Reuters to cut 5 percent of its editorial staff

Reuters plans to cut 5 percent of its editorial staff, editor in chief Steve Adler announced in a conference call on Wednesday.

Kara Blomgarden Smoke of The New York Observer writes, “The cuts will be broadly distributed across the globe and across all levels of the news agency, including managers, Mr. Adler clarified during a question and answer period (during which a disproportionate number of the questions seemed to come from the Washington D.C. newsroom).

“Notifications will be mostly done this month, although some may take longer because of different union standards around the world.

“‘It’s starting quickly and will move as fast as it can,’ Mr. Adler said.

“‘People should never make light of it and it’s really significant in people’s lives,’ he said, noting that the goal is to get on the other side of the staff cuts.

“Mr. Adler also said that there will be an investment in expanding into emerging markets (he mentioned Africa, South East Asia, Latin America) and that despite cancelling Reuters Next, the consumer facing site that had been in the works for more than two years, there is still a commitment to the existing website.”

Read more here. If you assume that approximately 2,700 journalists work at Reuters, then approximately 135 journalists will lose jobs. There is an opportunity to apply for other positions as well.