Reuters names five global industry editors

Amy Stevens, global editor of companies coverage at Reuters, sent out the following announcement on Thursday:

Dear all,

At the core of our company news revamp is a commitment to globalizing our approach to corporate coverage. The reorganization plan announced last fall was designed – with input from you and our customers – to help Reuters operate more seamlessly across time zones and borders and better connect the dots along worldwide supply chains and among multinational competitors. Today I’m pleased to share the names of five of the Global Industry Editors (GIEs) who will lead that effort; we expect to announce the other two by the end of January.

As we’ve explained, these senior journalists will each run a virtual bureau of reporters spanning our three regions, establishing coverage priorities for their sector to correspond with the needs of our customers. Along with the Companies Breaking News Editors and Companies Top News Editors announced a couple of weeks ago, the Global Industry Editors will set Reuters up for success from the first break onward. Their collective goal: to ensure that our corporate news file is second to none when it comes to speed, fairness and accuracy – as well as distinctiveness and depth.

You’ll see from their CV’s that the GIEs are an impressive bunch. Collectively they have decades of experience covering business. They have worked at a variety of news organizations and across geographies. As reporters – or as editors directing reporters – they have been responsible for landing world-beating scoops and have probed deeply into corporate board rooms and regulatory filings. Most already have deep expertise in their sectors, which will position them well to lead from the front. Here are the first fab five, in alphabetical order:

• Amran Abocar: GIE, Mining – based in Toronto. Amran has been Canada Bureau Chief since 2014, leading a team that won a SABEW award for its companies coverage and shortlisted for enterprise stories on prison reform and Canadian miners in Latin America. Prior to her current role, she worked in Asia as Deputy Commodities Editor and in the Middle East, as Gulf Deputy Bureau Chief, covering everything from Dubai’s debt implosion and the Arab Spring to nationalist mining policies in Indonesia. In addition to her new role, Amran remains Canada Bureau Chief for an interim period. Born in Somalia, she is an avid reader and sports fan who remains inexplicably loyal to Ipswich despite it all.

• Tim Hepher: GIE, Airlines – based in Paris. Tim has been at Reuters since 1994, covering aviation for the past 12 years, including as a team leader for the past five years. During his time with the company, Tim has mainly covered commodities, companies news, the economy and trade, based in France or Italy – although he is from London. Before Reuters he covered the oil industry and OPEC for Platt’s.

• Richard Mably: GIE, Energy – based in London. As previously announced, Richard is adding the Energy GIE role to his current responsibilities as global editor for financial markets, commodities and polling, which he took on in 2017. Previously, Richard served as regional editor for EMEA from 2014-2016 and, prior to that, was global editor for commodities. He joined Reuters in 1994 as an energy correspondent having worked for Lloyds of London Press, Platts and AP-Dow Jones in London and New York.

• Jonathan Weber: GIE, Technology – based in Singapore. Jonathan first joined Reuters in 2011 as West Coast bureau chief and was later named technology editor, where he led Reuters’ strong coverage of cybersecurity and helped build the U.S. tech team into a competitive force. Before joining Reuters, Jonathan was the founding editor of The Bay Citizen, a non-profit news startup that served the San Francisco Bay Area in partnership with the New York Times. Before that he was the founder and CEO of New West Publishing, and served as the co-founder and editor in chief of the Industry Standard. Prior to that, he was a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times. Jonathan holds a B.A. in philosophy from Wesleyan University. Originally from New York, he’s an outdoor enthusiast who will especially miss dinking around in his old sailboat on San Francisco Bay when he relocates to Singapore in early April.

• Joe White: GIE, Autos – based in Detroit. Joe White joined Reuters in January 2015 as the transportation editor leading coverage of planes, trains and automobiles. Previously, he served as the global automotive editor of the Wall Street Journal, where he oversaw coverage of the auto industry and ran the Detroit bureau. Joe is co-author with Paul Ingrassia of Comeback: The Fall and Rise of the American Automobile Industry, and he and Paul shared the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting in 1993 for their coverage of management turmoil at General Motors.

All of the Global Industry Editors will officially assume their new roles on Monday, February 5. In the meantime, they will review the file, develop coverage plans, and communicate with the future members of their teams. Reporters who cover company news will continue to work within the current structure during that period.

Please join me in congratulating Amran, Tim, Richard, Joe and Jonathan and in supporting them as they transition to their GIE roles. And watch this space for news on the other two.

Many thanks,

Amy