Reuters has revamped its Reuters.com website to give what it calls "a glimpse into the future of online publishing."
The website showcases a wider range of content, more intelligent and with more analysis and comment than the previous news-heavy website. A news release said Reuters.com "marries a strong editorial voice with professional-grade information and data." The new emphasis reflects the agency's broader base since it was taken over by the Canadian group, Thomson Corp, to become Thomson Reuters.
The Financial Times said the new website could pave the way for Thomson Reuters to follow other media owners, from Rpert Murdoch's News Corp. to Newsday, in charging for some content rather than relying only on online advertising.
“I think eventually we will [charge],” Alisa Bowen, head of consumer publishing for Thomson Reuters, was quoted as telling the FT. “This is designed to be an ad-supported property, but as we introduce a greater range of content we will be looking for a range of different business models.”
The news release from Thomson Reuters New York HQ said:
Reuters Unveils a Glimpse into the Future of Online Publishing
New Website Narrows in on Key Industry Topics
New York - Reuters.com today announced the launch of its new consumer website, which marries a strong editorial voice with professional-grade information and data, powered by the newly formed Thomson Reuters.
“The creation of Thomson Reuters gave us an opportunity to re-evaluate the key areas of focus for Reuters.com,” said Alisa Bowen, head of consumer publishing for Thomson Reuters. “Leveraging professional assets from across the company, the redesign has allowed Reuters.com to evolve into a platform that focuses on building deep business knowledge around key topic areas.”
With a world overwhelmed by data, news, and information, the goal of the redesign was to make Reuters.com content more intelligent, giving business professionals an inside edge. The content on the new site has been organized by topics and themes to create online communities, which adjust as the world’s news agenda evolves.
“Reuters.com was redesigned to provide an online touch point for the business professional audience, giving them the tools to make smart decisions and navigate market challenges,” added Bowen.
The bold, new design propels Reuters into a new era of online publishing, with advanced multimedia capabilities, personalization and data presentation. Balancing design and usability, the site features:
* News in Numbers: visually appealing market data based on relevant topic-matter
* Day in Pictures: the day’s news with the use of Reuters award-winning photography
* Funds Center: professional Lipper data for an online consumer audience
* Commentary: world-class news with analysis and opinion
* Personalize, Track and Save: create portfolios, follow topics, customize tracking
* Unique advertising platforms: introducing contextual targeting and point-of-entry packages to target visitors from search engines
The new site is a glimpse into the future of the online publishing industry, but is only a taste of what’s to come. Reuters.com will evolve along side the demands of the progressive consumer in the new era of digital news.
In 2010 redesigned websites in the UK, India, Japan and China, as well as the 13 additional local language markets, will follow suit.
Reuters engaged Brooklyn-based digital agency HUGE on the site’s strategic design and enhanced user experience.
About Reuters
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider touching more than 1 billion people a day. Reuters provides unbiased business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world’s media organizations, as well as directly to affluent business professionals through Reuters.com and other digital platforms.
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.
Media Contacts
Erin Kurtz
Thomson Reuters (U.S.)
Tel: +1 646.223.8149
The Financial Times report on the website revamp said:
Thomson Reuters to overhaul news website
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York
Thomson Reuters is expected to introduce an overhauled version of its news website on Friday (Dec 4), in an effort to showcase a wider range of content from the former Thomson Corp professional businesses.
The new Reuters.com could also pave the way for the news agency to follow other media owners from News Corp to Newsday in charging for some content rather than relying only on online advertising.
“I think eventually we will [charge],” Alisa Bowen, head of consumer publishing for Thomson Reuters, told the FT. “This is designed to be an ad-supported property, but as we introduce a greater range of content we will be looking for a range of different business models.”
The new site will highlight “dashboards” of data from across the group’s legal, healthcare, tax and accounting and financial divisions. “Part of its role will be to be a funnel into premium terminal subscriptions,” Ms Bowen said.
It is also designed to balance breaking news with more analysis and opinion, following the completion this week of Reuters’ acquisition of Breakingviews, a financial commentary website.
Ms Bowen said the new design, by Huge, an Interpublic-owned digital consultancy, featured fewer but more prominent slots for advertising which she expected to fetch premium rates.
Advertisers will be able to “take over” the backdrop to some topic pages and tailor their messages for people arriving at the site from search engines depending on what they have been searching for.
The redesign of the site is the latest Thomson Reuters initiative to use metadata from Clear Forest, a text analytics business the group acquired in 2007. “At the end of the day, to get people to pay for content you have to provide some extra value around it. One way is to make the content intelligent,” Ms Bowen said.
She would not disclose the cost of the overhaul, which was funded from the group’s $1bn research and development budget.
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