New EIC named at Reuters News

Stephen J. Adler, the former Businessweek editor-in-chief who has been overseeing Thomson Reuters' division of specialty editorial products in the legal, tax/accounting, healthcare and science fields, has been named editor-in-chief of Reuters News. He will also serve as executive vice president of news for the entire company. In the former role, Adler replaces David Schlesinger, who has been appointed chairman of Thomson Reuters China.

"Our goal is to make Thomson Reuters the world's leading source of news for professionals," said Thomas H. Glocer, CEO of Thomson Reuters, in a statement announcing the moves, "and Steve Adler is the perfect choice to lead the next phase in this mission."

The move did not come as a surprise to some Reuters editorial staffers, but it happened faster than most had expected. It also marks the first time the news operation will be run by a relative outsider—Adler only joined the company last year.

"Journalistic excellence will continue to be our hallmark," he said in an accompanying statement, "and our goal is to become a must-read among global professionals. To that end, we will continue to develop our extraordinary internal talent as well as hiring strategically from outside."

Reuters is in the midst of a transformation that has brought opinions/commentary, long-form journalism, financial video and new marquee talent to the 160-year-old news service. The company is growing its general-interest audience, and recently announced an expanded domestic U.S. operation that shows it veering into the Associated Press's traditional stronghold of local U.S. news coverage.