Thomson Reuters commitment to news

Re New Thomson Reuters CEO backs editorial hiring plans - Stephen Adler, the jury is out whether Thomson Reuters managers will recognize the value of a news organization that is trying, as Jon Friedman puts it, to “maintain a strong position in the meat-and-potatoes work of covering the financial markets while making a name for Reuters in enterprise writing.” The Wall Street Journal’s parents know as well as anyone how difficult it is for the two to co-exist comfortably and profitably under one roof. For decades Reuters managers said the meat-and-potatoes variety, while it didn’t win seats on the US Sunday talk shows, was what paying clients wanted. Tom Glocer was not a journalist, but he put the company’s money where his mouth was when he spoke in favor of the value of Reuters news. Some Reuters journalists will disagree on Glocer, but the ranks grew under his watch despite hard times in most other news organizations. Although James Smith was once a journalist, are we sure he and the Thomson family have the same view and will make the same commitment over time? ■