- Born:
- March 11, 1961, Echuca, Australia (age 65)
Robert Thomson
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Who is Robert Thomson?
Robert Thomson, born on March 11, 1961, is an Australian journalist, editor, and executive. He began his journalism career at age 17 and later became the Beijing correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Thomson's career includes:
* First non-British editor of The Times of London (2002–08)
* Managing editor of The Wall Street Journal (2008–13)
* CEO of News Corporation (2013–present)Known for embracing different cultures, Thomson is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. He increased the Financial Times's U.S. edition daily circulation from 32,000 to 123,000 in three years.
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What country is Robert Thomson from?
Robert Thomson, born on March 11, 1961, is an Australian journalist, editor, and executive. He was born in Echuca, Australia, and began his journalism career at age 17. Thomson later became the first non-British editor (2002–08) of The Times of London, and he also served as managing editor (2008–13) of The Wall Street Journal. In 2013, he became CEO of News Corporation.
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What kind of work does Robert Thomson do?
Robert Thomson is an Australian journalist, newspaper editor, and executive. He became the first non-British editor of The Times of London from 2002 to 2008. Later, he served as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal from 2008 to 2013. Since 2013, Thomson has been the CEO of News Corporation. Earlier in his career, Thomson worked as a copyboy and cadet on The Herald in Melbourne and at the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1985, he became the Sydney Morning Herald’s Beijing correspondent and also started working freelance for the Financial Times.
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What are some major newspapers or companies Robert Thomson has worked for?
Robert Thomson, an Australian journalist and editor, has worked for several major newspapers and companies. He began his journalism career at The Herald in Melbourne (now the Melbourne Herald Sun) and later at the Sydney Morning Herald.
Thomson also worked freelance for the Financial Times (FT), eventually running the FT’s foreign desk in London and becoming managing editor of the FT’s U.S. edition in New York City. Later, Thomson became the editor of The Times of London and editor in chief of Dow Jones & Company, which included The Wall Street Journal. He is currently the CEO of News Corporation.
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How did Robert Thomson become a leading figure in journalism?
Robert Thomson's rise in journalism highlights his orthodox journalistic skills and ability to embrace other cultures. At 17, he started at The Herald in Melbourne and later worked at the Sydney Morning Herald. By 24, he became the Sydney Morning Herald’s Beijing correspondent and freelanced for the Financial Times (FT). Thomson's fluency in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, combined with his journalistic talent, caught the FT's attention as it sought to expand globally.
He ran the FT’s foreign desk in London in 1994 and became editor of the paper’s weekend features section two years later. In 1998, as managing editor of the FT’s U.S. edition, he increased daily circulation from 32,000 to 123,000. In 2002, Thomson became the first non-British editor of The Times of London.
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What impact has Robert Thomson had on the media industry?
Robert Thomson, an Australian journalist and editor, has significantly impacted the media industry through his roles at various prominent news organizations. As the first non-British editor of The Times of London, he navigated the paper through financial challenges by issuing a compact edition and intensifying its focus on key areas such as business, sports, politics, and international affairs. Later, as editor in chief of Dow Jones & Company and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Thomson helped steer these publications through a rapidly changing media landscape. Since 2013, as CEO of News Corporation, he has focused on print ventures.
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Robert Thomson (born March 11, 1961, Echuca, Australia) is an Australian journalist, newspaper editor, and executive who became the first non-British editor (2002–08) of The Times of London. He later served as managing editor (2008–13) of The Wall Street Journal before becoming CEO (2013– ) of News Corporation.
Thomson was the son of a bar owner who later became a newspaper proofreader. The young Thomson entered journalism at age 17, working as a copyboy and then cadet on The Herald in Melbourne (now the Melbourne Herald Sun) and later at the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1985, when he was 24, he was appointed the Sydney Morning Herald’s Beijing correspondent. In China he started working freelance for the Financial Times (FT) and also met his future wife, Wang Ping, a local computer worker and daughter of a People’s Liberation Army general. Three years later he moved to Japan as the FT’s Tokyo correspondent.
In addition to his orthodox journalistic strengths, Thomson’s ability to embrace the culture of others rather than impose his own values (by his late 20s he had become fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and Japanese) attracted the attention of the senior management at the FT, which was seeking to establish itself as a global business daily. In 1994 Thomson was sent to London to run the FT’s large foreign desk. Two years later he was appointed editor of the paper’s weekend features section. In 1998 he moved to New York City as managing editor of the FT’s U.S. edition, and in three years he increased daily circulation from 32,000 to 123,000.
Thomson had hoped to succeed to the editorship of the FT in London when Richard Lambert departed in 2001, but he was passed over in favour of another candidate. Thomson then was approached by fellow Australian Rupert Murdoch to become editor of The Times, one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished daily newspapers and one of the U.K.’s toughest newspaper critics of the European Union. (In contrast, the FT was one of the strongest pro-Europe newspapers.) Thomson made the move in 2002 without any personal record of sharing his new proprietor’s hostility to European integration. His appointment was widely seen as an indication that Murdoch would allow the U.K. papers in his News International group—which also included The Sunday Times and the down-market tabloids The Sun, a daily, and News of the World, a Sunday paper—to follow different editorial policies in this highly charged area.
Thomson took over at a challenging time. By early 2002 sales had slipped to about 700,000, while the paper’s main rival, the Daily Telegraph, continued to sell 1,000,000 copies daily. Sharp reductions in advertising revenue—common to many media organizations following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. in September 2001—also had increased pressure on The Times’s finances. Under Thomson, The Times issued a compact edition and intensified its focus on business, sports, politics, and international affairs. In 2007 Murdoch appointed Thomson editor in chief of Dow Jones & Company, and the following year he became managing editor of its flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. He subsequently left those posts to become (2013– ) CEO of the newly reformed News Corporation (often called News Corp), which focused on print ventures.