Big names and bright lights

This is the season to be jolly, except, of course, when it comes to the mess that needs cleansing from the Tom Glocer era, whose dismissal was long overdue and certainly not without regret from long suffering shareholders and perhaps much of the Thomson Reuters staff, as well.

But is his ousting enough to right a ship that has wandered far off course? That may not be known for months, perhaps a year or so at least, although one thing is obvious: The organization, under the rein of Glocer and his editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, has gradually drifted away from what customers most expected – being first with the news and getting it right! Adler, rightly so, wanted more; he wanted award-winning journalists to enhance the company’s status. Well, he got his journalists, but right out of the box were a host of blunders, including errors from his award winners and a need to withdraw stories, all at great embarrassment to the company.

Surprisingly, Adler says he believes that newly appointed chief executive James Smith will continue to support Adler’s mission of making big name journalists the cornerstone of the company’s effort to push its brand forward. Well, that cannot be good news for a dedicated staff that has fought long and hard to keep TR the leader in financial news reporting against its most formidable competitor, Bloomberg, which has narrowed the gap considerably in recent years.

Big names and bright lights are wonderful, but not at the expense of what has long made the name Reuters one of the most respected news organizations in the world. ■