SCMP grabs Reuters journalists

The South China Morning Post, once edited by former Reuters editor Jonathan Fenby, is continuing its grab of several media professionals from Reuters in Asia.

Nick Edwards, who has been Reuters’ top economic news correspondent in Beijing, will join the Hong Kong-based broadsheet in May as the new business editor to oversee the entire business desk.

In the past 12 months, the newspaper has also hired 

• George Chen, who won many internal awards (including Company News Reporter of the Year and Scoop of the Year) while at Reuters in China and Hong Kong. He is the newspaper’s financial services editor, leading a team of reporters dedicated to financial industry news coverage in Greater China region
• Brian Rhoads, who was managing editor of the Americas and head of China during his Reuters time. He is managing editor, running the newspaper’s budget, newsroom operation, expansion and hiring
• Wang Feng, who ran Reuters Chinese-language operations. He is online editor and was the key force behind the relaunch of SCMP.com late last year. He oversees the site and related online news development.

Fenby, editor of Reuters from 1973 to 1977, edited the SCMP from 1995 to 2000. His published works include five books on China.

The SCMP is also targeting senior journalists from Dow Jones and elsewhere in its expansion.

The traffic has not been all one-way. Reginald Chua, deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and former editor of its Asia edition, was appointed editor-in-chief of the SCMP in July 2009. He joined Reuters two years ago as data editor. ■