Reuters wants more depth in biz reporting

Martin Howell, equities editor at Reuters America, gave a memo to each attendee of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual conference in California that updated editorial changes at the wire service.

The proposed merger with Thomson Corp. should make Reuters “offering in news and financial data more compelling,” he said.

Howell noted that Reuters has added bureaus in Cincinnati, Phoenix and Dallas in the past year.

“Much of our focus has been on increasing the amount of initiative and exclusive reporting we produce, as well as in presenting more of our news in a multimedia format,” wrote Howell.

“We continue to build our team of reporters who cover mergers and acquisitions and expect to soon launch some exciting new content in that area. We have increased the size of our legal/accounting and corporate governance team in recognition of the increasing importance of these areas to financial markets,” he added.

“Last year, we also hired more than 10 new reporters with expertise in stocks, bonds and foreign exchange to better cover these markets and write analysis that explains what is important and where the story is heading.”