Conversation with David Schlesinger
Editor-In-Chief, Thomson Reuters
December 2, 2008
The Levin Institute, along with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, hosted a breakfast meeting with David Schlesinger, the Editor-In-Chief of Thomson Reuters. The breakfast was held in honor of his receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for Business and Financial Reporting. After introductory remarks by President Garrick Utley, Bill Small, the Chairman of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards conducted a wide ranging conversation with Mr. Schlesinger about the state of the news business, the economy, and the rise of Asia.
Schlesinger was optimistic about the future of Thomson Reuters, especially since the merger of the two companies now provides a wider range of products. Not only is there Reuter’s financial and political reporting, but Thomson’s strength in legal, medical, scientific and health fields diversifies the company’s portfolio. When asked what it was like being an American in a British company, Schlesinger called Thomson Reuters, a truly global, stateless company with offices in many cities.
The news business is changing and Schlesinger acknowledged that the role of “editor as dictator” is dying in the world of information pluralism we now live in. The role of gatekeeper is gone. He said we’re now in an era of democratized journalism that includes both citizen and professional journalists. In this world, he sees the editor’s role as one that enables that democracy to work more effectively.
When asked about his most difficult challenge as an editor he said it was the grey area between balancing safety and story. Safety always comes first when you know all the risk factors involved. But when you don’t, making a judgment and balancing those factors from thousands of miles away can be difficult.
Since he spent a good number of years in Asia, Schlesinger was asked his thoughts on China. He sees some encouraging trends there in media but he cautioned the audience to look not only at the official media but also at blogs and text messaging. Of course, there is still no freedom to report on Tibet, human rights, and the primacy of the Chinese Communist party. But as big as those exceptions are, he observed that there is a lot of innovation and good reporting going on about other subjects.
Thomson Reuters has a relatively small business in China. It reports on China for the rest of the world and it also reports on China for China to its Chinese clients, which include banks and brokerage houses. Right now their material doesn’t make it directly to the Chinese public.
While Schlesinger said that journalists are good at reporting on what is going on now and what has happened in the past, he warned they are terrible at prognosticating the future. However, in his mind, he sees a shift of markets to the East. New York and London will always be important and huge financial centers, but he thinks they’ve had their day. The search for growth, profits, and liquidity will move east, including the Middle East.