and Keys.”
Andy Hill remembers Paris in the 1970s:
“Andy Hill to news editor Julian Nundy: ‘Julian. Why do you close your eyes when you sign my expenses?’
“Nundy to AJH: ‘Because I never read fiction.’"
Bernard Edinger recalls this story about expenses told to him by Ron Thompson:
“When the Korean War broke out in 1950, no one had any staff correspondents in Korea or who knew anything about the place.
“A very large British news organisation latched on to a Scot who lived in Seoul and who turned out to be a magnificent war correspondent who provided them with excellent coverage during the three-year-long conflict.
“After the war, his employers decided to integrate this man into its regular ranks and made him their Tokyo correspondent.
“Not much was happening however in Tokyo and the correspondent spent his free time as best as he could. Among other things, he was particularly appreciative of young Japanese ladies of uncertain morality and he would take one of them to an expensive restaurant every week, putting down the expense as ‘dinner with the Polish Air Attaché’.
“One day, the news organisation’s auditing team picked Tokyo as one of the several bureaux whose accounts they chose at random to inspect that year.
“The correspondent subsequently got the following message:
“‘Dear Mr X,
“‘We have been going through your expenses and find that you regularly dine at considerable expense with the Air Attaché at the Polish embassy. We have consulted the diplomatic list for Japan and found that there is no Air Attaché at the Polish embassy in Tokyo. Would you kindly explain ... etc, etc’
“To which the correspondent replied ‘The cad! I shall never invite him to dinner again!’”
And how about the Saigon jeep? “I tell this tale as told to me by someone who was there,” Rick Norsworthy relates.
“The boys in the Saigon bureau decided they were overworked and underpaid. To do something about this, they bought a jeep. This jeep was overpriced but the bureau decided to buy it anyway even though it existed only in the bureau accounts. This imaginary jeep proved very expensive to run. It guzzled gas, and repair bills were high, it even had a name which became well-known throughout the region and to the accounts department in London. Its name escapes me. If a visitor passing through Saigon found out about the jeep, he or she was sworn to secrecy. All members of the Saigon bureau were beneficiaries of the jeep, until one day the boys heard that Brian Horton, the editor-in-chief, was visiting Saigon. On arrival Horton expressed a keen interest to see the jeep. That day it broke down for the last time, and was towed away before the editor-in-chief could see it. Both Horton and the boys in the bureau were disappointed.”
Expenses even rated a mention in one of the eulogies at Patrick Massey’s funeral on Monday. Former Financial Times correspondent David Lennon recounted how Massey once queried a bill that included high charges for using the telex at a Middle East hotel.
It was discreetly explained that “telex” really meant alcoholic drinks and was for the sake of Arab journalists who drank but dared not indicate it on their expenses.
“Ah," said Massey, reassured. “Time for a telex, then.”
Reuters rolls out 'studio in a suitcase’
Wednesday 08 April 2009
Reuters is kitting out journalists with a portable multimedia suite that has been dubbed “studio in a suitcase”.
It comprises a Tandberg Edge 95 video camera, microphone, lights, tripod and monitor.
Some 60 bureaux in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia will be the first to trial the kit, which allows users to connect to their nearest production centre via the web.
The company is also distributing 100 Flip video cameras and experimenting with other news-gathering tools.
One immediate use for the technology will be worldwide production of Reuters Insider, a financial television service for 500,000 professional clients due to be launched in June. It will provide live and searchable financial markets coverage, analysis and breaking news.
Multi-media studios for the new service have been built in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Reuters Insider managing editor Mike Stepanovich said the new kit would complement the rollout of cameras with a wider distribution of lower quality webcam capabilities. He said this would allow the company to reach all of its 2,700 journalists worldwide.
Global editor of multimedia Chris Cramer told Press Gazette: "Long gone are the days where you spend scarce money in studio infrastructure. Long gone are the days when you spend limited money on satellite transmission. Broadband is the way these days and physics is on our side here."
Cramer said the streets of New York and London were full of mobile phone owners capable of gathering news and content: "The business of gathering pictures is not rocket science anymore."
Professional and consumer audiences were already dealing with all forms of media, with major implications for the industry.
"Smart journalists are going to realise we don’t have an option to do one thing," he said. "We need to get the skills to work in media and not just one form of media. It doesn’t mean we can’t specialise in writing or we can’t specialise in camera work ... but successful journalists in the future are going to have to be able to cope with a variety of media and publishing roles."
● SOURCE Press Gazette
It comprises a Tandberg Edge 95 video camera, microphone, lights, tripod and monitor.
Some 60 bureaux in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia will be the first to trial the kit, which allows users to connect to their nearest production centre via the web.
The company is also distributing 100 Flip video cameras and experimenting with other news-gathering tools.
One immediate use for the technology will be worldwide production of Reuters Insider, a financial television service for 500,000 professional clients due to be launched in June. It will provide live and searchable financial markets coverage, analysis and breaking news.
Multi-media studios for the new service have been built in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Reuters Insider managing editor Mike Stepanovich said the new kit would complement the rollout of cameras with a wider distribution of lower quality webcam capabilities. He said this would allow the company to reach all of its 2,700 journalists worldwide.
Global editor of multimedia Chris Cramer told Press Gazette: "Long gone are the days where you spend scarce money in studio infrastructure. Long gone are the days when you spend limited money on satellite transmission. Broadband is the way these days and physics is on our side here."
Cramer said the streets of New York and London were full of mobile phone owners capable of gathering news and content: "The business of gathering pictures is not rocket science anymore."
Professional and consumer audiences were already dealing with all forms of media, with major implications for the industry.
"Smart journalists are going to realise we don’t have an option to do one thing," he said. "We need to get the skills to work in media and not just one form of media. It doesn’t mean we can’t specialise in writing or we can’t specialise in camera work ... but successful journalists in the future are going to have to be able to cope with a variety of media and publishing roles."
● SOURCE Press Gazette
Reuters names new global online editor
Tuesday 07 April 2009
Reuters has created the new post of global editor for online and appointed Keith McAllister, a former CEO of a syndicated online content company, to the job.
He will be part of the multimedia and consumer media management teams and will oversee editorial and production of all online operations for Reuters News. He will be based in New York and report to Chris Cramer, global editor, multimedia.
McAllister will also be responsible for the packaging, programming and publishing of editorial content for Reuters News websites and retail customers.
The website Paid Content said his first priority will be to create multimedia products for existing and online operations in order to meet the increased challenges from Bloomberg and Associated Press, which have become more aggressive on the digital and video front.
“Case in point, at its annual meeting on Monday, the AP said it would ramp up e-commerce and mobile news products as it looks to find ways of drawing in more revenue.”
McAllister previously worked for online content firm Mochila, and before that was at CNN for 17 years, most recently as executive vice president and managing editor for national news gathering.
Cramer is a former president of CNN International. He joined Reuters last September with the task of overseeing multimedia projects including the reuters.com website and acting as the main liaison between the news organisation and media business.
● SOURCE Washington Post / Paid Content
He will be part of the multimedia and consumer media management teams and will oversee editorial and production of all online operations for Reuters News. He will be based in New York and report to Chris Cramer, global editor, multimedia.
McAllister will also be responsible for the packaging, programming and publishing of editorial content for Reuters News websites and retail customers.
The website Paid Content said his first priority will be to create multimedia products for existing and online operations in order to meet the increased challenges from Bloomberg and Associated Press, which have become more aggressive on the digital and video front.
“Case in point, at its annual meeting on Monday, the AP said it would ramp up e-commerce and mobile news products as it looks to find ways of drawing in more revenue.”
McAllister previously worked for online content firm Mochila, and before that was at CNN for 17 years, most recently as executive vice president and managing editor for national news gathering.
Cramer is a former president of CNN International. He joined Reuters last September with the task of overseeing multimedia projects including the reuters.com website and acting as the main liaison between the news organisation and media business.
● SOURCE Washington Post / Paid Content
Mark Wood joins board of Future Publishing
Wednesday 01 April 2009
Mark Wood, former Reuters editor-in-chief, joined Future Publishing on Wednesday as an independent non-executive director, The Guardian reported.
Wood, editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000, was chief executive of ITN from 2003. He was also its chairman from 1998.
Future Publishing’s magazine titles include Total Film.
● SOURCE The Guardian
Wood, editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000, was chief executive of ITN from 2003. He was also its chairman from 1998.
Future Publishing’s magazine titles include Total Film.
● SOURCE The Guardian
Reuters boosts Japanese news with Kyodo content
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Reuters is to boost its Japanese News Service with content supplied by Japan’s biggest news agency, Kyodo.
Starting on 1 April, the Japanese News Service’s 12,000 subscribers will receive an additional 800 daily headlines. The new content will include deeper coverage of market regulators in Japan and internationally, emerging markets, Asian loan markets and Japanese politics, as well as faster real-time delivery of major macroeconomic data and announcements from the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve. The partnership with Kyodo will also ensure expanded coverage of the Japanese prime minister’s office and key ministries.
“We are going through dramatic change in financial markets,” said Mark Smith, Thomson Reuters’ markets senior company officer in Japan. ”Our customers require now more than ever trusted, relevant and timely news and analysis of domestic and international events. We see a tremendous opportunity to meet this increasing demand.”
Reuters opened its first office in Japan in 1872. Reuters Japanese News was launched in 1985 as ReuterScoop, one of a number of local language news services.
● SOURCE Media Newsline
Starting on 1 April, the Japanese News Service’s 12,000 subscribers will receive an additional 800 daily headlines. The new content will include deeper coverage of market regulators in Japan and internationally, emerging markets, Asian loan markets and Japanese politics, as well as faster real-time delivery of major macroeconomic data and announcements from the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve. The partnership with Kyodo will also ensure expanded coverage of the Japanese prime minister’s office and key ministries.
“We are going through dramatic change in financial markets,” said Mark Smith, Thomson Reuters’ markets senior company officer in Japan. ”Our customers require now more than ever trusted, relevant and timely news and analysis of domestic and international events. We see a tremendous opportunity to meet this increasing demand.”
Reuters opened its first office in Japan in 1872. Reuters Japanese News was launched in 1985 as ReuterScoop, one of a number of local language news services.
● SOURCE Media Newsline
Morocco withholds visa renewal for Reuters photographer
Wednesday 25 March 2009
The Moroccan government confirmed on Wednesday that it would not renew the accreditation of a Reuters photographer on the grounds that he had acted as a "political adversary".
"The ministry (of communication) has decided not to renew the accreditation of Rafael Marchante as a Reuters agency photographer in Morocco," it said in a statement. The ministry denied it had ever ordered his expulsion from the country.
Marchante, a Spanish national, has worked as a freelance photographer for Reuters in Morocco since 2006.
According to the ministry statement he was "accredited to Morocco to exercise freely his mission and not behave as a political adversary under the cover of journalistic privilege".
It criticised him for "non-respect of the rules of the profession" and "working for several press organs without declaring he was doing so".
The ministry said it was ready to accredit "any other journalist put forward by the Reuters agency".
AFP quoted a Reuters statement issued in London as saying Marchante had respected professsional ethics and acted at all times with integrity, independence and without bias.
It called on the ministry to review its decision and hoped Marchante could soon resume work.
● SOURCE CNN / AFP
"The ministry (of communication) has decided not to renew the accreditation of Rafael Marchante as a Reuters agency photographer in Morocco," it said in a statement. The ministry denied it had ever ordered his expulsion from the country.
Marchante, a Spanish national, has worked as a freelance photographer for Reuters in Morocco since 2006.
According to the ministry statement he was "accredited to Morocco to exercise freely his mission and not behave as a political adversary under the cover of journalistic privilege".
It criticised him for "non-respect of the rules of the profession" and "working for several press organs without declaring he was doing so".
The ministry said it was ready to accredit "any other journalist put forward by the Reuters agency".
AFP quoted a Reuters statement issued in London as saying Marchante had respected professsional ethics and acted at all times with integrity, independence and without bias.
It called on the ministry to review its decision and hoped Marchante could soon resume work.
● SOURCE CNN / AFP
Twitter for newsgathering? Reuters makes news
Thursday 19 March 2009
Reuters is driving the debate about the use of the fast-growing micro-blogging Internet service Twitter in journalism.
A recent NewsMaker meeting at the London office with Hector Sants, chief executive of the UK's Financial Services Authority, was opened up to all-comers via Twitter and attracted the interest of CNN which sent a crew to tape Reuters’ social media team in action at the event. CNN broadcast a report on its International Correspondents show.
Twitter enables the broadcast of SMS-length (maximum 140 characters) texts. President Obama is the world’s most prominent “tweeter”.
“What caught the CNN crew’s imagination was our use of Twitter to create a live channel from Reuters readers to our NewsMaker,” Mark Jones, community editor, wrote in a Reuters blog.
“Ahead of time we had publicised the fact that Hector Sants was coming in and had agreed to take readers’ questions. We asked readers to add a question to our blog comments or to go onto Twitter and to use the askfsa tag.
“As word got around about what we were doing dozens of Twitter users started sending in comments and questions. My role was to monitor them (most came in during the event) and to pick out the most interesting ones to put to Sants.
“CNN wanted to know where was the journalism in that. Answer: same as ever — filtering large amounts of information for the nuggets (there were more than 200 questions and comments) and trying to pull together any themes.”
A non-scientific CNN poll on the question: should journalists use Twitter as a newsgathering tool has found opinion is running in favour.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger started the Twitter debate in January over his own twitterings from the World Economic Forum. He even scooped his own team of correspondents covering the annual meeting in Davos.
● CLICK to read Mark Jones’s blog posting on twittering.
● CLICK to read about David Schlesinger’s blog posting on twittering.
A recent NewsMaker meeting at the London office with Hector Sants, chief executive of the UK's Financial Services Authority, was opened up to all-comers via Twitter and attracted the interest of CNN which sent a crew to tape Reuters’ social media team in action at the event. CNN broadcast a report on its International Correspondents show.
Twitter enables the broadcast of SMS-length (maximum 140 characters) texts. President Obama is the world’s most prominent “tweeter”.
“What caught the CNN crew’s imagination was our use of Twitter to create a live channel from Reuters readers to our NewsMaker,” Mark Jones, community editor, wrote in a Reuters blog.
“Ahead of time we had publicised the fact that Hector Sants was coming in and had agreed to take readers’ questions. We asked readers to add a question to our blog comments or to go onto Twitter and to use the askfsa tag.
“As word got around about what we were doing dozens of Twitter users started sending in comments and questions. My role was to monitor them (most came in during the event) and to pick out the most interesting ones to put to Sants.
“CNN wanted to know where was the journalism in that. Answer: same as ever — filtering large amounts of information for the nuggets (there were more than 200 questions and comments) and trying to pull together any themes.”
A non-scientific CNN poll on the question: should journalists use Twitter as a newsgathering tool has found opinion is running in favour.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger started the Twitter debate in January over his own twitterings from the World Economic Forum. He even scooped his own team of correspondents covering the annual meeting in Davos.
● CLICK to read Mark Jones’s blog posting on twittering.
● CLICK to read about David Schlesinger’s blog posting on twittering.
Reuters revamps websites to improve global crisis cover
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Reuters is changing its websites to improve coverage of the global economic crisis.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, in a blog posting aimed at visitors to the sites, says the crisis is the biggest story in modern times “and a record audience is turning to Reuters for information you can trust”.
“I share with you some changes we’ve brought to Reuters.com and Reuters.co.uk to help you understand the financial turmoil and benefit from the expertise of our 2,550 journalists around the globe,” Schlesinger says.
“You’ll notice more headlines from our financial correspondents and more video interviews with business newsmakers. We’ve added a new Economy section, increased our coverage of regulation and will soon relaunch our small business and environment pages.
“Our Great Debate section has added more financial commentary from our growing team of Reuters columnists, with technology expert Eric Auchard among the writers joining James Saft, John Kemp and Bernd Debusmann. We also offer more graphics for better insight into the financial markets. And we continue to add specialist blogs, with Hedge Hub providing a place for readers to discuss the hedge fund industry with journalists such as Laurence Fletcher.
“Of course, we know you rely on us for news of the political and cultural trends that influence our personal and professional worlds. You’ll find full coverage of the new U.S. administration on our Barack Obama: First 100 Days page, while pages ranging from Afghanistan to Wine can be found in our Topics section. Our India edition has a page dedicated to the national elections there. Bureaus in China, Japan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories have blogs to share their insights and we offer more video from our entertainment reporters. China and Japan have added native language blogs on their local editions.”
Schlesinger promises many more changes throughout 2009 that will help visitors to navigate “the unrivaled breadth and depth of Thomson Reuters news and data”.
● SOURCE Reuters
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, in a blog posting aimed at visitors to the sites, says the crisis is the biggest story in modern times “and a record audience is turning to Reuters for information you can trust”.
“I share with you some changes we’ve brought to Reuters.com and Reuters.co.uk to help you understand the financial turmoil and benefit from the expertise of our 2,550 journalists around the globe,” Schlesinger says.
“You’ll notice more headlines from our financial correspondents and more video interviews with business newsmakers. We’ve added a new Economy section, increased our coverage of regulation and will soon relaunch our small business and environment pages.
“Our Great Debate section has added more financial commentary from our growing team of Reuters columnists, with technology expert Eric Auchard among the writers joining James Saft, John Kemp and Bernd Debusmann. We also offer more graphics for better insight into the financial markets. And we continue to add specialist blogs, with Hedge Hub providing a place for readers to discuss the hedge fund industry with journalists such as Laurence Fletcher.
“Of course, we know you rely on us for news of the political and cultural trends that influence our personal and professional worlds. You’ll find full coverage of the new U.S. administration on our Barack Obama: First 100 Days page, while pages ranging from Afghanistan to Wine can be found in our Topics section. Our India edition has a page dedicated to the national elections there. Bureaus in China, Japan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories have blogs to share their insights and we offer more video from our entertainment reporters. China and Japan have added native language blogs on their local editions.”
Schlesinger promises many more changes throughout 2009 that will help visitors to navigate “the unrivaled breadth and depth of Thomson Reuters news and data”.
● SOURCE Reuters
On the nose: Thomson Reuters logo on AT&T Williams F1 cars
Thursday 19 February 2009
In its tenth season of Formula One™ sponsorship, Reuters – now Thomson Reuters – is putting its brand on the nose of AT&T Williams cars. The Thomson Reuters logo will also be on driver and mechanic overalls.
The new branding position on the test and race cars is said to provide an additional measure to encourage global awareness of the company’s brand identity.
Why does the company sponsor a F1™ team?
“With over 600 million unique viewers watching F1™ races around the world in 188 markets, Formula One™ is one of the world’s most popular sports. Our relationship with the AT&T Williams team affords significant brand exposure and unique experiences for many of our most valued customers,” the company said.
It said Thomson Reuters and AT&T Williams share many similarities, including the reliance on teamwork, high technology and expert data – telemetry in the case of F1™ – to achieve high performance.
The first outing for the new branding will be at the inaugural race of the 2009 season in Melbourne, Australia on 29 March.
The new branding position on the test and race cars is said to provide an additional measure to encourage global awareness of the company’s brand identity.
Why does the company sponsor a F1™ team?
“With over 600 million unique viewers watching F1™ races around the world in 188 markets, Formula One™ is one of the world’s most popular sports. Our relationship with the AT&T Williams team affords significant brand exposure and unique experiences for many of our most valued customers,” the company said.
It said Thomson Reuters and AT&T Williams share many similarities, including the reliance on teamwork, high technology and expert data – telemetry in the case of F1™ – to achieve high performance.
The first outing for the new branding will be at the inaugural race of the 2009 season in Melbourne, Australia on 29 March.
David Schlesinger: all a-twitter and scooping Reuters
Friday 30 January 2009
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger has started a debate over his twitterings.
“I’ve been tweeting from the World Economic Forum, using the microblogging platform Twitter to discuss the mundane (describing crepuscular darkness of the Swiss Alps at 5 a.m.) or the interesting (live tweeting from presentations),” he writes on the Reuters blog Full Disclosure: Ethics, Innovation and News Standards.
The scoop? Beating Reuters from Davos on news that billionaire financier George Soros believes the current economic downturn could be worse than the Great Depression, and that as much as $15 trillion might be needed to save the banking system.
“Is it journalism?
“Is it dangerous?
“Is it embarrassing that my tweets even beat the Reuters newswires?
(Tweets are Internet messages limited by the technology to 140 characters.)
“Am I destroying Reuters standards by encouraging tweeting or blogging?” Schlesinger asks.
“(These aren’t rhetorical questions - I’ve been challenged by many people who would answer those questions as No, Yes, Yes, and Yes! I answer them as Yes, Potentially, No and No.)”
Schlesinger recalls that the foundation of what Reuters does as a company and as a news service are the Reuters Trust Principles.
“While it is vital to read the five as a whole, I take the fifth (”That no effort shall be spared to expand, develop and adapt the news and other services and products of Thomson Reuters so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business”) as an imperative for continual innovation and experimentation.
“I have no idea what journalism will look like in five years except that it will be different than it is now. That’s a great thing, I believe.
“I have little patience for those who cling to sentimental (and frankly inaccurate) memories of the good old halcyon days of journalism that were somehow purer and better than a world where tweets and blogs compete with news wires and newspapers.
“Bring it on, I say!”
Schlesinger says working for Reuters gives him a tremendous platform and great access. “It does not give me a license.”
Microblogging and macroblogging and social networks are themselves great platforms.
“If great storytellers use those platforms to display their knowledge, access, expertise and abilities, I think that is a marvellous advance.
“If I don’t beat the Reuters wire with a live tweet because I deliberately hold back, someone else will. If I don’t beat the Reuters wire because I’m slow or inattentive, someone else will.
“The reason my live tweeting was fast is that it was unintermediated, while the journalist covering the story went the traditional route and had a discussion with an editor about how best to position and play the story.
“Both methods have important roles. In this case, the editor added value.
“In a democratic world where publishing platforms are available to all, editors and institutions like Reuters MUST add great value if they are to survive the competitive fight with the unintermediated storytellers.
“I love that.
“I love the competitive pressure that brings.
“I love the way it will force us continually to redefine our role vis-a-vis unaffiliated storytellers.
“I love the way it is and will continue to force us to redefine our profession and our craft.
“Are there potential pitfalls and dangers? Could a mistweet hurt our reputation? Of course. And over time we will have to work hard to decide what we have reporters tweet in their own names and what we have them do in the company name; we’ll have to refine our rules about micro and macroblogging to allow the maximum of free expression while holding fast to our important values of being fair, accurate and free from bias.
“But we will get there. And consumers of news will be the ultimate beneficiaries.”
Bravo, David, says Silicon Alley Insider, another blog. “Reuters and other newswires have made their names and their fortunes by being first with the news — now anyone who is at a news event has the equivalent of a newswire in their pocket, thanks to cellphones, Twitter, and other social-media tools. Does that make them journalists? Possibly. But best of all, ‘real’ journalists can make use of all those tools too.”
● SOURCE Reuters | Silicon Alley Insider
“I’ve been tweeting from the World Economic Forum, using the microblogging platform Twitter to discuss the mundane (describing crepuscular darkness of the Swiss Alps at 5 a.m.) or the interesting (live tweeting from presentations),” he writes on the Reuters blog Full Disclosure: Ethics, Innovation and News Standards.
The scoop? Beating Reuters from Davos on news that billionaire financier George Soros believes the current economic downturn could be worse than the Great Depression, and that as much as $15 trillion might be needed to save the banking system.
“Is it journalism?
“Is it dangerous?
“Is it embarrassing that my tweets even beat the Reuters newswires?
(Tweets are Internet messages limited by the technology to 140 characters.)
“Am I destroying Reuters standards by encouraging tweeting or blogging?” Schlesinger asks.
“(These aren’t rhetorical questions - I’ve been challenged by many people who would answer those questions as No, Yes, Yes, and Yes! I answer them as Yes, Potentially, No and No.)”
Schlesinger recalls that the foundation of what Reuters does as a company and as a news service are the Reuters Trust Principles.
“While it is vital to read the five as a whole, I take the fifth (”That no effort shall be spared to expand, develop and adapt the news and other services and products of Thomson Reuters so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business”) as an imperative for continual innovation and experimentation.
“I have no idea what journalism will look like in five years except that it will be different than it is now. That’s a great thing, I believe.
“I have little patience for those who cling to sentimental (and frankly inaccurate) memories of the good old halcyon days of journalism that were somehow purer and better than a world where tweets and blogs compete with news wires and newspapers.
“Bring it on, I say!”
Schlesinger says working for Reuters gives him a tremendous platform and great access. “It does not give me a license.”
Microblogging and macroblogging and social networks are themselves great platforms.
“If great storytellers use those platforms to display their knowledge, access, expertise and abilities, I think that is a marvellous advance.
“If I don’t beat the Reuters wire with a live tweet because I deliberately hold back, someone else will. If I don’t beat the Reuters wire because I’m slow or inattentive, someone else will.
“The reason my live tweeting was fast is that it was unintermediated, while the journalist covering the story went the traditional route and had a discussion with an editor about how best to position and play the story.
“Both methods have important roles. In this case, the editor added value.
“In a democratic world where publishing platforms are available to all, editors and institutions like Reuters MUST add great value if they are to survive the competitive fight with the unintermediated storytellers.
“I love that.
“I love the competitive pressure that brings.
“I love the way it will force us continually to redefine our role vis-a-vis unaffiliated storytellers.
“I love the way it is and will continue to force us to redefine our profession and our craft.
“Are there potential pitfalls and dangers? Could a mistweet hurt our reputation? Of course. And over time we will have to work hard to decide what we have reporters tweet in their own names and what we have them do in the company name; we’ll have to refine our rules about micro and macroblogging to allow the maximum of free expression while holding fast to our important values of being fair, accurate and free from bias.
“But we will get there. And consumers of news will be the ultimate beneficiaries.”
Bravo, David, says Silicon Alley Insider, another blog. “Reuters and other newswires have made their names and their fortunes by being first with the news — now anyone who is at a news event has the equivalent of a newswire in their pocket, thanks to cellphones, Twitter, and other social-media tools. Does that make them journalists? Possibly. But best of all, ‘real’ journalists can make use of all those tools too.”
● SOURCE Reuters | Silicon Alley Insider
Reuters Golf Society re-brands
Monday 26 January 2009
Reuters Golf Society has re-branded as Thomson Reuters Golf Society.
The Society is based in London and it’s a continuation of the Reuters Golf Society that has been in existence for over 35 years, John Roche writes.
Membership is open to men and women and members’ immediate family.
Reuters and now Thomson Reuters have continued to support the Golf Society, enabling the ongoing tradition of an egalitarian and ever expanding membership. It offers a rare opportunity for current employees from a diverse variety of job roles and departments, to meet socially. It also provides an opportunity for retired colleagues to meet up and keep in contact with current employees.
Each season eight or nine venues are selected within easy reach of the London orbital M25 motorway. During 2008 the membership was 130 there were more than 400 player days.
The Society’s current president is Thomson Reuters’ deputy chairman Niall FitzGerald.
● Thomson Reuters Golf Society
The Society is based in London and it’s a continuation of the Reuters Golf Society that has been in existence for over 35 years, John Roche writes.
Membership is open to men and women and members’ immediate family.
Reuters and now Thomson Reuters have continued to support the Golf Society, enabling the ongoing tradition of an egalitarian and ever expanding membership. It offers a rare opportunity for current employees from a diverse variety of job roles and departments, to meet socially. It also provides an opportunity for retired colleagues to meet up and keep in contact with current employees.
Each season eight or nine venues are selected within easy reach of the London orbital M25 motorway. During 2008 the membership was 130 there were more than 400 player days.
The Society’s current president is Thomson Reuters’ deputy chairman Niall FitzGerald.
● Thomson Reuters Golf Society
Obituary: Baroness de Reuter
Sunday 25 January 2009
Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, the last of the Reuters, died on Sunday aged 96. The Reuter Barony is now extinct.
She was the widow of Oliver George Paul Louis Gordon, 4th Baron de Reuter (1894-1968), whose grandfather Paul Julius Reuter established his news service in London in 1851. They married on 4 December 1937.
The Barony was granted by Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, brother of Queen Victoria's Consort Prince Albert, in 1871. Queen Victoria formally recognised the German title as carrying the privileges of the foreign nobility in England in 1891. Reuters' founder was born in Germany in 1816 and became a naturalised British subject in 1857.
As the title passes down the male line exclusively and as all three grandsons of Paul Julius de Reuter were childless, it becomes extinct on the death of the Baroness.
"The name dies with her," said her friend Michael Nelson, former general manager.
Another close friend, John Fox, said the baroness had suffered successive strokes late last year. She died in a French old people's home on the border with Monaco.
He said Swiss-born Marguerite, a widow for more than 40 years, was intensely proud of the family link with Reuters, and of the British nationality she acquired through her husband.
The Reuter family's direct connection with the company ended on 18 April 1915 when the founder's son, Baron Herbert de Reuter, 63, shot himself three days after the sudden death of his wife. Hubert de Reuter, his only son, thus became the 3rd Baron. He served as a private in the Black Watch regiment of the British Army and was killed by machine-gun fire whilst carrying wounded men during the Battle of the Somme on 13 November 1916, five days before the end of that battle.
His cousin Oliver then became the 4th Baron.
Last year Reuters, which had already moved out of 85 Fleet Street, its headquarters since 1939, was taken over by Thomson, the Canadian media group.
Thomson Reuters’ chief executive Tom Glocer said he was saddened to hear of the baroness's death. He added:
"Although the founding family of Reuters were no longer significant shareholders in the company, the baroness did notably attend a service at St Bride's Church, London, to mark Reuters' historic move from Fleet Street to Canary Wharf in 2005."
The baroness was special guest at the Farewell to Fleet Street service.
Marguerite was born on 14 July 1912, the daughter of George Uehlinger of Neunkirch, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Friends remembered her as a generous woman who spoke numerous languages, loved bridge, opera and ballet, and enjoyed skiing until well into her 70s.
Known to her English friends as Daisy, she long divided her time between Monte Carlo and Lausanne.
"She was a very warm-hearted, hospitable person – generous, philanthropic, a great supporter of the arts and music. She was always immaculately turned out: elegant, refined and beautiful, with the most angelic smile," Fox said.
He said Marguerite would be cremated in Lausanne and her ashes interred there with the remains of her husband.
Postscript: The funeral and cremation of Baroness de Reuter was at the Monaco Athenae on Thursday 29 January.
The service was attended by the nephew of the Baroness, Paul Dunner, and about a dozen friends, mostly from Saint Paul’s Anglican Church whose American rector Fr Walter Raymond conducted the service.
Nelson gave the address.
A wreath from the company carried a “Thomson Reuters” banner. It marked the end of an era.
● SOURCE Reuters
Blast hits Reuters building in Gaza
Thursday 15 January 2009
An explosion blasted a tower block in Gaza that houses the offices of Reuters and several other media organisations on Thursday.
Reuters journalists working there at the time said an Israeli missile or shell appeared to have struck the southern side of the 13th floor of the Al-Shurouq Tower in Gaza city centre.
Reuters evacuated the bureau, though a live camera feed that has been providing images from Gaza throughout the war continued to function. Live television images from another site showed smoke pouring from the upper floors of the 16-storey building.
Colleagues said at least one journalist working for Abu Dhabi television on the 14th floor was wounded.
The 13th floor houses a local television production company. The Reuters bureau is on the 12th floor.
Reuters journalists on the spot said they had not been aware of any presence of armed men in the building beforehand.
An Israeli army spokesman had spoken with Reuters staff in Jerusalem shortly before the explosion to check the location of the Reuters bureau in Gaza. Reuters had provided the coordinates of its office to the army at the start of the war and was assured on several occasions that it was not a target.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters journalists working there at the time said an Israeli missile or shell appeared to have struck the southern side of the 13th floor of the Al-Shurouq Tower in Gaza city centre.
Reuters evacuated the bureau, though a live camera feed that has been providing images from Gaza throughout the war continued to function. Live television images from another site showed smoke pouring from the upper floors of the 16-storey building.
Colleagues said at least one journalist working for Abu Dhabi television on the 14th floor was wounded.
The 13th floor houses a local television production company. The Reuters bureau is on the 12th floor.
Reuters journalists on the spot said they had not been aware of any presence of armed men in the building beforehand.
An Israeli army spokesman had spoken with Reuters staff in Jerusalem shortly before the explosion to check the location of the Reuters bureau in Gaza. Reuters had provided the coordinates of its office to the army at the start of the war and was assured on several occasions that it was not a target.
● SOURCE Reuters
Discordant notes on the economic crisis
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Reuters has been indulging in navel-gazing over the global economic crisis to try to discover whether the media has been doing its job in reporting the story.
Are journalists keeping things in perspective? Should they even be using words like “crisis” or “meltdown”? Are they being careful not to sow panic and make things even worse?
David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief, doubts whether financial journalists could have done much more to predict the depth of the crisis.
“Journalists do best when reporting what’s happening and giving the news context and analysis,” he said. “We also do well when we look backwards and discuss past events from the perspective of the present. We do least well when we prognosticate. While our reporting and commentary did discuss potential weak points in the economy, we did not – and nor frankly could we – accurately predict the calamitous events of this year.”
Dean Wright (pictured), global editor, ethics, innovation and news standards, says Schlesinger worries, though, that there was a certain inevitability to the crisis and that the media played a role.
“I do worry about the narrative lines of reporting that contributed to the crisis,” he said. “To take just one example, much of the crisis was caused by banks taking on excess risks in the pursuit of higher profits. Yet had a major bank president stepped back from that fray and declined to participate, the ‘grammar’ of our results reporting would surely have compared that bank’s results negatively against expectations and against its peers.
“That brave bank president would surely have lost at least his bonus and probably his job. The very fear of that kind of negative comparison helped spur things on – as Citibank’s ex-CEO Charles Prince said (while still in his job), ‘As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance.’
“We in the media help play that music, probably exacerbating the highs on the way up and the lows on the way down.”
So, did the media help change the tune that was being played, Wright asks in a recent Reuters Editors blog. Did it raise questions about the factors that contributed to the crisis, including complex financial instruments, subprime mortgage lending and excessive risk?
Questioning notes were sounded, he writes. As early as 18 August, 2003, a Reuters story quoted a Federal Reserve governor citing the dangers of “predatory lending” in extending subprime credit. By 2006, the pace had accelerated. A Factiva search found 128 Reuters stories that mentioned the phrase “subprime mortgage” that year, including a number in which analysts predicted a deterioration in credit quality. The crescendo came in 2007 when there were more than 10,000 stories that referenced subprime mortgages and when Reuters.com built a special section to house material on the issue.
“Still, the overall ‘music’ was loud and infectious and it’s easy to understand why so many couldn’t stay off the dance floor, says Wright.
He adds: “As Schlesinger says, ‘We have a responsibility to be careful, and most of our reporting has been very careful. But we too have played some discordant notes and we need to learn from that.’
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters to include news by US ‘upstart’
Monday 15 December 2008
Reuters is to incorporate US government and political news from an “upstart news source” into its newswire in a revenue-sharing deal to offer combined coverage to American newspapers and broadcasters.
The deal will bring together about 120 journalists in Washington, DC covering politics and business. The combined coverage will be offered to 60 newspapers and 40 broadcasters who are currently part of an advertising network run by Politico, an online service whose “informed political coverage, sometimes spiced with attitude” was launched less than two years ago. In exchange, they would allow Politico to sell online advertising on their websites.
The New York Times described Politico as “the upstart news source from Washington” and Reuters as “the venerable wire service”. It said the venture was the latest step in the rising competition among electronic news media to fill the void left by the shrinking print business.
The new service would be free for six months, and the partners could charge for the Reuters content after that, it said.
But until then, Politico would offer Reuters a foot in the door at a large number of US news operations, said Christoph Pleitgen, Thomson Reuters’ global head of news agency.
“He said his service had just 15 newspaper clients in this country, compared with more than 1,400 for The Associated Press,” The New York Times said.
“If we can, through this, engage with potential clients we don’t have a relationship with, that’s fantastic,” Pleitgen said. “There absolutely is an untapped market.”
The New York Times added: “Politico’s informed political coverage, sometimes spiced with attitude from its writers, complements Reuters’ sober style and Washington coverage that often reads as if written for an overseas audience.”
● SOURCE Reuters | The New York Times | Politico
The deal will bring together about 120 journalists in Washington, DC covering politics and business. The combined coverage will be offered to 60 newspapers and 40 broadcasters who are currently part of an advertising network run by Politico, an online service whose “informed political coverage, sometimes spiced with attitude” was launched less than two years ago. In exchange, they would allow Politico to sell online advertising on their websites.
The New York Times described Politico as “the upstart news source from Washington” and Reuters as “the venerable wire service”. It said the venture was the latest step in the rising competition among electronic news media to fill the void left by the shrinking print business.
The new service would be free for six months, and the partners could charge for the Reuters content after that, it said.
But until then, Politico would offer Reuters a foot in the door at a large number of US news operations, said Christoph Pleitgen, Thomson Reuters’ global head of news agency.
“He said his service had just 15 newspaper clients in this country, compared with more than 1,400 for The Associated Press,” The New York Times said.
“If we can, through this, engage with potential clients we don’t have a relationship with, that’s fantastic,” Pleitgen said. “There absolutely is an untapped market.”
The New York Times added: “Politico’s informed political coverage, sometimes spiced with attitude from its writers, complements Reuters’ sober style and Washington coverage that often reads as if written for an overseas audience.”
● SOURCE Reuters | The New York Times | Politico
US declines to free Iraqi photographer
Tuesday 09 December 2008
The US military in Iraq refuses to obey a court order to release a freelance photographer working for Reuters and said on Tuesday it will hold him into 2009.
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled on 30 November that there was no evidence against Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad on 2 September. It ordered the US military to release him from Camp Cropper prison near Baghdad airport.
Iraqi prosecutors acknowledged there was a lack of evidence and said they were closing the case against Jassam.
“Though we appreciate the decision of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the Jassam case, their decision does not negate the intelligence information that currently lists him as a threat to Iraq security and stability,” Major Neal Fisher, spokesman for the US military’s detainee operations in Iraq, said in an e-mail to Reuters on Tuesday.
“He will be processed for release in a safe and orderly manner after December 31st, in the order of his individual threat level, along with all other detainees.”
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: “I am disappointed he has not been released in accordance with the court order.”
The International Federation of Journalists "strongly condemned" the decision. It "makes a mockery of the coalition's handover of powers to Iraqi sovereign institutions," said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary. "The American military officials in Iraq should stop interfering with the Iraqi justice and free Ibrahim."
● SOURCE Reuters
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled on 30 November that there was no evidence against Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad on 2 September. It ordered the US military to release him from Camp Cropper prison near Baghdad airport.
Iraqi prosecutors acknowledged there was a lack of evidence and said they were closing the case against Jassam.
“Though we appreciate the decision of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the Jassam case, their decision does not negate the intelligence information that currently lists him as a threat to Iraq security and stability,” Major Neal Fisher, spokesman for the US military’s detainee operations in Iraq, said in an e-mail to Reuters on Tuesday.
“He will be processed for release in a safe and orderly manner after December 31st, in the order of his individual threat level, along with all other detainees.”
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: “I am disappointed he has not been released in accordance with the court order.”
The International Federation of Journalists "strongly condemned" the decision. It "makes a mockery of the coalition's handover of powers to Iraqi sovereign institutions," said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary. "The American military officials in Iraq should stop interfering with the Iraqi justice and free Ibrahim."
● SOURCE Reuters
Iraqi court tells US to free photographer
Sunday 30 November 2008
An Iraqi court on Sunday ordered the release of a freelance photographer working for Reuters who has been held by US forces for three months.
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled there was no evidence against Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed and ordered the US military to release him from Camp Cropper prison near Baghdad airport.
Iraqi prosecutors acknowledged there was a lack of evidence and said they were closing the case against Jassam.
There was no immediate response from the US military but editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: “I hope the US authorities comply with this order swiftly to reunite him with his colleagues, friends and family.”
US and Iraqi forces arrested Jassam on 2 September when they raided his home in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad. They confiscated his photographic equipment.
Reuters and international media rights groups have criticised the US military's refusal to deal more quickly with suspicions apparently arising from reporters' legitimate activities covering acts of violence.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters closes ‘virtual’ bureau
Friday 21 November 2008
Reuters has closed its most bizarre bureau – the virtual one in cyberspace, online reports said on Friday.
The two-man bureau was opened two years ago at Sadville on Second Life, an imaginery playground in the Internet world of unreal, make-believe environments. It comprised Adam Reuters (real name Adam Pasick and Eric Reuters (Eric Krangel).
A Reuters spokeswoman, confirming the Sadville bureau had been closed, told one online reporter: ”We’re still reporting on Second Life, but only as part of our usual tech and media coverage.”
“Does Reuters’ withdrawal mean they’re going to have to explain to their boards why they spent tens of thousands of dollars on the digital equivalent of a wife-swapping party on an oil rig (embarrassing, empty, yet still really dirty)?” The Register said. “Well, there’s no need to fire up the self-justification Powerpoint yet, as it’s only Reuters editorial that has lost the faith.
“‘As a company we’re still committed to Second Life,” the spokeswoman said. ‘We’re maintaining our corporate presence.’ Bravo!”
Krangel himself went online to report in real-world confessional style: “For a year and a half, I reported under the byline ‘Eric Reuters’ in Second Life...
“As part of walking my ‘beat’, I’d get invited by sources to virtual nightclubs, where I’d right-click the dancefloor to send my avatar gyrating as I sat at home at my computer. It was about as fun as watching paint dry.”
Krangel added: “I wasn’t in Second Life to play, I was there on assignment for Reuters.”
The opening of the bureau was described as part of Reuters’ strategy to embrace new digital platforms to deliver next generation news and information.
“Reuters is all about innovation – new technologies, new audiences, and new ways of presenting the news,” CEO Tom Glocer said at the time. “In Second Life, we’re making Reuters part of a new generation. We’re playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa.”
● SOURCE The Register | Silicon Alley Insider | Valleywag | Reuters Second Life News Center
The two-man bureau was opened two years ago at Sadville on Second Life, an imaginery playground in the Internet world of unreal, make-believe environments. It comprised Adam Reuters (real name Adam Pasick and Eric Reuters (Eric Krangel).
A Reuters spokeswoman, confirming the Sadville bureau had been closed, told one online reporter: ”We’re still reporting on Second Life, but only as part of our usual tech and media coverage.”
“Does Reuters’ withdrawal mean they’re going to have to explain to their boards why they spent tens of thousands of dollars on the digital equivalent of a wife-swapping party on an oil rig (embarrassing, empty, yet still really dirty)?” The Register said. “Well, there’s no need to fire up the self-justification Powerpoint yet, as it’s only Reuters editorial that has lost the faith.
“‘As a company we’re still committed to Second Life,” the spokeswoman said. ‘We’re maintaining our corporate presence.’ Bravo!”
Krangel himself went online to report in real-world confessional style: “For a year and a half, I reported under the byline ‘Eric Reuters’ in Second Life...
“As part of walking my ‘beat’, I’d get invited by sources to virtual nightclubs, where I’d right-click the dancefloor to send my avatar gyrating as I sat at home at my computer. It was about as fun as watching paint dry.”
Krangel added: “I wasn’t in Second Life to play, I was there on assignment for Reuters.”
The opening of the bureau was described as part of Reuters’ strategy to embrace new digital platforms to deliver next generation news and information.
“Reuters is all about innovation – new technologies, new audiences, and new ways of presenting the news,” CEO Tom Glocer said at the time. “In Second Life, we’re making Reuters part of a new generation. We’re playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa.”
● SOURCE The Register | Silicon Alley Insider | Valleywag | Reuters Second Life News Center
David Schlesinger wins an Emmy
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Reuters’ editor-in-chief David Schlesinger has won an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for Business and Financial Reporting.
The award was made by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the United States. Academy president and CEO Peter Price said “More than any other news organization, Reuters understands that there is no sharp dividing line between business reporting, political reporting, and other kinds of news.
“As Editor-in-Chief, David Schlesinger has preserved this venerable organization’s core journalistic values while enthusiastically embracing the possibilities and challenges of the digital age, and we are proud to honor him for this achievement.”
“It may not have the glamor of an Emmy for best actor but it’s incredible recognition of what we all do here,” Schlesinger said. “I feel very keenly that my own contributions are nothing compared to the 2,500 people around the world working for Reuters News,” he told the company’s in-house Daily Briefing.
“It’s a great reward for us because it recognizes our commitment to business and financial news, which is core. And it’s especially true in the U.S. where we haven’t had as large a profile as we should have had.”
Schlesinger joined Reuters as a correspondent in Hong Kong in 1987. After assignments to Taiwan and China, in 1995 he became financial editor for the Americas and later managing editor and then editor for the Americas, based in New York. He was appointed global managing editor and head of editorial operations in 2003 and Editor-in-Chief in 2007.
The award is due to be presented at a ceremony at the Rainbow Room in New York on 2 December.
● SOURCE Reuters | Variety
The award was made by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the United States. Academy president and CEO Peter Price said “More than any other news organization, Reuters understands that there is no sharp dividing line between business reporting, political reporting, and other kinds of news.
“As Editor-in-Chief, David Schlesinger has preserved this venerable organization’s core journalistic values while enthusiastically embracing the possibilities and challenges of the digital age, and we are proud to honor him for this achievement.”
“It may not have the glamor of an Emmy for best actor but it’s incredible recognition of what we all do here,” Schlesinger said. “I feel very keenly that my own contributions are nothing compared to the 2,500 people around the world working for Reuters News,” he told the company’s in-house Daily Briefing.
“It’s a great reward for us because it recognizes our commitment to business and financial news, which is core. And it’s especially true in the U.S. where we haven’t had as large a profile as we should have had.”
Schlesinger joined Reuters as a correspondent in Hong Kong in 1987. After assignments to Taiwan and China, in 1995 he became financial editor for the Americas and later managing editor and then editor for the Americas, based in New York. He was appointed global managing editor and head of editorial operations in 2003 and Editor-in-Chief in 2007.
The award is due to be presented at a ceremony at the Rainbow Room in New York on 2 December.
● SOURCE Reuters | Variety
Reuters suspends Australian cricket cover
Thursday 13 November 2008
Reuters suspended coverage of cricket in Australia on Thursday citing “press freedom and protecting the interests and coverage rights of our global client base”.
The suspension covers matches, training sessions and commercial events across text, pictures and TV.
“Faced with unacceptable accreditation terms for photographers and camera crews imposed by Cricket Australia, Reuters has decided to curtail coverage of Australian cricket, until such time as we are able to reach agreement with Cricket Australia. We hope to continue discussions with Cricket Australia with a view to resuming full coverage of global cricket as quickly as possible,” it told subscribers.
“While it is our sincere wish to provide the world’s media with premium, timely text, photographs and TV, freedom of the press, intellectual property and our editorial integrity are at the core of our business, and these must be respected.”
● SOURCE Reuters
The suspension covers matches, training sessions and commercial events across text, pictures and TV.
“Faced with unacceptable accreditation terms for photographers and camera crews imposed by Cricket Australia, Reuters has decided to curtail coverage of Australian cricket, until such time as we are able to reach agreement with Cricket Australia. We hope to continue discussions with Cricket Australia with a view to resuming full coverage of global cricket as quickly as possible,” it told subscribers.
“While it is our sincere wish to provide the world’s media with premium, timely text, photographs and TV, freedom of the press, intellectual property and our editorial integrity are at the core of our business, and these must be respected.”
● SOURCE Reuters
First Dog bites Reuters reporter
Thursday 06 November 2008
Barack Obama called himself a mutt and John McCain got a mauling but it was Reuters TV reporter Jonathan Decker who got bitten in the US presidential election.
Barney, a Scottish terrier that has had the run of the White House as President George Bush’s First Dog, growled and snapped at Decker’s finger when our man bent down to pet the dog in the Rose Garden.
A White House doctor bandaged Decker’s index finger. Barney is known to be a serial offender: he has bitten other visitors in the past.
● SOURCE YouTube
Barney, a Scottish terrier that has had the run of the White House as President George Bush’s First Dog, growled and snapped at Decker’s finger when our man bent down to pet the dog in the Rose Garden.
A White House doctor bandaged Decker’s index finger. Barney is known to be a serial offender: he has bitten other visitors in the past.
● SOURCE YouTube
Nixon’s role in creating Thomson Reuters
Monday 03 November 2008
The former Bretton Woods agreement is a topical subject in these uncertain economic times. But when UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a new Bretton Woods agreement at our Canary Wharf office in London recently, he would have been unaware of the pivotal role of the original agreement – or, rather, its ending in 1971 by President Nixon – in the creation of Thomson Reuters.
Had it not been for the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement, Reuters could conceivably have remained a small news agency, struggling to survive against ever-increasing competition during the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Bretton Woods and Reuters
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in 1944 was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
Its aim: to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the total disruption of the Second World War. As a result, the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rate management was set up and remained an important part of the fiscal policy of the 44 signatory nations for the next 27 years.
Everything changed in 1971 when American President Richard Nixon suddenly and unilaterally cancelled the agreement. Within a very short time, the entire framework collapsed worldwide, leading to an immense expansion of foreign exchange dealing. Currency, rather than being a means of purchasing goods and commodities, became a commodity in its own right. The word “Forex” was coined.
The problem for banks and dealers was that there was no adequate structure in place for this rapidly expanding market place and it was impossible to receive quotations with sufficient speed. Dependence upon telephones and telex was unsatisfactory, since by the time an answer to a request for, say, a bank’s dollar/sterling price had been given and transmitted, that price had already been changed. Seconds could be crucial.
Trading goes electronic
It was André Villeneuve of Reuters who first proposed the idea that the company should install computer terminals in the offices of banks and other foreign exchange dealers. Reuters would, in this way, create its own electronic market place.
Market-makers (contributors) would be able to insert their foreign exchange and money rates into the system. At the press of a button, these rates would become available on screen to interested parties (recipients) such as other banks and international businesses. The revolutionary idea was that both parties would be charged for access to this interactive system.
Almost at a stroke was born the entirely new concept of computerised contributed data. Two companies within the US already ran share information services on such a basis. But Reuters was at the very forefront in extending its thinking far beyond this “one-country” idea to the concept of bringing contributed data into the field of foreign exchange, a market which functioned between countries and between continents.
New agreements had to be reached with the London Trade Unions over the idea that data would be inserted, not by telegraphists at Reuters, but by customers. At first several banks could see no merit or point in a system under which they were expected to pay for inserting their own information. Some banks were reluctant to change the working practices of centuries and reveal such information. Brokers feared that they would lose business if the service established itself.
Monitor arrives and changes financial markets
The new system, called Monitor, first ran in London for a full working day on 25 June 1973. There were 15 contributors/recipients and 15 recipients. The breakthrough came between March and June 1974 when Reuters signed 109 contracts. When Monitor started to attract continental clients, the UK banks – at first the main contributors – saw, at last, a potential widening of their market. By June, there were 125 subscribers in the UK, and 121 in the rest of Europe. The Monitor range was subsequently extended to bonds (1975), commodities (1977), equities (1978) and US Government securities (1978). By 1983, company turnover was 14 times that of 1973.
For Reuters, Monitor had become the “goose which laid the golden egg”. In 1981, the Monitor Dealing Service went live, enabling subscribers not only to receive the latest rates and quotations but to buy, sell or lend money through the same screen. “Matching” of deals followed later but the new service was a great advance.
Reuters had been transformed. It was no longer a small news agency, often living from hand to mouth, but had become a successful and prosperous company. The course of events began which led to its flotation as a public company in 1984.
If President Nixon had not unilaterally cancelled America’s obligation to abide by the terms of the Bretton Woods agreement, would any of this have happened? Who can say? But there is little doubt that, for Reuters, it certainly wouldn’t have happened as specifically and with such speed.
Little did Prime Minister Gordon Brown probably realise that, if that agreement to regulate exchange rates had still been in existence, he would, almost certainly not have been speaking at Thomson Reuters office, in that location, on that day.
Such is history.
John Entwisle
Manager, the Reuters archive
Had it not been for the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement, Reuters could conceivably have remained a small news agency, struggling to survive against ever-increasing competition during the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Bretton Woods and Reuters
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in 1944 was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
Its aim: to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the total disruption of the Second World War. As a result, the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rate management was set up and remained an important part of the fiscal policy of the 44 signatory nations for the next 27 years.
Everything changed in 1971 when American President Richard Nixon suddenly and unilaterally cancelled the agreement. Within a very short time, the entire framework collapsed worldwide, leading to an immense expansion of foreign exchange dealing. Currency, rather than being a means of purchasing goods and commodities, became a commodity in its own right. The word “Forex” was coined.
The problem for banks and dealers was that there was no adequate structure in place for this rapidly expanding market place and it was impossible to receive quotations with sufficient speed. Dependence upon telephones and telex was unsatisfactory, since by the time an answer to a request for, say, a bank’s dollar/sterling price had been given and transmitted, that price had already been changed. Seconds could be crucial.
Trading goes electronic
It was André Villeneuve of Reuters who first proposed the idea that the company should install computer terminals in the offices of banks and other foreign exchange dealers. Reuters would, in this way, create its own electronic market place.
Market-makers (contributors) would be able to insert their foreign exchange and money rates into the system. At the press of a button, these rates would become available on screen to interested parties (recipients) such as other banks and international businesses. The revolutionary idea was that both parties would be charged for access to this interactive system.
Almost at a stroke was born the entirely new concept of computerised contributed data. Two companies within the US already ran share information services on such a basis. But Reuters was at the very forefront in extending its thinking far beyond this “one-country” idea to the concept of bringing contributed data into the field of foreign exchange, a market which functioned between countries and between continents.
New agreements had to be reached with the London Trade Unions over the idea that data would be inserted, not by telegraphists at Reuters, but by customers. At first several banks could see no merit or point in a system under which they were expected to pay for inserting their own information. Some banks were reluctant to change the working practices of centuries and reveal such information. Brokers feared that they would lose business if the service established itself.
Monitor arrives and changes financial markets
The new system, called Monitor, first ran in London for a full working day on 25 June 1973. There were 15 contributors/recipients and 15 recipients. The breakthrough came between March and June 1974 when Reuters signed 109 contracts. When Monitor started to attract continental clients, the UK banks – at first the main contributors – saw, at last, a potential widening of their market. By June, there were 125 subscribers in the UK, and 121 in the rest of Europe. The Monitor range was subsequently extended to bonds (1975), commodities (1977), equities (1978) and US Government securities (1978). By 1983, company turnover was 14 times that of 1973.
For Reuters, Monitor had become the “goose which laid the golden egg”. In 1981, the Monitor Dealing Service went live, enabling subscribers not only to receive the latest rates and quotations but to buy, sell or lend money through the same screen. “Matching” of deals followed later but the new service was a great advance.
Reuters had been transformed. It was no longer a small news agency, often living from hand to mouth, but had become a successful and prosperous company. The course of events began which led to its flotation as a public company in 1984.
If President Nixon had not unilaterally cancelled America’s obligation to abide by the terms of the Bretton Woods agreement, would any of this have happened? Who can say? But there is little doubt that, for Reuters, it certainly wouldn’t have happened as specifically and with such speed.
Little did Prime Minister Gordon Brown probably realise that, if that agreement to regulate exchange rates had still been in existence, he would, almost certainly not have been speaking at Thomson Reuters office, in that location, on that day.
Such is history.
John Entwisle
Manager, the Reuters archive
Police evacuate New York newsroom
Monday 27 October 2008
Reuters’ New York newsroom was evacuated on Monday after an envelope with a "puff of powder" in it was received.
Police told staff to evacuate the 19th floor newsroom after Brian Rhoads, managing editor for the Americas, opened an envelope and a "puff of powder" came out of it, Reuters spokeswoman Jolie Hunt said.
Police isolated the envelope, and Rhoads, and then told the 140 members of staff to leave as a precautionary measure while they investigated. News was filed from other offices.
Nearly three hours later the authorities said the powder was harmless and staff returned to their desks, Hunt said.
Threatening letters, many containing a suspicious white powder, have been sent this month to Chase bank offices in several US states and the headquarters of The New York Times. The letters said “it’s payback time”, according to a text released by the FBI.
US authorities have been on alert for such letters since 2001 when envelopes laced with anthrax were sent to media outlets and lawmakers, killing five people.
● SOURCE Reuters
Police told staff to evacuate the 19th floor newsroom after Brian Rhoads, managing editor for the Americas, opened an envelope and a "puff of powder" came out of it, Reuters spokeswoman Jolie Hunt said.
Police isolated the envelope, and Rhoads, and then told the 140 members of staff to leave as a precautionary measure while they investigated. News was filed from other offices.
Nearly three hours later the authorities said the powder was harmless and staff returned to their desks, Hunt said.
Threatening letters, many containing a suspicious white powder, have been sent this month to Chase bank offices in several US states and the headquarters of The New York Times. The letters said “it’s payback time”, according to a text released by the FBI.
US authorities have been on alert for such letters since 2001 when envelopes laced with anthrax were sent to media outlets and lawmakers, killing five people.
● SOURCE Reuters
At 78, Lionel Walsh goes online to tell his story
Thursday 16 October 2008
Lionel Walsh, former correspondent and editor in Bonn, Geneva, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Warsaw, has published his memoirs on the Internet.
The online autobiography Lionel Walsh: My Life and Times includes details of his early life and adventures from school in England and military service in post-war Austria to journalism at home and abroad. President John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in Berlin and the Israeli trial of Nazi fugitive Adolf Eichmann were among the stories he covered.
It is illustrated with photographs of key figures of the 1950s and 1960s including managing editor Stuart Underhill, editor Walton (Tony) Cole, chief news editor Sidney Mason and deputy editor Geoffrey Imeson, Many others are mentioned in the text.
Walsh joined Reuters in 1956 (the picture above shows him on his way to his job interview) and left in 1981. Now aged 78, he lives in the Vendée, western France.
● CLICK lionelwalsh.com to read his story.
● CLICK People to read about his present life in retirement.
The online autobiography Lionel Walsh: My Life and Times includes details of his early life and adventures from school in England and military service in post-war Austria to journalism at home and abroad. President John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in Berlin and the Israeli trial of Nazi fugitive Adolf Eichmann were among the stories he covered.
It is illustrated with photographs of key figures of the 1950s and 1960s including managing editor Stuart Underhill, editor Walton (Tony) Cole, chief news editor Sidney Mason and deputy editor Geoffrey Imeson, Many others are mentioned in the text.
Walsh joined Reuters in 1956 (the picture above shows him on his way to his job interview) and left in 1981. Now aged 78, he lives in the Vendée, western France.
● CLICK lionelwalsh.com to read his story.
● CLICK People to read about his present life in retirement.
Reuters Fellows mark quarter century
Wednesday 01 October 2008
Reuters Fellows old and new gathered at Oxford University for a weekend of lectures, seminars and socialising to mark the 25th anniversary of the Reuters Foundation Fellowship Programme which brings journalists from around the world to study at the renowned seat of learning. Some of the journalists had flown in specially from Africa and Asia.
First event on 26 September was a lecture by Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times. He spoke of the economic and democratic challenges the Internet posed to the media at a time when the global audience for news is growing.
That was followed by dinner for more than 150 people at Lady Margaret Hall, down the road from the mansion on Norham Gardens where the new Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) – successor to the Foundation’s original Oxford Fellowship Programme – is centred.
Saturday saw seminars on the future of journalism in Africa, a “Moral Maze” debate on whether good journalism is in crisis and a lively, wide-ranging Fellows Symposium (pictured above) looking at coverage of the year’s major stories.
It ended with a garden party in rare late-summer sunshine in the gardens of Green Templeton College bringing together not only the fellows but also some of the past luminaries of the programme including its founders Michael Nelson and Neville Maxwell, former directors Godfrey Hodgson and Paddy Coulter and the newly appointed director of the RISJ, David Levy, former controller of public policy at the BBC. Past and present directors of the Reuters Foundation including Steve Somerville and the present CEO Monique Villa were also there.
The RISJ programme offers Oxford fellowships to mid-career journalists, including those from developing countries, to study media-related issues which it is hoped will benefit them and their communities.
Peter Mosley
First event on 26 September was a lecture by Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times. He spoke of the economic and democratic challenges the Internet posed to the media at a time when the global audience for news is growing.
That was followed by dinner for more than 150 people at Lady Margaret Hall, down the road from the mansion on Norham Gardens where the new Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) – successor to the Foundation’s original Oxford Fellowship Programme – is centred.
Saturday saw seminars on the future of journalism in Africa, a “Moral Maze” debate on whether good journalism is in crisis and a lively, wide-ranging Fellows Symposium (pictured above) looking at coverage of the year’s major stories.
It ended with a garden party in rare late-summer sunshine in the gardens of Green Templeton College bringing together not only the fellows but also some of the past luminaries of the programme including its founders Michael Nelson and Neville Maxwell, former directors Godfrey Hodgson and Paddy Coulter and the newly appointed director of the RISJ, David Levy, former controller of public policy at the BBC. Past and present directors of the Reuters Foundation including Steve Somerville and the present CEO Monique Villa were also there.
The RISJ programme offers Oxford fellowships to mid-career journalists, including those from developing countries, to study media-related issues which it is hoped will benefit them and their communities.
Peter Mosley
Former EiC Mark Wood to leave ITN
Monday 29 September 2008
Reuters’ former editor-in-chief Mark Wood is to step down as chief executive of Britain’s Independent Television News. He will leave early next year to “pursue opportunities outside the company”, The Guardian reported, although ITN said he would remain in his dual role of ITN chairman “for a period”.
Wood ran Reuters’ global news and television operations as editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000. He then took charge of strategic media investments and alliances as director of Reuters Content Partners.
He joined Reuters in 1976 and was a correspondent in Vienna, East Berlin, Moscow and Bonn. He became ITN’s CEO in June 2003 and chairman in July 1998.
Thomson Reuters is a part owner of ITN.
● SOURCE The Guardian
Wood ran Reuters’ global news and television operations as editor-in-chief from 1989 to 2000. He then took charge of strategic media investments and alliances as director of Reuters Content Partners.
He joined Reuters in 1976 and was a correspondent in Vienna, East Berlin, Moscow and Bonn. He became ITN’s CEO in June 2003 and chairman in July 1998.
Thomson Reuters is a part owner of ITN.
● SOURCE The Guardian
Pension increase in 2009 ‘uncertain’
Thursday 25 September 2008
Prospects for an increase in Reuters UK pensions next year to keep pace with sharply rising prices are still very uncertain, the Pension Review Group said.
After three years of inflation-linked rises for RPF and SPS members, the chances of making it four years in succession are overshadowed by the turmoil in world financial markets.
The group noted that CEO Tom Glocer, announcing this year’s 3.9 per cent increase in April, pledged: “Honouring our pension commitments is something we take very seriously and will continue to do so.”
It added: “However, UK pensioners will remember the three lean years between 2003-2005, when increases were stopped and we lost around 7 per cent of our pensions to inflation. Under pressure from the SPS/RPF trustees and the Pension Review Group, the company shored up the pension fund with an injection of capital and agreed to a resumption of increases in 2006.
“But these remain discretionary and have to be justified each year. The decision on whether any increase can be paid in 2009 will follow a check on the financial position of SPS and RPF as at December 31. If there is a big enough surplus of assets over liabilities, the trustees can recommend an increase.”
With the world credit crunch causing extreme market volatility, there is no guarantee there will be enough, or indeed any surplus from the funds’ investments to increase pensions, the PRG said.
“No decision is expected much before the second quarter of 2009, although it is hoped that if we do get an increase, it will be backdated to January 1, like this year.”
The PRG wants the company to guarantee annual index-linked increases in the pension. It added:
“We keep in close touch with the trustees and other interested parties and will continue pressing the company to grant its former UK employees what the majority of FTSE 100 final salary pensioners take for granted – the security of a pension which keeps pace with inflation.”
● SOURCE Pension Review Group
After three years of inflation-linked rises for RPF and SPS members, the chances of making it four years in succession are overshadowed by the turmoil in world financial markets.
The group noted that CEO Tom Glocer, announcing this year’s 3.9 per cent increase in April, pledged: “Honouring our pension commitments is something we take very seriously and will continue to do so.”
It added: “However, UK pensioners will remember the three lean years between 2003-2005, when increases were stopped and we lost around 7 per cent of our pensions to inflation. Under pressure from the SPS/RPF trustees and the Pension Review Group, the company shored up the pension fund with an injection of capital and agreed to a resumption of increases in 2006.
“But these remain discretionary and have to be justified each year. The decision on whether any increase can be paid in 2009 will follow a check on the financial position of SPS and RPF as at December 31. If there is a big enough surplus of assets over liabilities, the trustees can recommend an increase.”
With the world credit crunch causing extreme market volatility, there is no guarantee there will be enough, or indeed any surplus from the funds’ investments to increase pensions, the PRG said.
“No decision is expected much before the second quarter of 2009, although it is hoped that if we do get an increase, it will be backdated to January 1, like this year.”
The PRG wants the company to guarantee annual index-linked increases in the pension. It added:
“We keep in close touch with the trustees and other interested parties and will continue pressing the company to grant its former UK employees what the majority of FTSE 100 final salary pensioners take for granted – the security of a pension which keeps pace with inflation.”
● SOURCE Pension Review Group
Has Reuters given up on news?
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Has Reuters given up on news? At least one online commentator thinks so following an announcement that Reuters is asking users of a virtual prediction website what will happen before the event itself.
“Ancient news outfit Reuters has given up on working out news based on facts and will ask the virtual prediction site, Hubdub what will happen instead,” The Inquirer, a UK-based website that bills itself as “News, reviews, facts and friction”, said on Tuesday.
Hubdub, launched in February, is an online game that has created a section that allows players to predict the outcome of ongoing Reuters stories. Reuters will be able to establish a network of “friends” and link back to its own widgets and articles, according to the website ● www.journalism.co.uk.
Reuters questions have gained popularity on the web, in particular with financial news forecasts, Hubdub said. Its members made predictions about the recent HBOS take-over by Lloyds TSB “long before mainstream media” began covering the story, Hubdub founder Nigel Eccles said.
“We want to build up our user base, and as that gets bigger they’ll see Reuters’ questions, which sends traffic back to those news sites,” he said. Hubdub has 150,000 users.
“Reuters are obviously very very aware of how their news affects the markets – we’d be pretty aware of not letting that become an issue,” Eccles said.
Reuters’ top question on Hubdub on Tuesday was: Who will use the word “regulation” most in the first presidential debate? Respondents were split evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain.
“Reuters is a phenomenal agency,” Eccles said. “The technology we’ve got can make the experience for their readers really interesting. We’re really excited about the editorial content that comes out of it.”
He said Hubdub’s growth has “been very, very quick” and the relationship with Reuters took just two months to finalise after a “chance encounter” with the organisation in the United States.
Asked whether people could make predictions to better their own shares, Eccles said: “We’ve been running the markets for about 8 months now, and we’ve become pretty good at catching most of them. In general, we catch the vast majority of it.”
The Inquirer commented: “Apparently the combined fortune-telling powers of Hubdub members is far greater than all of the hacks in all of the world.”
The Washington Post, which launched a similar current events-related prediction market in July, said Reuters’ Hubdub connection could have a more significant impact: “If the site can grow a large and diverse user base, it could potentially help pollsters and news organizations quickly get a feel for the public’s perception on a given issue.”
Hubdub is not Reuters’ first foray into the virtual world. Two years ago it launched the first ever virtual news bureau on Second Life, an online world inhabited by hundreds of thousands users with its own virtual economy. The opening of the bureau was described as part of Reuters’ strategy to embrace new digital platforms to deliver next generation news and information.
“Reuters is all about innovation – new technologies, new audiences, and new ways of presenting the news,” CEO Tom Glocer said at the time. “In Second Life, we’re making Reuters part of a new generation. We’re playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa.”
Reuters’ Second Life bureau has a virtual bureau chief known as Adam Reuters and a reporter called Erik Reuters. In real life they are Reuters journalists Adam Pasick, a technology and media correspondent, and Erik Krangel, who covers technology from New York.
● SOURCE The Inquirer | Journalism | Hubdub | The Washington Post | The World Editors Forum | Reuters | Reuters Second Life News Center
“Ancient news outfit Reuters has given up on working out news based on facts and will ask the virtual prediction site, Hubdub what will happen instead,” The Inquirer, a UK-based website that bills itself as “News, reviews, facts and friction”, said on Tuesday.
Hubdub, launched in February, is an online game that has created a section that allows players to predict the outcome of ongoing Reuters stories. Reuters will be able to establish a network of “friends” and link back to its own widgets and articles, according to the website ● www.journalism.co.uk.
Reuters questions have gained popularity on the web, in particular with financial news forecasts, Hubdub said. Its members made predictions about the recent HBOS take-over by Lloyds TSB “long before mainstream media” began covering the story, Hubdub founder Nigel Eccles said.
“We want to build up our user base, and as that gets bigger they’ll see Reuters’ questions, which sends traffic back to those news sites,” he said. Hubdub has 150,000 users.
“Reuters are obviously very very aware of how their news affects the markets – we’d be pretty aware of not letting that become an issue,” Eccles said.
Reuters’ top question on Hubdub on Tuesday was: Who will use the word “regulation” most in the first presidential debate? Respondents were split evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain.
“Reuters is a phenomenal agency,” Eccles said. “The technology we’ve got can make the experience for their readers really interesting. We’re really excited about the editorial content that comes out of it.”
He said Hubdub’s growth has “been very, very quick” and the relationship with Reuters took just two months to finalise after a “chance encounter” with the organisation in the United States.
Asked whether people could make predictions to better their own shares, Eccles said: “We’ve been running the markets for about 8 months now, and we’ve become pretty good at catching most of them. In general, we catch the vast majority of it.”
The Inquirer commented: “Apparently the combined fortune-telling powers of Hubdub members is far greater than all of the hacks in all of the world.”
The Washington Post, which launched a similar current events-related prediction market in July, said Reuters’ Hubdub connection could have a more significant impact: “If the site can grow a large and diverse user base, it could potentially help pollsters and news organizations quickly get a feel for the public’s perception on a given issue.”
Hubdub is not Reuters’ first foray into the virtual world. Two years ago it launched the first ever virtual news bureau on Second Life, an online world inhabited by hundreds of thousands users with its own virtual economy. The opening of the bureau was described as part of Reuters’ strategy to embrace new digital platforms to deliver next generation news and information.
“Reuters is all about innovation – new technologies, new audiences, and new ways of presenting the news,” CEO Tom Glocer said at the time. “In Second Life, we’re making Reuters part of a new generation. We’re playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa.”
Reuters’ Second Life bureau has a virtual bureau chief known as Adam Reuters and a reporter called Erik Reuters. In real life they are Reuters journalists Adam Pasick, a technology and media correspondent, and Erik Krangel, who covers technology from New York.
● SOURCE The Inquirer | Journalism | Hubdub | The Washington Post | The World Editors Forum | Reuters | Reuters Second Life News Center
Former CNN chief to head multimedia
Monday 15 September 2008
Reuters appointed former CNN International president Chris Cramer to the newly created role of global editor for multimedia.
He will oversee multimedia projects including the reuters.com website and act as the main liaison between the news organisation and media business.
He will be based in New York and report to editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, who said: "Cramer's distinguished track record of driving innovations in news gathering will be key to building on our recognised multimedia ventures and century and a half of journalist excellence."
Cramer spent 20 years at the BBC prior to joining CNN.
● SOURCE Reuters
He will oversee multimedia projects including the reuters.com website and act as the main liaison between the news organisation and media business.
He will be based in New York and report to editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, who said: "Cramer's distinguished track record of driving innovations in news gathering will be key to building on our recognised multimedia ventures and century and a half of journalist excellence."
Cramer spent 20 years at the BBC prior to joining CNN.
● SOURCE Reuters
Irish mortgage lender may sue Reuters
Monday 08 September 2008
Irish Nationwide Building Society is considering legal action against Reuters over an inaccurate report that the home loan firm was holding talks with its lenders to avoid insolvency.
Reuters retracted the story late on Friday night, admitting that material elements were incorrect and that it contained false information.
A spokesman for Irish Nationwide confirmed to The Irish Times on Sunday that "the society is discussing the matter with legal advisers".
The society's chief executive, Michael Fingleton, told the Sunday Independent that the story was "irresponsible, false and untrue", adding that "in the present highly sensitive economic, financial and commercial climate, the putting out of such statements is tantamount to commercial sabotage".
Reuters did not check the story "in the way that you would expect", Fingleton said, adding: “The society will, of course, be vigorously pursuing the matter – including legal action. We believe that we have the evidence to support our case and that what Reuters did was indefensible.
“It took Reuters 2 hours to put up the Irish Nationwide’s denial, and it was another hour-and-a-half before they withdrew the original story because, they said, ‘material elements were incorrect’. They also withdrew the denial story because, they said, it contained ‘incorrect information’.”
A spokeswoman for Thomson Reuters, quoted by The Irish Times, said the reporter had misinterpreted the source of the story, which was filed out of London.
The spokeswoman added: "Accuracy, reliability and integrity are at the heart of the Reuters operation – and we deeply regret that our standard operating procedure in this case was not followed."
● SOURCE Irish Times | Irish Independent
Reuters retracted the story late on Friday night, admitting that material elements were incorrect and that it contained false information.
A spokesman for Irish Nationwide confirmed to The Irish Times on Sunday that "the society is discussing the matter with legal advisers".
The society's chief executive, Michael Fingleton, told the Sunday Independent that the story was "irresponsible, false and untrue", adding that "in the present highly sensitive economic, financial and commercial climate, the putting out of such statements is tantamount to commercial sabotage".
Reuters did not check the story "in the way that you would expect", Fingleton said, adding: “The society will, of course, be vigorously pursuing the matter – including legal action. We believe that we have the evidence to support our case and that what Reuters did was indefensible.
“It took Reuters 2 hours to put up the Irish Nationwide’s denial, and it was another hour-and-a-half before they withdrew the original story because, they said, ‘material elements were incorrect’. They also withdrew the denial story because, they said, it contained ‘incorrect information’.”
A spokeswoman for Thomson Reuters, quoted by The Irish Times, said the reporter had misinterpreted the source of the story, which was filed out of London.
The spokeswoman added: "Accuracy, reliability and integrity are at the heart of the Reuters operation – and we deeply regret that our standard operating procedure in this case was not followed."
● SOURCE Irish Times | Irish Independent
Freelance photographer held in Iraq
Wednesday 03 September 2008
Reuters is seeking additional information on the detention of a freelance photographer in Iraq.
Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters on a freelance basis for about two years, was detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad, by US and Iraqi forces early on Tuesday morning, his family said.
They also confiscated photographic equipment, his sister Eman told Reuters.
A US military spokesman declined comment on any charges Jassam may be facing, saying only that he is in US custody.
"He was detained because he was evaluated as a security threat, and his case is now being evaluated," spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told Reuters.
"We are concerned to hear about Jassam's detention, and urge the US military to either charge or release him once an initial investigatory stage is concluded," editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said.
"Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence. Iraqi journalists like Jassam play a vital role in telling this story to the world," Schlesinger said.
Reuters and international media rights groups have previously criticised the military's refusal to deal more quickly with suspicions apparently arising from reporters' legitimate activities covering acts of violence.
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi press rights group, urged the military to reveal where Jassam is being held and to say why he was arrested.
● SOURCE Reuters
Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters on a freelance basis for about two years, was detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad, by US and Iraqi forces early on Tuesday morning, his family said.
They also confiscated photographic equipment, his sister Eman told Reuters.
A US military spokesman declined comment on any charges Jassam may be facing, saying only that he is in US custody.
"He was detained because he was evaluated as a security threat, and his case is now being evaluated," spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told Reuters.
"We are concerned to hear about Jassam's detention, and urge the US military to either charge or release him once an initial investigatory stage is concluded," editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said.
"Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence. Iraqi journalists like Jassam play a vital role in telling this story to the world," Schlesinger said.
Reuters and international media rights groups have previously criticised the military's refusal to deal more quickly with suspicions apparently arising from reporters' legitimate activities covering acts of violence.
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi press rights group, urged the military to reveal where Jassam is being held and to say why he was arrested.
● SOURCE Reuters
US frees detained Iraqi cameraman
Thursday 21 August 2008
The US military freed detained Iraqi cameraman Ali al-Mashhadani on Thursday after holding him for three weeks without charge.
He was arrested in Baghdad on 30 July while he was in Baghdad's Green Zone government compound for routine checks for a US military press card. The US military said he was seized "because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces," but did not elaborate.
They have detained Mashhadani, who also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio, twice before. At one point he was held for five months, but no charge has ever been filed against the cameraman, who is based in Ramadi, capital of western Anbar province.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: "While I am pleased at Ali al-Mashhadani's release, I am extremely concerned that this was the third time he was detained without explanation.
"If there are legitimate issues about him or any other journalist, let's have them aired openly and tested. If there are none, let them pursue their profession free from intimidation and fear."
Reuters, the BBC, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Iraqi journalist groups had called for the military either to explain the accusations against Mashhadani or free him.
The US military says that under the UN mandate governing the presence of foreign forces in Iraq it can detain anyone considered a security risk indefinitely.
US forces have held other Iraqi reporters working for Reuters and journalists from different media groups for long periods without charging them.
● SOURCE Reuters
He was arrested in Baghdad on 30 July while he was in Baghdad's Green Zone government compound for routine checks for a US military press card. The US military said he was seized "because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces," but did not elaborate.
They have detained Mashhadani, who also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio, twice before. At one point he was held for five months, but no charge has ever been filed against the cameraman, who is based in Ramadi, capital of western Anbar province.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: "While I am pleased at Ali al-Mashhadani's release, I am extremely concerned that this was the third time he was detained without explanation.
"If there are legitimate issues about him or any other journalist, let's have them aired openly and tested. If there are none, let them pursue their profession free from intimidation and fear."
Reuters, the BBC, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Iraqi journalist groups had called for the military either to explain the accusations against Mashhadani or free him.
The US military says that under the UN mandate governing the presence of foreign forces in Iraq it can detain anyone considered a security risk indefinitely.
US forces have held other Iraqi reporters working for Reuters and journalists from different media groups for long periods without charging them.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters tweaks website branding
Thursday 21 August 2008
Thomson Reuters has changed the branding of the reuters.com group of web sites in line with the look and feel of the merged group’s overall brand.
Thomson Reuters has been removed from the reuters.com branding. Instead the web sites now carry the updated Reuters logo, with the Thomson Reuters kinesis logo added directly to the left of the Reuters word mark.
The company said this week’s change is to enhance further the clarity of the Reuters brand for news content in a way that is consistent with Thomson Reuters branding. The change also applies to daily, monthly and quarterly mailings to customers.
“While reuters.com and its online properties will continue to use the ‘Reuters’ name, our branding will maintain the look and feel of the overall Thomson Reuters organization which was adopted in April,” the company said. “Inspired by the beauty and simplicity of nature, the new Reuters branding reflects the idea that information is dynamic and always in motion.”
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters has been removed from the reuters.com branding. Instead the web sites now carry the updated Reuters logo, with the Thomson Reuters kinesis logo added directly to the left of the Reuters word mark.
The company said this week’s change is to enhance further the clarity of the Reuters brand for news content in a way that is consistent with Thomson Reuters branding. The change also applies to daily, monthly and quarterly mailings to customers.
“While reuters.com and its online properties will continue to use the ‘Reuters’ name, our branding will maintain the look and feel of the overall Thomson Reuters organization which was adopted in April,” the company said. “Inspired by the beauty and simplicity of nature, the new Reuters branding reflects the idea that information is dynamic and always in motion.”
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Killing was ‘more than just a tragedy’
Wednesday 13 August 2008
The killing of cameraman Fadel Shana on the basis of such little Israeli certainty was more than just a tragedy, editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said after the Israel Defence Forces cleared the tank crew who killed him in Gaza four months ago.
For a little more investigation, a little more military intelligence, would have shown clearly that he was just a professional doing his job and that his camera was a weapon only for the truth, Schlesinger wrote in a Reuters blog posting.
“I’ve written before that a camera is not a weapon, that a journalist is not a combatant, that the pen and the sword should not be confused,” he wrote.
“Yet the Israel Defense Forces seem to be putting the camera very much in the category of weapon in a report on the death in April of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana.
“I’ve given a quote to our reporters about my disappointment in the report.
“That it does state that the death was a ‘tragedy’ does not counteract the fact that it condoned the firing of two deadly shells at people it admitted had not been identified clearly and whose only crime was to put a camera on a tripod.
“Said the report: ‘Two persons were spotted leaving the vehicle, carrying a large black object. The black object was placed on a tripod above a dirt mound, and directed at the tank… The tank crew reported the spotting to its superiors. The latter authorized firing a tank shell at the characters, in light of the genuine suspicion that the object mounted on the tripod and directed at the tank was an anti-tank missile or mortar, a suspicion consistent with the characteristics of that day’s hostilities…’
“I do understand the stresses of the battlefield,” Schlesinger wrote.
“I do understand that wars are horribly dangerous – Reuters has had close calls in Georgia; colleagues from other organizations have been killed.
“I do not understand the deliberate decision to fire on the basis of suspicion and uncertainty.
“I wonder how journalists can do their job if doing that job raises such suspicion in the eyes of the Israeli or any other military.
“The dangers seem too great.
“And yet, the stakes of not reporting a war to the world are too high as well.
“‘…the tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar, or a television camera,’ the report said.
“To me, killing on the basis of such little certainty makes the death of Fadel Shana much more than just a tragedy.
“For a little more investigation, a little more military intelligence, would have shown clearly that he was just a professional doing his job.
“And that his camera was a weapon only for the truth.”
● SOURCE Reuters Editors blog
For a little more investigation, a little more military intelligence, would have shown clearly that he was just a professional doing his job and that his camera was a weapon only for the truth, Schlesinger wrote in a Reuters blog posting.
“I’ve written before that a camera is not a weapon, that a journalist is not a combatant, that the pen and the sword should not be confused,” he wrote.
“Yet the Israel Defense Forces seem to be putting the camera very much in the category of weapon in a report on the death in April of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana.
“I’ve given a quote to our reporters about my disappointment in the report.
“That it does state that the death was a ‘tragedy’ does not counteract the fact that it condoned the firing of two deadly shells at people it admitted had not been identified clearly and whose only crime was to put a camera on a tripod.
“Said the report: ‘Two persons were spotted leaving the vehicle, carrying a large black object. The black object was placed on a tripod above a dirt mound, and directed at the tank… The tank crew reported the spotting to its superiors. The latter authorized firing a tank shell at the characters, in light of the genuine suspicion that the object mounted on the tripod and directed at the tank was an anti-tank missile or mortar, a suspicion consistent with the characteristics of that day’s hostilities…’
“I do understand the stresses of the battlefield,” Schlesinger wrote.
“I do understand that wars are horribly dangerous – Reuters has had close calls in Georgia; colleagues from other organizations have been killed.
“I do not understand the deliberate decision to fire on the basis of suspicion and uncertainty.
“I wonder how journalists can do their job if doing that job raises such suspicion in the eyes of the Israeli or any other military.
“The dangers seem too great.
“And yet, the stakes of not reporting a war to the world are too high as well.
“‘…the tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar, or a television camera,’ the report said.
“To me, killing on the basis of such little certainty makes the death of Fadel Shana much more than just a tragedy.
“For a little more investigation, a little more military intelligence, would have shown clearly that he was just a professional doing his job.
“And that his camera was a weapon only for the truth.”
● SOURCE Reuters Editors blog
Israel clears cameraman’s killers
Wednesday 13 August 2008
Israeli tank crew who killed Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana in Gaza four months ago acted properly and will not face legal action, Israel's senior military lawyer has concluded.
The military advocate-general told Reuters in a letter sent on Tuesday that troops could not see whether Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20.
Reuters said on Wednesday it was deeply disturbed by a conclusion that severely curtails the freedom of the media to cover the conflict by effectively giving soldiers a free hand to kill without being sure they were not firing on journalists.
Shana, 24, filmed two tanks positioned about 1.5 km from where he was standing for several minutes before, in a chilling final two seconds of video, his camera captured one tank firing a shell that burst overhead, showering him and others with thousands of metal darts known as flechettes.
"The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera," Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit of the Israel Defence Forces wrote.
But the military lawyer cited an attack that killed three IDF soldiers in another part of the enclave earlier in the day, a separate grenade attack on a tank, the fact that Shana and his soundman who was wounded were wearing body armour – "common to Palestinian terrorists" – among reasons for suspicion.
Their blue flak jackets, like the car, were marked "PRESS". The army said the troops could not see those signs. Journalists in Gaza say they have rarely seen militants wear flak jackets.
Mendelblit wrote: "In light of the reasonable conclusion reached by the tank crew and its superiors that the characters were hostile and were carrying an object most likely to be a weapon, the decision to fire at the targets ... was sound ...
"There is no doubt that Fadel Shana's death is a tragedy...
"A journalist in action was killed by IDF fire, along with others not involved in the hostilities.
"However ... the available evidence does not suggest misconduct or criminal misbehaviour ... I have therefore decided ... that no further legal measures will be taken."
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: "I'm extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analysed clearly.
"They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response."
Reuters wrote to Mendelblit on Wednesday with a number of questions, including asking precisely why the soldiers ruled out the possibility that Shana was a cameraman, why the fact he stood in full view of the tanks for some minutes did not suggest he had no hostile intent and why the tank crew, if concerned but unsure, did not simply reverse a few metres out of sight.
In Jerusalem, the Foreign Press Association said it was disappointed with a report that seemed to give soldiers licence to fire on journalists without being sure of their target.
In New York, Joel Campagna of the Committee to Protect Journalists said: "These findings mean that a journalist with a camera is at risk of coming under fire and there's not that much that can be done. That's unacceptable.
"It's difficult to believe ... that the IDF took the necessary precautions to avoid causing harm to civilians – as it is obliged to do under international law."
● SOURCE Reuters
The military advocate-general told Reuters in a letter sent on Tuesday that troops could not see whether Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20.
Reuters said on Wednesday it was deeply disturbed by a conclusion that severely curtails the freedom of the media to cover the conflict by effectively giving soldiers a free hand to kill without being sure they were not firing on journalists.
Shana, 24, filmed two tanks positioned about 1.5 km from where he was standing for several minutes before, in a chilling final two seconds of video, his camera captured one tank firing a shell that burst overhead, showering him and others with thousands of metal darts known as flechettes.
"The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera," Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit of the Israel Defence Forces wrote.
But the military lawyer cited an attack that killed three IDF soldiers in another part of the enclave earlier in the day, a separate grenade attack on a tank, the fact that Shana and his soundman who was wounded were wearing body armour – "common to Palestinian terrorists" – among reasons for suspicion.
Their blue flak jackets, like the car, were marked "PRESS". The army said the troops could not see those signs. Journalists in Gaza say they have rarely seen militants wear flak jackets.
Mendelblit wrote: "In light of the reasonable conclusion reached by the tank crew and its superiors that the characters were hostile and were carrying an object most likely to be a weapon, the decision to fire at the targets ... was sound ...
"There is no doubt that Fadel Shana's death is a tragedy...
"A journalist in action was killed by IDF fire, along with others not involved in the hostilities.
"However ... the available evidence does not suggest misconduct or criminal misbehaviour ... I have therefore decided ... that no further legal measures will be taken."
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: "I'm extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analysed clearly.
"They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response."
Reuters wrote to Mendelblit on Wednesday with a number of questions, including asking precisely why the soldiers ruled out the possibility that Shana was a cameraman, why the fact he stood in full view of the tanks for some minutes did not suggest he had no hostile intent and why the tank crew, if concerned but unsure, did not simply reverse a few metres out of sight.
In Jerusalem, the Foreign Press Association said it was disappointed with a report that seemed to give soldiers licence to fire on journalists without being sure of their target.
In New York, Joel Campagna of the Committee to Protect Journalists said: "These findings mean that a journalist with a camera is at risk of coming under fire and there's not that much that can be done. That's unacceptable.
"It's difficult to believe ... that the IDF took the necessary precautions to avoid causing harm to civilians – as it is obliged to do under international law."
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters Olympics team is 200 strong
Monday 04 August 2008
Reuters is fielding a team of 200 for the Beijing Olympics with 100 text reporters, 80 photographers and TV crews, technicians, logistics and other supporting teams.
Reuters has 24 correspondents stationed in China with a much larger local support team working on the ground.
“It’s definitely one of the biggest foreign media presences in China,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said on the eve of his departure for Beijing.
For Reuters, “the biggest problem and challenge is to find reporters who understand both the language, culture and Chinese society,” he told China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Schlesinger, formerly a correspondent in Beijing, was speaking in a telephone interview with Xinhua on the eve of his departure for a 15-day stay. He will be the guest of Li Congjun, president of Xinhua, at Friday’s opening ceremony.
“I’ll meet Xinhua’s new president during my stay in Beijing for constructive dialogue, in addition to meeting officials from the Information Office of the State Council as well as other friends,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Schlesinger said Reuters would offer “fair, unbiased, responsible coverage” of the Games, Xinhua said. Besides covering sports it would also report on the political, social and economic scene in China.
“We are interested in how China prepares for the Games, the facilities, how the city works during the Games, traffic and pollution, whether the stadiums are full, how athletes are made to feel welcome, media and visa regulations in the run-up to the Games, etc,” Schlesinger said.
● SOURCE Xinhua
Reuters has 24 correspondents stationed in China with a much larger local support team working on the ground.
“It’s definitely one of the biggest foreign media presences in China,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said on the eve of his departure for Beijing.
For Reuters, “the biggest problem and challenge is to find reporters who understand both the language, culture and Chinese society,” he told China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Schlesinger, formerly a correspondent in Beijing, was speaking in a telephone interview with Xinhua on the eve of his departure for a 15-day stay. He will be the guest of Li Congjun, president of Xinhua, at Friday’s opening ceremony.
“I’ll meet Xinhua’s new president during my stay in Beijing for constructive dialogue, in addition to meeting officials from the Information Office of the State Council as well as other friends,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Schlesinger said Reuters would offer “fair, unbiased, responsible coverage” of the Games, Xinhua said. Besides covering sports it would also report on the political, social and economic scene in China.
“We are interested in how China prepares for the Games, the facilities, how the city works during the Games, traffic and pollution, whether the stadiums are full, how athletes are made to feel welcome, media and visa regulations in the run-up to the Games, etc,” Schlesinger said.
● SOURCE Xinhua
Free cameraman or charge him - CPJ
Monday 04 August 2008
The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday the United States must charge or immediately release Reuters cameraman Ali al-Mashhadani, detained in Iraq.
He was detained in Baghdad on 26 July while he was in the Green Zone government compound for routine checks for a US military press card.
“This is the third time US forces have detained Ali al-Mashhadani without charge,” Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the New York-based press rights group said.
“The military has never substantiated any wrongdoing by him. The authorities must make evidence again him public or release him immediately.”
Reuters and the BBC, for whom Mashhadani also works, have urged the US military to release him immediately or produce evidence to justify his detention.
A US military spokesman said he was being held at Camp Cropper, an American prison near Baghdad airport, because he “has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces”.
The spokesman said the case will be reviewed this week.
Mahoney is a former Reuters correspondent and editor. He joined the CPJ in 2005.
● SOURCE Reuters
He was detained in Baghdad on 26 July while he was in the Green Zone government compound for routine checks for a US military press card.
“This is the third time US forces have detained Ali al-Mashhadani without charge,” Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the New York-based press rights group said.
“The military has never substantiated any wrongdoing by him. The authorities must make evidence again him public or release him immediately.”
Reuters and the BBC, for whom Mashhadani also works, have urged the US military to release him immediately or produce evidence to justify his detention.
A US military spokesman said he was being held at Camp Cropper, an American prison near Baghdad airport, because he “has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces”.
The spokesman said the case will be reviewed this week.
Mahoney is a former Reuters correspondent and editor. He joined the CPJ in 2005.
● SOURCE Reuters
US forces say they hold cameraman
Friday 01 August 2008
American forces in Baghdad said on Friday they are holding an Iraqi cameraman working for Reuters. Reporters Sans Frontières/Reporters Without Borders, the media rights group, said he had been held for nearly a week without charge.
Ali al-Mashhadani was arrested last Saturday at the Iraqi parliament press centre in Baghdad’s government and diplomatic Green Zone.
A spokesman for the US military confirmed to AFP that he was in custody.
RSF said he “must be freed at once. It is unacceptable that US troops hold him on security grounds”. It cited the US military as saying Mashhadani was held because “he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces”.
Reuters has urged the US military to release Mashhandani immediately or publicly produce evidence to justify his detention.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and to present a defence.
● SOURCE AFP
Ali al-Mashhadani was arrested last Saturday at the Iraqi parliament press centre in Baghdad’s government and diplomatic Green Zone.
A spokesman for the US military confirmed to AFP that he was in custody.
RSF said he “must be freed at once. It is unacceptable that US troops hold him on security grounds”. It cited the US military as saying Mashhadani was held because “he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces”.
Reuters has urged the US military to release Mashhandani immediately or publicly produce evidence to justify his detention.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and to present a defence.
● SOURCE AFP
Free our man, Reuters tells US forces
Thursday 31 July 2008
Reuters urged the US military to release an Iraqi cameraman immediately or publicly produce evidence to justify his detention.
Ali al-Mashhadani was detained on Saturday while he was in the Green Zone government compound in Baghdad for routine checks for a US military press card. It was the third time he had been detained. No charges have ever been filed against him.
“Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said.
“Iraqi journalists like Mashhadani play a vital role in telling this story to the world.”
A US military spokesman said Mashhadani was being held at Camp Cropper, an American prison near Baghdad airport.
“He is being detained because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces,” the spokesman said. He said the case would be reviewed by early next week.
US forces have held other Iraqi journalists working for Reuters and other news organisations for long periods without charge.
Mashhadani was previously detained from August 2005 to January 2006 and for two weeks in mid-2006.
Mashhadani also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio.
● SOURCE Reuters
Ali al-Mashhadani was detained on Saturday while he was in the Green Zone government compound in Baghdad for routine checks for a US military press card. It was the third time he had been detained. No charges have ever been filed against him.
“Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said.
“Iraqi journalists like Mashhadani play a vital role in telling this story to the world.”
A US military spokesman said Mashhadani was being held at Camp Cropper, an American prison near Baghdad airport.
“He is being detained because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces,” the spokesman said. He said the case would be reviewed by early next week.
US forces have held other Iraqi journalists working for Reuters and other news organisations for long periods without charge.
Mashhadani was previously detained from August 2005 to January 2006 and for two weeks in mid-2006.
Mashhadani also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio.
● SOURCE Reuters
New Americas managing editor named
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Brian Rhoads has been named managing editor for the Americas following Betty Wong’s promotion as global managing editor.
He will take up the new role in New York on 29 September after overseeing Reuters’ coverage of next month’s Beijing Olympics.
Rhoads, 42, a Beijing-based Mandarin speaker, has been North Asia Editor responsible for China, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong since 2007. He joined Reuters in 1996 and served as China bureau chief, Shanghai bureau chief and a senior editor on news production desks in Hong Kong and Singapore.
His new role involves leading an editorial team of 650 journalists across text, video and pictures.
“Brian’s deep knowledge of China and the region will be an asset in the Americas for our journalists as well as our customers,” Wong, 44, said.
“I look forward to his joining the managing editors group which also includes Europe, Middle East and Africa managing editor Mark Thompson based in London and Asia managing editor Adrian Dickson based in Hong Kong.”
● SOURCE The Guardian
He will take up the new role in New York on 29 September after overseeing Reuters’ coverage of next month’s Beijing Olympics.
Rhoads, 42, a Beijing-based Mandarin speaker, has been North Asia Editor responsible for China, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong since 2007. He joined Reuters in 1996 and served as China bureau chief, Shanghai bureau chief and a senior editor on news production desks in Hong Kong and Singapore.
His new role involves leading an editorial team of 650 journalists across text, video and pictures.
“Brian’s deep knowledge of China and the region will be an asset in the Americas for our journalists as well as our customers,” Wong, 44, said.
“I look forward to his joining the managing editors group which also includes Europe, Middle East and Africa managing editor Mark Thompson based in London and Asia managing editor Adrian Dickson based in Hong Kong.”
● SOURCE The Guardian
Baghdad staff remember dead friends
Saturday 12 July 2008
Baghdad bureau staff marked the first anniversary on Saturday of the deaths of their colleagues Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, photographer, and Saeed Chmagh, 40, driver, in a US helicopter air strike in eastern Baghdad.
About 80 people including other foreign media in Baghdad and members of the two families attended the commemoration.
“Namir and Saeed’s deaths were a tragedy,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said in remarks read on his behalf. “Their energy, their professionalism, their friendship, their personalities – these are the memories that represent all that is best about our colleagues in Iraq and our colleagues around the world.”
A collection of Namir’s news pictures was shown during the commemoration and the Iraqi Photographers Association presented the bureau with a plaque.
Reuters is seeking US military video footage of the killings shot from the two Apache helicopters on 12 July 2007. The U.S. military said in an e-mail on Friday it was still processing Reuters’ year-old request.
Nine other people were also killed in the attack.
Four other journalists working for Reuters – Taras Protsyuk, Mazen Dana, Dhia Najim and Waleed Khaled – have been killed by American soldiers in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
● SOURCE Reuters
About 80 people including other foreign media in Baghdad and members of the two families attended the commemoration.
“Namir and Saeed’s deaths were a tragedy,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said in remarks read on his behalf. “Their energy, their professionalism, their friendship, their personalities – these are the memories that represent all that is best about our colleagues in Iraq and our colleagues around the world.”
A collection of Namir’s news pictures was shown during the commemoration and the Iraqi Photographers Association presented the bureau with a plaque.
Reuters is seeking US military video footage of the killings shot from the two Apache helicopters on 12 July 2007. The U.S. military said in an e-mail on Friday it was still processing Reuters’ year-old request.
Nine other people were also killed in the attack.
Four other journalists working for Reuters – Taras Protsyuk, Mazen Dana, Dhia Najim and Waleed Khaled – have been killed by American soldiers in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters seeks US video of staff killing
Friday 11 July 2008
The US military said on Friday it was still processing a Reuters request for video footage from US helicopters and other materials relating to the killing of two Iraqi staff in Baghdad a year ago.
Photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, much loved members of the Reuters Baghdad bureau, were killed in a US helicopter air strike in eastern Baghdad on 12 July 2007.
Reuters wants all the materials to be able to study what happened. Access to the video, taken from helicopters involved in the attack, could also help improve Reuters’ safety policies in Iraq, the world’s most dangerous country for journalists.
Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh had gone to eastern Baghdad after hearing of a military raid on a building around dawn that day, and were with a group of men at the time. It is believed two or three of these men may have been carrying weapons, although witnesses said none were assuming a hostile posture.
The US military said the helicopter attack, in which 9 other people were killed, occurred after security forces came under fire.
Video of the incident from two US Apache helicopters and photographs taken of the scene were shown to Reuters editors in an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad on 25 July 2007.
US military officers who presented the materials said Reuters had to make a request under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get copies. This request was made the same day.
"It has now been approximately one year since our original request was submitted and we still have not received a formal response or written initial determination in accordance with FOIA's statutory requirements," Reuters News chief counsel Thomas Kim wrote in a letter to the US Central Command.
In an e-mail on Friday, the Central Command said the request was still being processed, adding it could not give a timeframe for when this would be completed.
Kim noted that a recent Pentagon probe into the killing of another Reuters journalist by US troops in Baghdad in 2005 identified a serious inconsistency between media safety practices and the expectations of US forces in Iraq.
That report, by the Defense Department's inspector general, the Pentagon's watchdog agency, predicted additional shootings were likely to re-occur unless the situation was resolved.
"The materials requested by this FOIA request may contain information relevant to the recommendations for avoiding a re-occurrence of this tragedy; accordingly, we believe that there is a compelling need for their release and that such release should be made as quickly as possible," Kim wrote.
There had been reports of clashes between US forces and gunmen but there was no fighting on the streets in which Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh were moving about with the group of men.
Besides Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh, four other journalists working for Reuters have been killed by American soldiers in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The US military has said its troops acted lawfully in all those cases. An Iraqi working as a translator for Reuters was also shot dead by unknown gunmen in Baghdad on 11 July 2007.
At least 179 reporters and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the invasion, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
● SOURCE Reuters
Photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, much loved members of the Reuters Baghdad bureau, were killed in a US helicopter air strike in eastern Baghdad on 12 July 2007.
Reuters wants all the materials to be able to study what happened. Access to the video, taken from helicopters involved in the attack, could also help improve Reuters’ safety policies in Iraq, the world’s most dangerous country for journalists.
Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh had gone to eastern Baghdad after hearing of a military raid on a building around dawn that day, and were with a group of men at the time. It is believed two or three of these men may have been carrying weapons, although witnesses said none were assuming a hostile posture.
The US military said the helicopter attack, in which 9 other people were killed, occurred after security forces came under fire.
Video of the incident from two US Apache helicopters and photographs taken of the scene were shown to Reuters editors in an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad on 25 July 2007.
US military officers who presented the materials said Reuters had to make a request under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get copies. This request was made the same day.
"It has now been approximately one year since our original request was submitted and we still have not received a formal response or written initial determination in accordance with FOIA's statutory requirements," Reuters News chief counsel Thomas Kim wrote in a letter to the US Central Command.
In an e-mail on Friday, the Central Command said the request was still being processed, adding it could not give a timeframe for when this would be completed.
Kim noted that a recent Pentagon probe into the killing of another Reuters journalist by US troops in Baghdad in 2005 identified a serious inconsistency between media safety practices and the expectations of US forces in Iraq.
That report, by the Defense Department's inspector general, the Pentagon's watchdog agency, predicted additional shootings were likely to re-occur unless the situation was resolved.
"The materials requested by this FOIA request may contain information relevant to the recommendations for avoiding a re-occurrence of this tragedy; accordingly, we believe that there is a compelling need for their release and that such release should be made as quickly as possible," Kim wrote.
There had been reports of clashes between US forces and gunmen but there was no fighting on the streets in which Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh were moving about with the group of men.
Besides Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh, four other journalists working for Reuters have been killed by American soldiers in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The US military has said its troops acted lawfully in all those cases. An Iraqi working as a translator for Reuters was also shot dead by unknown gunmen in Baghdad on 11 July 2007.
At least 179 reporters and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the invasion, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters to pull plug on AAP?
Thursday 26 June 2008
Reuters stories are set to disappear from Australian newspapers on 10 July because of a contract dispute with the country’s big publishers.
Reuters has abandoned an agreement for its stories to be distributed exclusively by Australian Associated Press and instead is seeking deals with individual publishers, The Age reported.
It said there is little likelihood of a new deal before the deadline because Fairfax Media and News Ltd, which own more than 90 per cent of AAP, are resisting separate deals.
AAP pays Reuters A$600,000 a year to distribute a limited selection of Reuters’ stories, the newspaper said. But Reuters wants to increase the fee progressively over 5 years, starting with a 117 per cent jump to A$1.3 million in the first year.
AAP rejected the increase, prompting Reuters to cancel the partnership.
Reuters already supplies video and pictures directly in Australia.
Joachim Schmaltz, Reuters’ vice-president for Asia, said direct distribution of news stories was “a natural progression”.
Pay TV broadcaster Sky News has agreed to the new terms and will have access to the entire Reuters news feed.
● SOURCE The Age
Reuters has abandoned an agreement for its stories to be distributed exclusively by Australian Associated Press and instead is seeking deals with individual publishers, The Age reported.
It said there is little likelihood of a new deal before the deadline because Fairfax Media and News Ltd, which own more than 90 per cent of AAP, are resisting separate deals.
AAP pays Reuters A$600,000 a year to distribute a limited selection of Reuters’ stories, the newspaper said. But Reuters wants to increase the fee progressively over 5 years, starting with a 117 per cent jump to A$1.3 million in the first year.
AAP rejected the increase, prompting Reuters to cancel the partnership.
Reuters already supplies video and pictures directly in Australia.
Joachim Schmaltz, Reuters’ vice-president for Asia, said direct distribution of news stories was “a natural progression”.
Pay TV broadcaster Sky News has agreed to the new terms and will have access to the entire Reuters news feed.
● SOURCE The Age
Reuters link in hit play revival
Friday 20 June 2008
Shortly after Sir Roderick Jones resigned ignominiously from Reuters in 1941, his novelist wife, Enid Bagnold, author of National Velvet, embarked on a career as a playwright, Anne Sebba writes.
Lottie Dundass premiered in Santa Barbara, California then Brighton. Poor Judas and Gertie followed.
Jones, chairman and managing director of Reuters, was forced out over a secret deal for British government subsidies which compromised Reuters’ integrity and which he concealed from the Board.
Driven by a passionate desire to hear her own witty dialogue spoken on stage by the finest actors of the day, as well as a new need for income in the wake of Jones’s departure, in 1952 Bagnold started work on what became her most successful play, The Chalk Garden. This deeply autobiographical work is currently enjoying its first major revival for 30 years at The Donmar Warehouse, London and stars Penelope Wilton as Miss Madrigal and Margaret Tyzack as Mrs St Maugham.
Aspects of Enid can be seen in all the female characters while Jones’s imperious nature is reflected in the dying butler, who never appears on stage but whose domination of the household is strongly felt. The play improves with age and has had brilliant five star reviews.
Bagnold was described earlier this month in The Sunday Times as “the link between Wilde and Coward and Frayn and Ayckbourn”.
In 1956, when the play opened at the Haymarket with Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft, Kenneth Tynan wrote “The Chalk Garden may well be the finest artificial comedy to have flowed from an English (as opposed to an Irish) pen since the death of Congreve”.
It is a limited run and seats are selling fast.
Anne Sebba, former Reuters correspondent, is the author of Enid Bagnold A Life. Copies (£9.99) available from ● anne@annesebba.com.
● Donmar Warehouse
Lottie Dundass premiered in Santa Barbara, California then Brighton. Poor Judas and Gertie followed.
Jones, chairman and managing director of Reuters, was forced out over a secret deal for British government subsidies which compromised Reuters’ integrity and which he concealed from the Board.
Driven by a passionate desire to hear her own witty dialogue spoken on stage by the finest actors of the day, as well as a new need for income in the wake of Jones’s departure, in 1952 Bagnold started work on what became her most successful play, The Chalk Garden. This deeply autobiographical work is currently enjoying its first major revival for 30 years at The Donmar Warehouse, London and stars Penelope Wilton as Miss Madrigal and Margaret Tyzack as Mrs St Maugham.
Aspects of Enid can be seen in all the female characters while Jones’s imperious nature is reflected in the dying butler, who never appears on stage but whose domination of the household is strongly felt. The play improves with age and has had brilliant five star reviews.
Bagnold was described earlier this month in The Sunday Times as “the link between Wilde and Coward and Frayn and Ayckbourn”.
In 1956, when the play opened at the Haymarket with Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft, Kenneth Tynan wrote “The Chalk Garden may well be the finest artificial comedy to have flowed from an English (as opposed to an Irish) pen since the death of Congreve”.
It is a limited run and seats are selling fast.
Anne Sebba, former Reuters correspondent, is the author of Enid Bagnold A Life. Copies (£9.99) available from ● anne@annesebba.com.
● Donmar Warehouse
Army probe of Reuters death ‘flawed’
Monday 16 June 2008
US soldiers who killed a Reuters journalist in Iraq acted within military rules, but the Army’s probe of the incident was flawed by its failure to preserve evidence, a Pentagon investigation said.
The Defense Department’s inspector general, the Pentagon’s watchdog agency, found that US soldiers who fired on a Reuters car in west Baghdad in August 2005, killing Reuters Television soundman Waleed Khaled, reasonably responded to what they thought was a threat.
But the inspector general criticised the Army investigator for losing a critical piece of evidence – video from a Reuters cameraman in the car that captured events leading up to and including the shooting.
The Army investigator’s actions rightfully led Reuters to believe the investigation was not thorough or independent, the inspector general’s report said.
“We found that although the (investigating officer) who conducted the Army investigation did not pursue some logical investigative actions, he properly concluded that during an ongoing enemy attack the soldiers thought a video camera and external microphone held out of an indigenous, unmarked vehicle was a rocket propelled grenade,” the inspector general said.
“The soldiers reasonably believed that act constituted a threat to United States forces and as such were obligated to act and did so in accordance with the (rules of engagement).”
The inspector general also faulted Reuters and its safety practices. The car carrying Khaled and cameraman Haider Kadhem was not marked “press”, for example, and Kadhem wrongly stuck his camera out of the car window, according to the military.
That made it difficult for soldiers to distinguish the journalists from combatants, the inspector general said.
Reuters said it disagreed with the Pentagon agency’s findings but appreciated its recommendation that the US military work with news organisations on safety procedures to avoid similar incidents.
“I am never satisfied when a journalist is killed in the course of covering a story,” editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said. “I am satisfied that the inspector general took this case seriously and came up with useful and positive recommendations.”
Khaled and Kadhem were inside a Reuters car while Kadhem, in the front passenger seat, filmed the aftermath of an insurgent ambush on Iraqi police. The car was not marked “press” due to worries that Iraqi insurgents were targeting reporters, Schlesinger said.
The U.S. military confiscated Kadhem’s camera, which contained video of the shooting. The U.S. military showed the footage to Reuters staff but later lost that video, characterised by Reuters as a “key piece of evidence” and one that corroborated the Reuters version of events.
Reuters’ chief counsel Thomas Kim called the video “the only piece of objective evidence” available in the incident.
An independent inquiry commissioned by Reuters concluded in April 2006 that the shooting appeared “unlawful” and said nothing Khaled or Kadhem did could have been mistaken as hostile.
Iraq is the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. At least 179 reporters and media assistants have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003, more than in World War II and during fighting in Vietnam, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
● SOURCE Reuters
Journalists protest over Fadel Shana’s killing
Monday 16 June 2008
Journalists in the Gaza Strip laid down their cameras during a symbolic work stoppage as part of a protest to demand Israel explain why its troops killed Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, 24, in the Palestinian enclave two months ago.
The journalists, who work for Palestinian and foreign media in Gaza, agreed not to publish images on Monday of any Israeli military operations in the enclave. About 50 journalists also attended a brief demonstration in the city of Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said her government would publish the results of an inquiry into the 16 April incident, possibly within days.
“I would like ... to express our sorrow for this event,” she told a news conference. “Clearly there is a full investigation by the Israeli army ... I don’t have the result of this investigation.”
Livni added: “When we gather results – we hope in the next few days – we can share with the international community.”
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said before meeting Livni in Luxembourg: “About the killing, I will certainly condemn that.
“Journalists are always in a very, very difficult situation and therefore we want to see understanding, we want to see also a sensitivity about it.”
Reuters’ Middle East managing editor Mark Thompson said: “We are deeply disappointed that the Israeli army has failed to provide an account of the circumstances in which Fadel Shana was killed by a tank shell on April 16, nor any evidence to support its claim that they could not identify him as a journalist.
“Fadel had taken all reasonable precautions while filming that day and the refusal of the Israeli army to work with the media on safety issues since his death has forced us and others to curtail reporting in Gaza.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon unveiled a memorial in London dedicated to journalists killed while reporting on wars.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters renews call for Israeli answers
Sunday 15 June 2008
Reuters renewed a call on the Israeli army to explain its killing of cameraman Fadel Shana in the Gaza Strip two months ago.
Shana, a 24-year-old Palestinian, was killed on 16 April by flechettes that burst from a tank shell in mid-air. Eight bystanders aged 12 to 20 also died and at least seven others aged from 10 to 18 were hit in the incident, about 1.5 km from two Israeli tanks. Soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, 25, was wounded in the wrist.
Reuters called on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to release immediately the findings of its internal investigation in the interests of journalists’ safety. The IDF has yet to offer an account but has said its soldiers followed their orders and did nothing wrong.
It said it aims to avoid killing journalists but cautioned that they work in conflict zones at their own risk.
Reuters has written to the IDF to ask how, in that case, the troops failed to identify Shana as a cameraman.
“We have a duty to our employees and their families to determine exactly what happened on that day, both to establish the exact cause of Fadel’s death and to identify any action we can take to improve the safety of Reuters News staff on assignment in hostile environments,” Middle East managing editor Mark Thompson wrote last week.
“The IDF has had plenty of time to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of Shana.”
One of the questions Reuters has asked the IDF’s senior law officer is what specific information led the soldiers to dismiss the possibility that Shana was a television cameraman.
Israeli army spokesman Major Avital Leibovich said: “We are in the process of checking a few more details in order to complete the picture. As soon as we have the conclusions we will share them.”
An independent investigation commissioned by Reuters found there was no fighting in the area where Shana was working in view of the tanks. Shana’s car and blue body armour bore “Press” markings. The investigation found that Shana observed safety guidelines and took all reasonable precautions. He complied with Reuters’ own safety policy and his actions could not be interpreted as irresponsible or negligent in any way.
The delay in clarifying Shana’s death has made it difficult for media groups to set guidelines for staff in Gaza on how to avoid a repetition of the incident, creating problems for coverage of army activity in the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza journalists plan to demonstrate on Monday in protest at the lack of an Israeli explanation for Shana’s death.
● SOURCE Reuters
Photographer fined for using satphone
Wednesday 04 June 2008
Reuters photographer Howard Burditt was convicted in Zimbabwe on 3 June for using a satellite phone.
Harare magistrate Archie Wochionga fined him ZWD$20 billion (about US$28). He suspended a two-month prison sentence on condition that Burditt does not contravene the Broadcasting Services Act within the next five years. The satellite phone was forfeited to the state.
Burditt was arrested in the Zimbabwean capital on 5 May when he was found in possession of the satellite phone. He spent three nights in police custody. In a court appearance on 28 May he pleaded guilty.
The state argued that the Post and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe had licensed Reuters to cover the Zimbabwean elections and it was specified in the contract that they were not to use “big machines” like satellite phones.
● SOURCE Media Institute of Southern Africa
Harare magistrate Archie Wochionga fined him ZWD$20 billion (about US$28). He suspended a two-month prison sentence on condition that Burditt does not contravene the Broadcasting Services Act within the next five years. The satellite phone was forfeited to the state.
Burditt was arrested in the Zimbabwean capital on 5 May when he was found in possession of the satellite phone. He spent three nights in police custody. In a court appearance on 28 May he pleaded guilty.
The state argued that the Post and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe had licensed Reuters to cover the Zimbabwean elections and it was specified in the contract that they were not to use “big machines” like satellite phones.
● SOURCE Media Institute of Southern Africa
The future of news - by Tom Glocer
Wednesday 28 May 2008
CEO Tom Glocer has spelt out his vision of the future of news and it involves “citizen journalists” – non-professionals snapping pictures with mobile phones and reporting on websites.
“I’ve been a big advocate of opening the doors and make it one long continuum between citizen journalist and somebody who might be on staff at 20 years publishing at Reuters under the Reuters name...” he said in an on-stage interview at D: All Things Digital, an annual conference in California’s Silicon Valley sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.
“We have 2,600 journalists on staff, and several thousand stringers. And then there is a third concentric circle, which is citizen journalist. In video or still photography, for instance...the eyewitness who blogs has value if no one else is there.”
How will news be delivered in five years’ time?
“I see agency business end up just an electronic exchange platform, purely mutualised. We’ll see a mix of arguably more comments from high-talent sources, and openness to aggregate other voices.”
Where will people get their news?
“Mobile will be very important. I get most of my information on where Thomson Reuters is trading off of a mobile app.”
Glocer said it is a scary time to be in the traditional news business but fantastic for the agency world. Everyone is pulling reporting staff back to home base and is ever more dependent on news agencies, whether Reuters or AP.
They have to make their Web sites 24 hours and need copy. “And they need video and photos, all of which we have.”
Glocer said the Thomson Reuters agency business has been growing five to 10 per cent a year for the past few years and is three per cent of the total company’s revenues.
● SOURCE D: All Things Digital | Barron’s Tech Trader Daily
“I’ve been a big advocate of opening the doors and make it one long continuum between citizen journalist and somebody who might be on staff at 20 years publishing at Reuters under the Reuters name...” he said in an on-stage interview at D: All Things Digital, an annual conference in California’s Silicon Valley sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.
“We have 2,600 journalists on staff, and several thousand stringers. And then there is a third concentric circle, which is citizen journalist. In video or still photography, for instance...the eyewitness who blogs has value if no one else is there.”
How will news be delivered in five years’ time?
“I see agency business end up just an electronic exchange platform, purely mutualised. We’ll see a mix of arguably more comments from high-talent sources, and openness to aggregate other voices.”
Where will people get their news?
“Mobile will be very important. I get most of my information on where Thomson Reuters is trading off of a mobile app.”
Glocer said it is a scary time to be in the traditional news business but fantastic for the agency world. Everyone is pulling reporting staff back to home base and is ever more dependent on news agencies, whether Reuters or AP.
They have to make their Web sites 24 hours and need copy. “And they need video and photos, all of which we have.”
Glocer said the Thomson Reuters agency business has been growing five to 10 per cent a year for the past few years and is three per cent of the total company’s revenues.
● SOURCE D: All Things Digital | Barron’s Tech Trader Daily
New questions on Iraq hotel deaths
Tuesday 20 May 2008
Reuters wants a fresh inquiry into the killing of two journalists in Baghdad by a US tank crew five years ago.
A report has raised new questions about the deaths of cameraman Taras Protsyuk and a Spanish Telecinco network cameraman, Jose Couso. They were killed by a tank shell that hit the Palestine Hotel on 8 April, 2003.
Reuters said on Tuesday it would write to the US Senate Armed Services Committee to push for another inquiry.
US Internet news and current affairs broadcaster ● Democracy Now on 15 May posted an interview with a former US Army sergeant in military intelligence who said that prior to the invasion of Iraq she had been given a list of targets for potential attack that included the Palestine Hotel.
A large foreign media contingent stayed at the Palestine Hotel in the lead-up to the invasion and then during the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.
A Reuters investigation into the killings identified a breakdown in communications between US military commanders and troops on the ground.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media watchdog, also investigated the incident and said the attack “while not deliberate, was avoidable”.
● SOURCE Reuters
A report has raised new questions about the deaths of cameraman Taras Protsyuk and a Spanish Telecinco network cameraman, Jose Couso. They were killed by a tank shell that hit the Palestine Hotel on 8 April, 2003.
Reuters said on Tuesday it would write to the US Senate Armed Services Committee to push for another inquiry.
US Internet news and current affairs broadcaster ● Democracy Now on 15 May posted an interview with a former US Army sergeant in military intelligence who said that prior to the invasion of Iraq she had been given a list of targets for potential attack that included the Palestine Hotel.
A large foreign media contingent stayed at the Palestine Hotel in the lead-up to the invasion and then during the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.
A Reuters investigation into the killings identified a breakdown in communications between US military commanders and troops on the ground.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media watchdog, also investigated the incident and said the attack “while not deliberate, was avoidable”.
● SOURCE Reuters
140 editorial jobs go by end 2008
Monday 19 May 2008
Some 140 editorial jobs will be cut by the end of this year as Reuters News absorbs Thomson Financial News, editor-in-chief David Schlesinger told staff.
More than half the cuts will be in Europe while the rest will be scattered, he said.
At the same time Reuters will add about 50 new jobs in growth areas making for 2,500 editorial employees by year’s end.
“When two similar and once competing organisations come together, there is natural overlap and duplication in coverage,” Schlesinger told staff in a memo.
“Wherever possible, we have worked to minimize job losses and to avoid redundancy by moving people into new roles and cancelling open posts that don’t fit within the new organisation,” he added.
The National Union of Journalists said it had not ruled out a strike but would negotiate with the company first.
“The NUJ has been pressing hard to have any job cuts carried out through voluntary redundancies and will continue to do so,” said Myra MacDonald, Mother of the NUJ Chapel in London.
A BBC report said Thomson Reuters could lose about 1,500 jobs from its 50,000-strong payroll in total. The company is cutting as many as 650 jobs in its content, technology and operations division.
● SOURCE Reuters
More than half the cuts will be in Europe while the rest will be scattered, he said.
At the same time Reuters will add about 50 new jobs in growth areas making for 2,500 editorial employees by year’s end.
“When two similar and once competing organisations come together, there is natural overlap and duplication in coverage,” Schlesinger told staff in a memo.
“Wherever possible, we have worked to minimize job losses and to avoid redundancy by moving people into new roles and cancelling open posts that don’t fit within the new organisation,” he added.
The National Union of Journalists said it had not ruled out a strike but would negotiate with the company first.
“The NUJ has been pressing hard to have any job cuts carried out through voluntary redundancies and will continue to do so,” said Myra MacDonald, Mother of the NUJ Chapel in London.
A BBC report said Thomson Reuters could lose about 1,500 jobs from its 50,000-strong payroll in total. The company is cutting as many as 650 jobs in its content, technology and operations division.
● SOURCE Reuters
Reuters demands Israeli account
Thursday 15 May 2008
A month after Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip, Reuters renewed its demand for a prompt explanation from the Israeli army of why it fired on the cameraman.
Shana, 24, a Palestinian, was killed on 16 April along with eight mostly teenage bystanders by darts known as flechettes that burst out of a tank shell in mid-air. He had been filming about 1.5 km from two Israeli tanks.
He was wearing blue body armour bearing the word “Press” on fluorescent strips. His vehicle also bore “TV” and “Press” markings.
The Israeli army said it had completed an initial field investigation that had determined the soldiers had followed orders and acted appropriately. But military lawyers still had to study the case before the army could give a full account.
“A month has passed since Fadel Shana was killed by Israeli forces while responsibly going about his professional duties,” said Reuters’ Middle East managing editor Mark Thompson.
“We urge the IDF to release its report on the incident now so that media organisations and the military can cooperate on ways to ensure journalists can continue to cover this conflict.”
Independent investigators commissioned by Reuters have prepared their own preliminary report on the incident, which raises serious questions over why the tank opened fire.
● SOURCE Reuters
3.9% UK pensions hike confirmed
Wednesday 14 May 2008
Reuters’ UK pension funds have confirmed a 3.9 per cent discretionary increase for 2008. The figure is based on the change in the rate of inflation in the UK over the year to September 2007.
Retired staff on pensions from Reuters Pension Fund and the Supplementary Pension Scheme will receive the extra money on 15 June. It will be backdated to 1 January. The increase applies equally to pensions in payment and deferred pensions.
It is the third year in a row that pensions paid by the RPF and SPS final salary schemes have been increased in line with inflation, after increases on pensions earned before 1997 were suspended for the three years 2003-2005.
Inflation protection resumed in 2006, with pensions rising 2.7 per cent in 2006 and 3.7 per cent in 2007.
Update newsletters issued by the managing committee and trustees of the two funds said: “The increase to these pensions required the Company’s specific consent which was granted this year as a goodwill gesture, but should not be seen as a precedent for future years.”
They said the discretionary pension increases have only been possible because of the financial health of the schemes and with the company’s consent. “The position next year may be different,” they cautioned. “While the Trustees hope there will be more good news about discretionary pension increases in future, there are no guarantees this will be the case.”
Retired staff whose pensions are paid in overseas currencies have had their total pension increased in line with their local inflation.
The 3.9 per cent increase was first announced by CEO Tom Glocer at the Retired Members’ Luncheon in London on 25 April.
● SOURCE RPF and SPS Update newsletters
Retired staff on pensions from Reuters Pension Fund and the Supplementary Pension Scheme will receive the extra money on 15 June. It will be backdated to 1 January. The increase applies equally to pensions in payment and deferred pensions.
It is the third year in a row that pensions paid by the RPF and SPS final salary schemes have been increased in line with inflation, after increases on pensions earned before 1997 were suspended for the three years 2003-2005.
Inflation protection resumed in 2006, with pensions rising 2.7 per cent in 2006 and 3.7 per cent in 2007.
Update newsletters issued by the managing committee and trustees of the two funds said: “The increase to these pensions required the Company’s specific consent which was granted this year as a goodwill gesture, but should not be seen as a precedent for future years.”
They said the discretionary pension increases have only been possible because of the financial health of the schemes and with the company’s consent. “The position next year may be different,” they cautioned. “While the Trustees hope there will be more good news about discretionary pension increases in future, there are no guarantees this will be the case.”
Retired staff whose pensions are paid in overseas currencies have had their total pension increased in line with their local inflation.
The 3.9 per cent increase was first announced by CEO Tom Glocer at the Retired Members’ Luncheon in London on 25 April.
● SOURCE RPF and SPS Update newsletters
Photographer freed from jail
Thursday 08 May 2008
Reuters photographer Howard Burditt was released on Thursday from three days’ detention in Zimbabwe.
Burditt, a Zimbabwean national covering the aftermath of the country’s elections, had been in jail since Monday after officials accused him of illegally using a satellite phone to send pictures.
David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, said: “I am extremely relieved that Howard has been released but disturbed that he should have been held in jail for so long on such a charge.”
● SOURCE The Guardian
Burditt, a Zimbabwean national covering the aftermath of the country’s elections, had been in jail since Monday after officials accused him of illegally using a satellite phone to send pictures.
David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, said: “I am extremely relieved that Howard has been released but disturbed that he should have been held in jail for so long on such a charge.”
● SOURCE The Guardian
CEO declares 3.9% pension increase
Friday 25 April 2008
Tom Glocer announced a 3.9 per cent inflation-linked increase for members of Reuters’ two UK pension funds.
The announcement to more than 600 people at this year’s Retired Members’ Luncheon in London affects members of the Reuters Pension Fund and the Supplementary Pension Scheme.
The increase is in line with the rise in the UK Retail Price Index for September 2007. It is likely to be paid in June and will be backdated to January.
This is the third year in a row that pensions paid by the RPF and SPS final salary schemes have been increased in line with inflation, after increases on pensions earned before 1997 were suspended for the three years 2003-2005.
Inflation protection resumed in 2006, with pensions rising 2.7 per cent in 2006 and 3.7 per cent in 2007.
Glocer spoke about the importance of the Thomson Reuters takeover and its significance in underpinning the company’s commitment to the pension funds.
"Honouring our pension commitments is something we take very seriously and will continue to do so," he said.
He also paid tribute to Patrick O’Sullivan, Reuters welfare officer for retired staff, who is standing down as organiser of the lunch, originally an annual event and now held every two years.
O’Sullivan said that after planning every luncheon for more than 20 years he was looking forward to enjoying the next one as a guest.
Reuters’ host for the Grosvenor House hotel event was Steve Clarke, head of PR, enterprise. Keith Stafford, former editorial training manager/training editor, responded on behalf of pensioners.
Peter O’Neill‘s photo shows Pat O’Sullivan (left) with Tom Glocer.
FT marks a Reuters milestone
Thursday 17 April 2008
On the first day of the new Thomson Reuters company the Financial Times carried the following report under the headline “Journalists shrink under Thomson”:
“Some 157 years after Paul Julius Reuter abandoned a trial with carrier pigeons and began telegraphing share prices between the London and Paris stock exchanges, Reuters’ newswire business accounts for less than 7 per cent of its revenues, writes Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson.
“Last night, as the company’s journalists faced the prospect of becoming an even smaller part of a larger empire, they met at The Old Bell, their favoured pub when they were based on Fleet Street – once the heart of London’s newspapers and agencies.
“The gathering, described as ‘a wake’ by some insiders, came the day before a celebration at the ExCel centre in Docklands for more than 3,500 staff.
“The Thomson takeover, which will see the company’s far smaller wire business merge with Reuters media division, has triggered many staff moves and renewed questions about morale that last surfaced when the shares touched 100p in 2003.
“Some of the rumblings boil down to annoyances such as changes of e-mail address, but there is another factor, according to David Anderson, editor of IMD Reference.
“‘Anecdotally, one of the worries doing the rounds has been that because Reuters share options would vest, a lot of them [the staff] would become pretty well off and could depart,’ he said.”
● SOURCE Financial Times
Reuters cameraman killed in Gaza
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Fadel Shana, a Reuters News cameraman, was killed in Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.
Shana, 24, had stepped from his car, an unarmoured sport utility vehicle bearing "TV" and "Press" markings, to film an Israeli tank dug in several hundred meters away.
Video from his camera showed the tank opening fire. Two seconds after the shot raises dust around its gun, the tape goes blank – seemingly at the moment he was hit.
Witnesses said two youths passing by died in the same explosion that killed Shana.
Reuters soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, 25, sustained a shrapnel wound and was being treated in a Gaza hospital.
Editor-in-chief David Schlesinger called for an immediate and complete investigation into the incident by the Israeli Defence Forces.
“We know, of course, that journalism is a dangerous business. We know, of course, that we rush into danger when others rush away. We know, of course, that accidents happen,” he said.
“But I also believe sincerely and absolutely that all of us – news organizations, governments and the military – have an obligation to make reporting safer and to take the utmost care when professional journalists are doing their jobs.
“It is, of course, striking that this tragedy occurred on the last day for Reuters as has been and the day before Thomson Reuters begins as a news and information power in the world. I can but reflect on our more than century and a half of bravery and sacrifice in the service of the news, and to vow that Reuters news in the new company will forge a new tradition, building on the old, that we can all be incredibly proud of.”
The Israeli army declined immediate comment on what caused Shana’s death. It expressed sorrow but also said journalists were putting their lives at risk in areas of combat.
An Israeli military official said: "We wish to express sorrow for the death of the Palestinian cameraman... It should be emphasized that the area in which the cameraman was hurt is an area in which ongoing fighting against armed, extreme and dangerous terrorist organizations occurs on a daily basis.
"The presence of media, photographers and other uninvolved individuals in areas of warfare is extremely dangerous and poses a threat to their lives."
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders mourned Shana’s death.
"We are asking the Israeli authorities to publicly commit to carrying out an exhaustive investigation into this incident and to make its findings public," said CPJ executive director Joel Simon in a statement.
Shana, who was unmarried, was described as a gentle and popular figure among the 15-strong Reuters news team in the Gaza Strip. The bureau was honoured by Britain's Royal Television Society for its coverage of last year's factional fighting in Gaza.
● SOURCE Reuters
‘Old Reuters’ mourned in Fleet Street
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Reuters staff, past and present, met in Fleet Street to mark the passing of the “old Reuters” on the eve of the birth of Thomson Reuters.
The London reunion drew people from editorial, sales and marketing, technical support, finance and administration.
The Old Bell was bursting, with drinkers spilling over to other pubs and wine bars in the neighbourhood including The Cheshire Cheese. The Punch Tavern captured the spirit of the evening with a sign regretting ”the passing of Reuters”.
Reuters photographer wins Pulitzer
Thursday 10 April 2008
Reuters photographer Adrees Latif has won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. It is the first time Reuters has scooped one of the awards.
Latif won for "his dramatic photograph of the Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar," the Pulitzer Prize board said.
His exclusive photograph, taken during a demonstration in Myanmar, dominated the front pages around the world and played a role in public outrage.
David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief, said: "I'm extremely proud that the great work of one of our best photographers got this recognition.
"Our photography is a key part of Reuters global multimedia journalism with 2,400 men and women dedicated to telling the story in the best possible way under sometimes very dangerous conditions."
Latif was born in Pakistan and lived in Saudi Arabia before emigrating to the United States in 1980. He started working for Reuters in Houston and Los Angeles and has been based in Bangkok since 2003.
"Adrees is one of those rare talents whose presence on an assignment puts the mind of the editor at ease knowing that the picture coverage will be not only competitive but exceptionally high quality," said Thomas Szlukovenyi, Reuters global pictures editor. "The combination of his talent, experience, hard work and his news sense makes Adrees an outstanding photo journalist and a great colleague. We are all incredibly happy for him."
● SOURCE Reuters
Latif won for "his dramatic photograph of the Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar," the Pulitzer Prize board said.
His exclusive photograph, taken during a demonstration in Myanmar, dominated the front pages around the world and played a role in public outrage.
David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief, said: "I'm extremely proud that the great work of one of our best photographers got this recognition.
"Our photography is a key part of Reuters global multimedia journalism with 2,400 men and women dedicated to telling the story in the best possible way under sometimes very dangerous conditions."
Latif was born in Pakistan and lived in Saudi Arabia before emigrating to the United States in 1980. He started working for Reuters in Houston and Los Angeles and has been based in Bangkok since 2003.
"Adrees is one of those rare talents whose presence on an assignment puts the mind of the editor at ease knowing that the picture coverage will be not only competitive but exceptionally high quality," said Thomas Szlukovenyi, Reuters global pictures editor. "The combination of his talent, experience, hard work and his news sense makes Adrees an outstanding photo journalist and a great colleague. We are all incredibly happy for him."
● SOURCE Reuters
