Stay focused on business priorities, Stephen Adler tells staff

“We are fortunate to work in an organization that recognizes that our work adds value only if it is accurate, unbiased, and impervious to external influence,” he said in a note to staff.

Relaying some of the questions he and his deputy, new hire Paul Ingrassia who visited London and Frankfurt, heard most often and how they responded, Adler said one question was “Do you care about global coverage, or are you primarily focused on North America?”

His answer: “There is no either/or here. Reuters global character is one of our biggest competitive advantages, and the huge financial and geopolitical stories of the past three months – from Japan to the Middle East, from insider trading to the royal wedding – illustrate the great value of our global capabilities in text and multimedia. But we can’t be truly global without increasing our presence and impact in the U.S.”

The same sort of answer applies to the question “What do you value more: enterprise stories or snaps and market-moving stories?”

“The short answer is: Both. We can’t be Reuters without the latter, and we can’t improve and grow without the former. Speed, accuracy, fairness, and relevance are our hallmarks, and must remain so. We need to be on the ground in Ivory Coast, witnessing the first shipments of cocoa leaving the port, and we need to be the first to report the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn or the latest developments in the commodities markets. But our customers don’t just seek information; they also seek context and insight, and an enterprise piece that surfaces diplomatic cables to reveal the likely future of the Chinese government adds unmistakable value, not only for customers looking for investment strategies but for readers everywhere seeking in-depth understanding of world affairs.”

Asked what he was going to do about bureaucracy, Adler said: “We heard this question everywhere! Several people told me that they had actually fled managerial roles because the procedures were so onerous. Our new structure, with its focus on separating operations from news, should help. But [chief operating officer] Stuart Karle, the new senior leadership team, and I are also aware that we have to simplify individual procedures and leave room for leaders at the local level to exercise judgment rather than merely follow rules.” ■