New Reuters president releases 2019 goals, objectives

Michael Friedenberg, the new president of Reuters news and media operations, released goals for 2019 for the organization, including reducing duplication in the editorial structure and increasing page views for Reuters.com visitors by 30 percent.

The organization also wants to improve its gender diversity within senior management to 40 percent female. It did not disclose the current percent of female senior managers.

In an email to the staff on Tuesday morning, Friedenberg wrote that the goals and objectives “reflect a sharp customer focus and the ambition to simplify, modernize and grow our business, while making sure we enhance our world-class journalism and maintain our steadfast commitment to the Trust Principles.”

The goals and objectives include:

• “Align editorial structures to reduce duplication and work more globally”;
• “Retain 92% of high performing talent”;
• “Exceed all quality, speed and volume goals as defined in the news agreement with Refinitiv”;
• “Reduce layers to 6”; and
• “Continue to develop a more diverse and inclusive culture.”

In the email to staffers, Friedenberg wrote that he wants to “reset, modernize and grow” the business.

He wrote: “We’ll talk more about this approach in coming weeks, but essentially it means reviewing how we currently operate, clarifying our purpose and structure, modernizing our approach to talent, technology and branding, and exploring new growth opportunities.”

Reuters editorial staffers were also asked to set three to four individual goals for the year.

Friedenberg joined the organization on Dec. 3 He previously served as global CEO of IDG Communications, a media, data and services firm, leading the company across 147 countries. He is based in New York, and Reuters editor in chief Stephen Adler reports to him.