Reuters names two global “mega-theme” editors

Reuters editor in chief Steve Adler sent out the following announcement:

Dear Colleagues:

Although we are organized on a regional basis, major stories often cross regional lines.  We usually do a good job of passing the baton around the globe, handing off story ownership as we follow the sun from region to region. That said, there are a few “mega-themes” of overriding importance that require more or less constant leadership, cutting across regions, taking coverage beyond the breaking news of the day, and probing more deeply with original angles to shed new light. We’d like to approach these few mega-themes in multi-media fashion — text, video, pictures, graphics — and in a way that establishes Reuters as the leading journalistic authority on the topic.

To do this, without adding additional staff or extra layers of bureaucracy, we’d like to designate individual editors to be global story coordinators for a few selected topics. The first two global coordinators will be Tiffany Wu and Alessandra Galloni, who have agreed to take on these roles in addition to their current duties.  Tiffany’s global mega-topic will be cyber-security, and Alessandra’s will be the global growth crisis.

Tiffany and Alessandra will not manage breaking news coverage on their respective topics. Instead they will consult with colleagues (editors, beat reporters, and others) to develop original coverage themes and story ideas. In this capacity, they will work directly with Managing Editor Paul Ingrassia to assign responsibility for producing the stories. Story assignments will be made in ways that won’t interfere with critical daily news coverage.

Tiffany and Alessandra will continue to report to their current supervisors, Dayan Candappa and Richard Mably, respectively. But working under Paul’s aegis in their global coordinator roles will allow them to operate more smoothly across regional lines.  Most major stories on these mega-topics will be global, or at least multi-regional, in nature.

Please join me in wishing Tiffany and Alessandra great success with their added responsibilities, and do reach out to them with coverage ideas on their respective themes.

Best regards,

Steve