Thomson Reuters restructures multimedia operations

Chris Cramer (pictured), former CNN chief, comes out on top. Cramer, named head of multimedia in October, will serve as the unit's global editor. His new responsibilities entail the creation of five editorial groups, including TV, photos, financial video, online and agency. By coordinating them, the company hopes to build on its appeal, even while it strenuously tries to cut costs, the digital media industry website PaidContent said.

The five multimedia groups will be led by senior editors. Mike Stepanovich, senior vice-president and global head of business development, adds the role of managing editor of the financial video service. John Clarke and Tom Szlukovenyi will continue in their jobs overseeing TV and photos respectively. The two others - online global editor and agency global editor - are new posts and have not yet been filled.

Cramer was a president and managing director of CNN International before he retired from the Turner network in 2007. David Schlesinger, Reuters' editor-in-chief, brought him into the company last year to handle the financial video service. Before the latest change, only the teams who worked on financial video and online reported to Cramer.

“As competitors like Bloomberg and Associated Press have become more aggressive on the digital and video front, Thomson Reuters is trying to step up by introducing a new management structure for its multimedia offerings,” PaidContent said. ■