Reuters re-org installs Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal, News Corp vets

As expected, Reuters began a newsroom re-organization Tuesday, appointing several News Corp veterans to high-ranking positions.

Paul Ingrassia, the Pulitzer-winning former president of Dow Jones Newswires, has been named deputy editor to oversee content creation under Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler. He left the rival news service in 2007 in the wake of its acquisition by News Corp.

Jim Gaines, formerly managing editor of Time, is leaving his current post as managing editor of The Daily to become ethics and standards editor for Reuters. Gaines is the latest in a series of defections to hit News Corp's iPad publication since it launched several months ago.

Stuart Karle, the former Wall Street Journal general counsel and First Amendment ace (who was fired not long after News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch bought the paper), is now Reuters' chief operating officer. He will handle all support functions for the news division, working alongside fellow Journal alum Adler.

Additionally, Reuters has named a data editor, Reginald Chua, who joins from the South China Morning Post. Adler also recently promoted Chrystia Freeland, one of the biggest names in-house, to editor of Reuters Digital.

"To become the world's leading source of news, we must be second to none in speed, accuracy, relevance, and fairness, but also—and crucially—in enterprise, insight, analysis, and originality," said Adler in a statement announcing the new hires. "Our extraordinary combination of new and existing talent, along with a stronger organization to support them, will help us achieve all these goals."

Adler himself is a relatively new member of the Reuters hierarchy. He joined the company as a specialty products editor in late 2009 after leaving the top editorial spot at Businessweek, which had just been sold to Bloomberg. He was promoted to editor-in-chief in February, and has been strategizing about how to shake things up for the past few months as Reuters continues to broaden its reach and expand its digital footprint.

"When you look at the organizational chart, you see some editors with titles like managing editor of news research strategy for people you've never heard of and who are doing jobs similar to other positions at the company," a Reuters insider told Talking Biz News last week.

One such editor has already been weeded out. The overhaul has resulted in the departure of global managing editor and longtime Reuters staffer Betty Wong, who is working on a book. Some bigwigs, meanwhile, have been asked to apply for other jobs.