Categories: OLD Media Moves

This is not your grandfather’s Reuters

Michael Calderone of The Huffington Post writes Friday about the massive changes at Reuters in its news operation, including a big hiring spree that has brought in a number of former Wall Street Journal journalists.

Calderone writes, “Reuters’ goal isn’t just to stop getting confused with Rutgers in random polls. The current management team has loftier ambitions. ‘Our mandate at Reuters is to become the best journalism organization in the world,’ Adler said.

“That’s the kind of swagger one expects to hear in the hallways of Bloomberg News, another profitable media company with thousands of journalists around the globe and dreams of being the world’s ‘most influential’ news organization. Bloomberg, too, wants it all: a lucrative terminal and professional information business alongside growing global influence. Bloomberg’s purchase (and later rebranding) of Businessweek and launch of an opinion site, Bloomberg View, are a just a couple ways the company is trying to increase its influence beyond Bloomberg terminal subscribers.

“Reuters still has some catching up to do. In addition to Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg View, the company founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also significantly expanded its reach in Washington D.C. through the BGov subscription service and currently boasts the largest news operation in the capital. (To gain its own share of Washington influence, Reuters recently tried luring Washington Post star Dan Balz, but he decided to remain with the paper.) Just last week, Bloomberg agreed to drop nearly a billion dollars on acquiring BNA — a move that only strengthens its position against Reuters in premium content geared toward lawyers, tax specialists and government regulators.

“By giving Adler a mandate to make big moves, Reuters may hope to avoid being lapped by the Bloomberg behemoth. When asked whether Bloomberg is Reuters’ main competitor, Adler rattled off the many subscription platforms that Reuters offers its users, including traders, investment bankers, lawyers, tax specialists and pharmaceutical researchers. Reuters, he said, also reaches “1 billion people a day through our agency business” used by newspapers, magazines and websites.”