Reuters extends move into social media

Jim Impoco, executive editor of Thomson Reuters Digital, said the new editor, Anthony De Rosa, was “a product manager and technologist” who had turned a side project into one of the most potent social media platforms around.

“Called ‘The undisputed King of Tumblr’ by the New York Times, De Rosa is creator of soupsoup.tumblr.com, which is among the top 25 of the over 2.3 million tumblogs tracked by Compete. NBC New York has chosen him as one of the top 20 people to follow on Twitter,” Impoco said in an internal announcement on Wednesday. Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to a short-form blog.

De Rosa “will integrate what he calls the ‘ambient wire’ that exists on social networks, where news now breaks before anywhere else, into Reuters platforms,” Impoco said. “As part of his mission, he will help our journalists and editors use social media tools to monitor news, report news, and find leads.”

Under his direction, social media “will extend our brand, bring more people to Reuters.com, and make Reuters the most recognizable name in news”.

Impoco also announced the appointment of Paul Smalera as deputy op-ed editor. He has joined Reuters from Fortune.com, where he was a senior editor responsible for technology coverage and special projects including the online presentation of the Fortune 500. He will commission and edit opinion and commentary pieces. ■