Changes made at Thomson Reuters Digital as Li takes over website

Chrystia Freeland, who oversees the digital operations at Reuters, made the following staff change announcement on Monday:

Change is afoot in the Thomson Reuters Digital space, and we couldn’t be more excited.  With the aim of making Reuters.com a showcase for all of our Editorial assets as well as the go-to site for international news and opinion, I am pleased to announce some key appointments that will pave the way.

James Ledbetter, who has been editor-in-charge of Reuters.com since October 2010, will become the company’s inaugural op-ed editor.  In this role, Jim will create a stable of top thought leaders from around the world who will weigh in on news stories in a timely fashion on various Thomson Reuters platforms, creating a formidable one-two punch with Reuters Breakingviews.  He will report directly to me.

Throughout 2011, Jim’s online team has produced multiple traffic records for Reuters.com.  In addition, the site now routinely carries live, streaming video of Newsmaker events and has won wide praise for live blogs on the big stories.  Prior to joining Reuters, Jim was the editor of The Big Money and deputy managing editor for CNN Money.  Katharine Herrup, who has been editing opinion pieces for Reuters.com since last year, will report to Jim.

Taking the helm from Jim on Reuters.com is Kenneth Li, who has been editor-in-charge of the technology, media and telecoms reporting team.  Ken will be the global editor for our rapidly expanding site, reporting to Jim Impoco, executive editor of Thomson Reuters Digital.

As a global media correspondent for Reuters, Ken covered U.S. media conglomerates such as Time Warner, Viacom and News Corp.  He has also worked as a reporter for the Financial Times, New York Daily News, the Industry Standard and TheStreet.com, and co-founded and co-edited MediaFile, a popular blog that highlights the intersection of media and technology.

On Ken’s team, we are thrilled to welcome Ryan McCarthy to Thomson Reuters as a deputy editor for Reuters.com, alongside Brian Tracey.  Ryan has been business editor of The Huffington Post, where he helped build the HuffPost Business vertical from the ground up in two years.  The HuffPost Business’ traffic has shown strong growth and consistent engagement with readers. Earlier this year, the section received a Webby Award in the best business blog category.  During his time at the Huffington Post, Ryan led coverage on the mortgage crisis, Wall Street reform and other topics.

Ken will also oversee the online news team in Toronto, headed by Leah Eichler and Mario Di Simine, as well as Frank Tantillo and Silvio DaSilva in New York.

Barclay Palmer, who has been global executive producer for Reuters multimedia, will take up that role on the Digital team.  Barclay will also generate video to accompany reporting from our Enterprise team, Top News and other groups, embedding videos into our stories to build Reuters multimedia and public profile.  His team includes editor-in-charge Tiziana Barghini, and producers Ayana Morali and Ruben Ramirez.  Barclay will report to me.

Over the last year, Barclay initiated the live and taped airing of our Newsmaker interviews, Davos Today and other events on Reuters.com, Reuters Insider and Reuters YouTube channel. Previously, at CNN, he was acting executive producer of Amanpour, and senior producer of Anderson Cooper 360 and Newsnight with Aaron Brown.

Please join me in welcoming this dynamic team, who aim to make Reuters.com the dominant site for global news.