Kenneth Li is currently editor-in-charge of Reuters' technology, media and telecoms reporting team. He replaces James Ledbetter, who as op-ed editor "will create a stable of top thought leaders from around the world who will weigh in on news stories in a timely fashion on various Thomson Reuters platforms," says a memo to Reuters.com staff. || Also after the jump: Joseph Kapsch has been named editor of THR.com, the Hollywood Reporter's website.


Dear Colleagues,

Change is afoot in the Thomson Reuters Digital space, and we couldn't be more excited. With the aim of making Reuters.com a showcase for all of our Editorial assets as well as the go-to site for international news and opinion, I am pleased to announce some key appointments that will pave the way.

James Ledbetter, who has been editor-in-charge of Reuters.com since October 2010, will become the company's inaugural op-ed editor. In this role, Jim will create a stable of top thought leaders from around the world who will weigh in on news stories in a timely fashion on various Thomson Reuters platforms, creating a formidable one-two punch with Reuters Breakingviews. He will report directly to me.

Throughout 2011, Jim’s online team has produced multiple traffic records for Reuters.com. In addition, the site now routinely carries live, streaming video of Newsmaker events and has won wide praise for live blogs on the big stories. Prior to joining Reuters, Jim was the editor of The Big Money and deputy managing editor for CNN Money. Katharine Herrup, who has been editing opinion pieces for Reuters.com since last year, will report to Jim.

Taking the helm from Jim on Reuters.com is Kenneth Li, who has been editor-in-charge of the technology, media and telecoms reporting team. Ken will be the global editor for our rapidly expanding site, reporting to Jim Impoco, executive editor of Thomson Reuters Digital.

As a global media correspondent for Reuters, Ken covered U.S. media conglomerates such as Time Warner, Viacom and News Corp. He has also worked as a reporter for the Financial Times, New York Daily News, the Industry Standard and TheStreet.com, and co-founded and co-edited MediaFile, a popular blog that highlights the intersection of media and technology.

On Ken’s team, we are thrilled to welcome Ryan McCarthy to Thomson Reuters as a deputy editor for Reuters.com, alongside Brian Tracey. Ryan has been business editor of The Huffington Post, where he helped build the HuffPost Business vertical from the ground up in two years. The HuffPost Business' traffic has shown strong growth and consistent engagement with readers. Earlier this year, the section received a Webby Award in the best business blog category. During his time at the Huffington Post, Ryan led coverage on the mortgage crisis, Wall Street reform and other topics.

Ken will also oversee the online news team in Toronto, headed by Leah Eichler and Mario Di Simine, as well as Frank Tantillo and Silvio DaSilva in New York.

Barclay Palmer, who has been global executive producer for Reuters multimedia, will take up that role on the Digital team. Barclay will also generate video to accompany reporting from our Enterprise team, Top News and other groups, embedding videos into our stories to build Reuters multimedia and public profile. His team includes editor-in-charge Tiziana Barghini, and producers Ayana Morali and Ruben Ramirez. Barclay will report to me.

Over the last year, Barclay initiated the live and taped airing of our Newsmaker interviews, Davos Today and other events on Reuters.com, Reuters Insider and Reuters YouTube channel. Previously, at CNN, he was acting executive producer of Amanpour, and senior producer of Anderson Cooper 360 and Newsnight with Aaron Brown.

Please join me in welcoming this dynamic team, who aim to make Reuters.com the dominant site for global news.

Best,

Chrystia

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Press releaseJOSEPH KAPSCH APPOINTED EDITOR OF THR.COM

Kapsch Joins The Hollywood Reporter Website As It Exhibits Record Growth

New York, NY—MAY 19, 2011—The Hollywood Reporter’s Editorial Director Janice Min is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph Kapsch to the position of Editor of THR.com. The news that he’ll join the site comes just as new comScore results show that THR.com had 4.6 million unique visitors in April, up 14% from the previous month placing THR.com in the top 1% of all websites. This marks THR.com’s biggest month ever for both visitors and pageviews (12 million).

Kapsch was most recently the Editorial Director of the successful entertainment news site Zap2it, which he re-launched when he took over in 2009. Under his leadership, the site grew rapidly in all key measures with unique visitors reaching an all-time high. Prior to that, he was the deputy entertainment editor for online at the Los Angeles Times, where he ran daily news operations for the awards site The Envelope and worked on a redesign of the site’s entertainment section that expanded it from a one-page feed into a full service, multi-channel site. He was also instrumental in the creation of the influential blogs: Show Tracker, Idol Tracker, Pop & Hiss and Hero Complex. Previously, Kapsch worked for NBC Digital Entertainment as managing editor of the “Access Hollywood” site and held positions at ABC/Disney, MSN, Viacom, and Sony Pictures Digital.

Kapsch will continue THR.com’s rise as the leading Hollywood news site through a continued commitment to excellent entertainment business journalism, expanded partnerships and social networking initiatives, and a new focus on its video productions. He begins May 31st and will answer to Janice Min.

“The transformation of The Hollywood Reporter under Janice Min's direction, both in print and online, is nothing short of miraculous, and it's truly an honor to join the team of the best industry reporters and editors in the business,” Kapsch says. “I'm confident that given the tools at my disposal, the already stellar THR.com will be taken to soaring new heights.”