Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) is hoping to step up its battle against Bloomberg by handing over responsibility for credit news reporting to its IFR Markets unit. About six editorial staffers will be affected by the switch, though Peter Szekely, secretary-treasurer of the Newspaper Guild of New York Newspaper Guild, which represents Reuters’ edit employees, says he’s been told that the affected staffers aren’t being laid off and will be transferred to other areas. In a company memo, Reuters said that all IFR Markets credit coverage, now sold as a “fee-liable service” on 3000 Xtra and Bloomberg, will be available for free on Eikon and other professional products. The goal is to package Reuters credit markets coverage into a “more compelling desktop offering in the credit space—a traditional Bloomberg stronghold.”

The other reason for choosing IFR’s reporting over Reuters’ own editorial is to eliminate the competition between the ex-Thomson and ex-Reuters news brands and suggests that the company is still looking for ways it can synthesize its various holdings since merging more than two years ago.

In the 1990’s, IFR was known as Tech Data and existed as such for about 15 years. Then, around 2000, Thomson bought it and renamed it IFR Markets.

In the FAQ accompanying the memo, Reuters sought to head off any worries about further shifts in its forex and government bond coverage, saying that IFR will not be taking over that area since there’s no real overlap.

So far, the union, which has been locked in a contract dispute with Thomson Reuters management since the previous labor agreement expired in Feb. 2009, is taking Reuters at its word that the jobs won’t be lost as a result of the shift to IFR. Still, the guild isn’t gaining anything either, since IFR’s 70 global staffers are not part of the guild.

A Reuters rep said the company doesn’t comment on competition. Both Bloomberg and Reuters have been working on broadening their scope to include business professionals while still maintaining their hold on financial companies, which is still where most of the revenue comes from for both. That was one of the reasons that, in addition to building out a more “consumer-facing” website and mobile apps,  Reuters introduced an on-demand, customizable online web video service for paying subscribers called Insider last spring.

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Full memo and FAQ:

Dear Colleagues,
IFR will take over leadership of credit news for all of Thomson Reuters as part of plans to give our customers the smartest, fastest, broadest coverage in the business. All IFR Markets credit coverage, now sold as a fee-liable service on 3000 Xtra and Bloomberg, will be accessible for free on Eikon and other professional products, making for a more compelling desktop offering in the credit space – a traditional Bloomberg stronghold. By eliminating competition between the ex-Thomson and ex-Reuters news brands, we are able to use our best assets to serve the broadest range of customers.

The IFR brands – IFR Markets and International Financing Review – are superbly positioned to provide first class coverage of primary and secondary credit markets. IFR enjoys a huge reputation in these markets as a premium news and analysis brand. Its editorial teams, with large numbers of former industry professionals, have unrivalled access to issuers and arrangers. These factors have allowed IFR to break news much more quickly than our traditional news wire rivals such as Bloomberg and Dow Jones (NSDQ: NWS). The combination of IFR, Reuters Loan Pricing Corp, and the Reuters Company News, Financial Markets and Investment Strategy teams gives Thomson Reuters an unparalleled opportunity to own the story of credit risk and corporate finance.

IFR is taking over coverage in centers that have clearest overlap in English-language coverage – Hong Kong, Sydney, London and New York. Reuters credit reporters outside these centers either write in other languages or cover other beats such as economics or companies as well as credit. Or they focus on specialized areas such as Islamic Finance. These reporters should keep breaking news on their credit beats and write and file these stories as they usually do.

This decision does not reflect poorly on Reuters credit reporters. Among them we have some of our most capable and connected journalists who worked hard to produce strong credit coverage. As Reuters stops covering credit from major centers, the company is strongly committed to finding all affected Reuters staff appropriate positions and will act in accordance with local laws and union agreements.
Please find the FAQs below to answer some of your questions.

Best Regards,
Dayan Candappa, Brian Rhoads, Mary Milliken & Sarah Edmonds

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FAQs

Will professional customers who now get Reuters credit stories be able to see all IFR credit stories?
Eikon customers and those with other professional products will. The fee liable IFR Markets credit service will be released free on to Eikon. Initially the stories will be available on a few common credit topic codes such as CDM, CDV, DBT (NYSE: BT) and EUB. Eventually customers will be able to search by address codes such E and D, by country topic codes, tickers (RICs) and Named Item codes.

Will Reuters reporters stop breaking credit news entirely?
No. IFR is taking over coverage in centers that have clearest overlap in the English-language coverage – Hong Kong, Sydney, London and New York. Most Reuters credit reporters outside these centers either work in other languages or cover other beats such as economics or companies as well as credit. Or they focus on specialized areas such as Islamic Finance. These reporters will keep breaking news on their credit beats and write and file these stories as they usually do. Their reporting lines and job roles will not change.

Will IFR staff follow the Reuters style guide?
No. All the IFR Markets credit stories that appear on 3000 Xtra will be written in IFR-style, under the IFR brand and dateline. IFR is bound by the Trust Principles as is the rest of the company. It does have different reporting rules, a different journalistic tradition and an excellent reputation for fast, accurate, agenda-setting news and analysis in the markets it has served for many years.

Who will cover cross-market credit events such as major fundraisings or bankruptcies?
IFR may well be the first to break news of a credit event that develops into major story about corporate solvency or sovereign or systemic risk. But Reuters should take over coverage of these events quickly, and handle them as they would any top story. These stories should conform to Reuters style and be published under the Reuters brand.

What if the sourcing on the initial IFR story does not conform to Reuters sourcing rules?
Kick off coverage quickly by citing IFR. Then work with the IFR team to get sourcing that conforms to Reuters standards.

Will IFR credit teams produce analyses on companies, sectors and market trends?
No. But they will produce viewpoint and commentary on the industry and market trends. Reuters company news, financial markets and investment strategy teams should keep writing analyses exploring credit-related themes that touch on companies, borrowers, funds, the financial services industry and market trends.

Will IFR take over Reuters forex and government bond coverage too?
There are no plans for this. The two services provide very different content on forex and rates, unlike in credit where they competed head on in areas such as new issue coverage.   

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