New job for Reuters editor

Martin Howell, editor-in-charge of Reuters equities coverage in North and South America., directing much of its corporate news coverage, sent out the following announcement Thursday morning:

“As some of you have heard already, I am going to be taking a new position as Editorial Learning Manager for the Americas based in New York. This will be a completely new, exciting and I am sure sometimes humbling direction for me but I think that after almost eight years as the regional editor for companies news and more than two years as deputy regional editor it really is time for me to take on a new challenge.

“I wanted to say a few words of thanks to you all for the support, commitment and ideas that have made my job so much easier and so fulfilling over the past few years. It has been a wild ride — from dotcom bust to Enron to housing/consumer spending boom to financial crisis and now the aftermath.

“When you think how far we have come from the days when the companies team was mainly reactive to news events it is quite remarkable. We are now a team that has led the drive on special reports, is often able to be very competitive or win the top stories, runs a massive summits program, breaks lots of news, and in recent weeks thanks to Bangalore’s efforts is even beginning to win the timings war against Bloomberg. You have driven that progress through your commitment and talent and I am confident we will continue to make further big improvements in the file over the next few years. We have created a strong team, with some fine leaders, correspondents and editors, and I will be working over the next couple of months with the current companies EICs, and my successor when named, to ensure that we don’t lose any momentum during the transition.

“I will also ensure that I hand over the details of any career or other staff discussions to my successor and am happy to set up meetings wherever necessary to make certain people comfortable that this has happened. I should also be able to tie up quite a few loose ends myself over the next few weeks so happy if you want to bug me.

“I will be remaining in New York and will be happy to help any of you in your careers, as well as all your training needs, in whatever way I can over the next few years. One of the most enjoyable parts of my current job is to watch people succeed and go onto bigger challenges and in my new job I hope to play a role as a trainer and mentor in helping people achieve that whenever I can.

“I also want to thank my colleagues in the Americas News Planning Team, the other regional specialist editors and bureau chiefs, and of course Brian Rhoads and Jack Reerink, for all their support, guidance and humor (including humouring me when I have occasionally babbled on incomprehensibly about a story idea). We have come a long way in working together across the asset classes. Just looking this week at the changes in Washington, seeing four teams work together on financial regulation stories and breaking a lot of news, was fantastic to see. The silo mentality of the past is clearly dying if not dead.

“Of course, it will be difficult for me to keep my hands off the file in the new role. Withdrawal symptoms would set in too soon. So, do expect me to be active in the newsroom and to be throwing some story ideas (yes, I know sometimes they can be a little crazy!!!) towards you. I think helping staff on a day-to–day basis in the newsrooms around the region is as important as formal classroom training in my new role.”