Reuters overhauls North American news pictures

The change reflects increased demand for pictures from the United States, says Stephen Adler, editor-in-chief.

“In keeping with our desire to let journalists be journalists and separate content from operations, we have decided to make a few changes in the structure of Reuters photography,” he said in an internal message obtained by The Baron.

“From now on, Regional Picture Editors will be aided by their respective general managers with operational and administrative tasks, from budgets to safety issues,” Adler said. The picture editors will continue to report to the global pictures editor, Reinhard Krause, who will run day-to-day photography and report to Jim Gaines, who joined Reuters in April from Rupert Murdoch’s digital tablet venture, The Daily, as ethics editor.

Washington photographers and the picture desk in the US capital will now concentrate on the White House, US politics and other stories from the Washington, DC area, as well as the upcoming presidential campaign, including coverage of the primaries.

Up to four jobs on Washington’s picture desk will move to a new North American picture desk in Toronto and several more will be added. The new desk will assign stories and “aggressively pursue pickup pictures”, Adler said. “The move to Toronto is part of a business development plan that includes major investments into our coverage of North America both for international and domestic markets.” Details will be discussed with The Newspaper Guild of New York in coming weeks.

“Our motive for these changes is not only to respond to the marketplace for photography — where demand for pictures from the U.S. now exceeds the next most popular nation by a factor of more than two — but, even more important, to underscore our commitment to the highest standard of photojournalism,” Adler said. “Reuters’ photographers have already proven themselves among the most incisive, artful and intrepid in the field, and we are confident this structure will give them the support they deserve.” ■