Thomson Reuters CEO: News is vital to the company

James Smith, the chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, talked about the company’s Reuters news service on its first quarter earnings conference call in the wake of the departure of the head of that business, Andrew Rashbass.

Smith said:

Sure. Let me take that one. We think that our news offerings are a vital part of our product offerings, really across the business. But particularly in the financial sector, and we are committed to continuing to provide the kind of high quality journalism that our customers have become accustomed to. We did have a change there. Andrew Rashbass did a terrific job for us over the last couple of years and he moved on for another opportunity that he found compelling. We wish him luck in that role and we are actively recruiting to fill that position. And news is a vital part of our mix and it’s really woven into the DNA of this company in a pretty fundamental way. And we are committed to continuing that excellence for years and years to come.

Read the entire conference call transcript here.