The future of news - by Tom Glocer

“I’ve been a big advocate of opening the doors and make it one long continuum between citizen journalist and somebody who might be on staff at 20 years publishing at Reuters under the Reuters name...” he said in an on-stage interview at D: All Things Digital, an annual conference in California’s Silicon Valley sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.

“We have 2,600 journalists on staff, and several thousand stringers. And then there is a third concentric circle, which is citizen journalist. In video or still photography, for instance... the eyewitness who blogs has value if no one else is there.”

How will news be delivered in five years’ time?

“I see agency business end up just an electronic exchange platform, purely mutualised. We’ll see a mix of arguably more comments from high-talent sources, and openness to aggregate other voices.”

Where will people get their news?

“Mobile will be very important. I get most of my information on where Thomson Reuters is trading off of a mobile app.”

Glocer said it is a scary time to be in the traditional news business but fantastic for the agency world. Everyone is pulling reporting staff back to home base and is ever more dependent on news agencies, whether Reuters or AP.

They have to make their Web sites 24 hours and need copy. “And they need video and photos, all of which we have.”

Glocer said the Thomson Reuters agency business has been growing five to 10 per cent a year for the past few years and is three per cent of the total company’s revenues. ■