Le monde selon Reuters

Yet again, thank to CNW, I had the opportunity to participate in an interesting event yesterday, this time with Robert Melnbardis in the offices of Thompson-Reuters. Melnbardis held court, covering a variety of topics centering around the ways in which Reuters is adapting to a media world in full technological mutation.

Take-aways :

  • Reuters is working with a new platform with bells and whistles that allows its journalists to follow stories of particular interest to them
  • We need to write releases with newsy headlines, because Reuters’ automated system is programmed to pick up content and publish it as-is on the Reuters site. These early texts are revised by journalists and editors in a second phase.
  • Stock code in release headlines is important (see above).
  • Hyperlinks are available on the Reuters platform and, in fact, they are able to receive full multimedia social media press releases.
  • Many of the headlines of generated in Reuters’ India offices, so, again, be sure to specify currency, as the default for $ is USD.
  • Simplify the process : get key messaging and facts as upfront as possible to make the journalist’s job easier
  • Reuters avoids the CEO quote, as they find them vacuous, not adding anything to the story.
  • Reuters will cover local stories, but only if they have global implications. While Robert used to cover the Montreal Jazz Fest, he doesn’t have the resources anymore. He will assign reporters to the Toronto Film Festival, however, because of its economic impact. This is where deals are made.
  • Reuters is always looking for experts, so are open to pitches of this kind
  • Context is vitally important to Reuters. For this reason, they will avoid unnamed sources and will not propagate rumours. They are very careful to specify sources, as well as situating quotes and facts in time.

Interesting for those of us looking at social media and social media press releases :

  • Reuters’ system already breaks our releases into point form key messages – the social media release would save them that step while allowing us to be clear about the messaging we’re trying to communicate.
  • Reuters is a media company which also sees itself as a tech company, constantly investing in new technologies
  • Robert believes that multimedia will become increasingly useful, as Reuters prepares to launch its new editorial software in the next few months, with more video and graphics.
  • Reuters is investing in citizen journalism. At the start of the war in Iraq, Reuters had 17 journalists on the ground. Since giving cameras to locals, they can now say that they have 150 people supplying them with photo and video.

Robert’s wish list for improving relationships with PR reps :

  • be easily accessible – give him your cellphone number
  • implement a call-back policy
  • be attributable
  • be clear and transparent
  • provide context (ex: if talking about layoffs, don’t just give numbers, but explain the impact as proportion of employees, financial impact etc)

The Reuters Summit is an opportunity for PR reps to have their CEOs sit down with Reuters journalists for a one-hour Q&A session. Upcoming summit sessions include Technology, Media and Telecom, happening in NYC, Paris and Tokyo. It is possible to participate in these sessions by telephone. These are by invitation only, but pitches help get you that precious invite, so be sure Reuters has your CEO on their radar screen.

A big thanks to Robert for taking the time. I’d encourage everyone who hasn’t visited a newsroom in the last couple of years … whether they be fresh-faced or consider themselves to be experts … to sign up for a tour as soon as possible. Technology is changing the way journalists are working and we’re going to be aware of these change if we want to keep up.


Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

  • How the Romans invented the Internet: Tom Standage and I

    I may have surprised students in my first Current Trends in Digital Communications class at McGill on Thursday night by talking about the ancient Romans, but I wouldn’t have surprised anyone who knows me. My tribe gets me. And, apparently, Tom Standage is a member of that tribe. Did you know… Romans may have been…


  • Twitter for the small business owner: the why

    When it comes to social media, small business owners tend to start with what they know. With half the Canadian population and 169 million Americans using the platform, it’s not surprising that North American small business owners tend to turn to Facebook when they decide it’s time for their brand to make its first foray into…


  • OQLF : Nouveau guide destiné aux gestionnaires de communauté du Québec

    Il y a un peu plus de deux ans, je vous parlais de ce cas de la propriétaire de boutique à Chelsey qui avait reçu une lettre de l’Office québécoise de la langue française exigeant que sa page sur Facebook présente du contenu en français? L’OQLF vient de publier un guide pratique destiné aux entrepreneurs…


  • Dévoilement d’étude : les journalistes québécois et les réseaux sociaux

      Joignez-vous à moi demain soir, sur place ou en webdiffusion, dans le cadre de la Soirée des grands communicateurs, événement organisé par La Toile des communicateurs. Je dévoilerai les résultats préliminaires d’un sondage effectué auprès de journalistes québécois quant à leur utilisation et l’impact des médias et réseaux sociaux. La conférence a lieu dans les…


  • On ne me fouettera jamais pour avoir écrit ce texte.

    On ne me fouettera jamais pour avoir écrit ce texte. Raif Badawi, lui, a été condamné à 1000 coups de fouet et 10 ans prison pour avoir blogué. Badawi est emprisonné en Arabie saoudite depuis le 17 juin 2012 pour ses propos. Le jour de mon anniversaire. Je suis née libre dans un pays démocratique. Raif Badawi,…