Reorganization for Reuters in Americas will include two MEs

Kevin Krolicki, regional editor of the Americas for Reuters, sent out the following on Thursday morning:

Colleagues,

Over the past month, I have given a lot of thought to a set of challenges that I know many of you face every day. How can we do this better? How can we cover the urgent news of the moment while also finding time to focus on the important stories of the month and the year? And how can we do all of that while also making this a better place to work and the best place for the most ambitious kind of reporting?

The underlying goal is simple. We want to do great journalism and to develop and support the great journalists that requires. Today, I’m pleased to announce a new leadership structure for Reuters Americas to sharpen our focus on doing just that.

The new structure includes two new managing editor roles, reporting to me:

· The managing editor for news will be responsible for helping to steer coverage strategy and lead our news editing and production. Based in New York, the managing editor will oversee the Top News team, the Americas desk and the multimedia initiative. As the senior operational editor in our largest newsroom, the managing editor will also be on hand to run any story that requires us to mobilize quickly across teams in New York and the region. This job will be posted immediately. I expect to be able to announce an appointment within 30 days.

· The managing editor for operations will be responsible for ensuring we are delivering on our commitment to run better. That will include oversight for our budget, editorial training, staff safety, talent development and our commitment to diversity. It will also include the responsibility for ensuring that the hard issues we know we need to address get the sustained attention they require. For example, that includes improving the way we develop and pitch our best work, streamlining feedback for reporters and ensuring that story editors are their partners in success and guiding them to the stories that matter most. The need to do better there has been underlined by your feedback in the Project Connect sessions this year led by Caroline Drees.

I’m very pleased to announce Don Durfee has been appointed to this new position, effective July 1. Most recently, Don has been general manager for North Asia, based in Beijing. He was previously bureau chief for Reuters in Beijing and Hong Kong and before that editor for CFO Asia and a senior editor at the Economist Intelligence unit in New York. I am confident Don’s experience as a manager and editor in one of the most challenging markets in which we operate makes him a great fit for an urgent need in the organization. In his new position, Don will also keep a role in the file as a senior editor who can step in to help steer a story. Don will be returning to the United States at the end of his posting in China and will be based in Washington.

Why make these changes? Our current regional structure relies too much on a single regional editor at its hub. Over the past few months, that has been me. My experience over that period has deepened my belief that approach is not resilient or sustainable.

This new look should mean we have editors focused on delivering what we have promised to our clients and to you. I know it might appear we’re adding complexity. In fact, I believe this will mean we are allowing for more focus and running more efficiently. This will be a team, not a bureaucracy.

I recognize the proof will be how this works in practice. I’m eager to get started.

In addition to the two managing editor roles:

· We are hiring a new Americas Top News editor reporting to the New York-based managing editor. As Jean Yoon announced earlier this week, Martin Howell is moving to Singapore to become Asia Top News editor. Martin did an exceptional job leading Top News here and his insight and herculean work rate are legendary. Building on that success is critical to our ability to deliver the kinds of Reuters-only insights, analysis and exclusives that our clients value most. The successful candidate for the Americas Top News will focus on developing and delivering our most ambitious work across the region.

· We are also hiring a new Washington bureau chief, who, like the other bureau chiefs and regional EICs, will report to me. At some point, almost every big story loops through or dead ends in Washington. The successful candidate here will oversee our Washington-based reporting teams at a time when political, economic and regulatory uncertainty is high and climbing.

These jobs will be posted shortly. I encourage those of you who are interested to apply.

I’ll be hosting an all-staff teleconference at 1:00pm EDT today (Outlook invite attached) and meeting with many of you in the coming weeks to take your comments and questions.

I look forward to speaking soon.

Best,

Kevin