Award-winning business writer Felix Salmon has left Reuters for an online role at younger-skewing cable news network Fusion.
He will start on Monday as the organization’s new web-based senior editor, in which he’ll be focused on new ways to tell stories across multiple platforms.
“The reason why I am going to Fusion,” he told the New York Times, “is that they have the ability to help me communicate in the ways that people are going to consume information in the future. Which is not 1,500-word blocks of text.”
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In this new role, Salmon said he will be producing “animations, videos, data visualization stuff, ways of using other platforms to convey information and tell stories.”
Salmon said his job at the cable network, which is owned by ABC and Univision, will neither have the end goal of attracting readers to the website, nor will it be driven by advertising initiatives.
Fusion’s Chief Digital Officer Daniel Eilemberg described the network’s goal as becoming a “multiplatform, digital-first cable network, which is trying to reach an audience that is digital-native.”
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Salmon may also work with Nate Silver, the editor-in-chief of ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight blog and a Special Correspondent for ABC News.
Among the first web journalists, British-born Salmon created a blog in 1999. He would go on to work for Conde Nast’s business magazine Portfolio before joining Reuters in 2009.
In 2012, Salmon won a Loeb award for business journalism in the blogging category for his work at Reuters.
Read Fusion CEO Isaac Lee’s memo to staff announcing that Salmon would be joining Fusion’s digital team below:
Hola Fusion,
As some of you are already aware, we are very pleased to announce that Felix Salmon will be joining Fusion’s digital team as Senior Editor.
Our goal every day is to experiment and innovate with new ways of telling stories and the ways we deliver them to our community. As we delve into issues that are both complex and vitally important to our young, diverse audience there is no one better than Felix to help us cut through the clutter and distill those issues making them understandable, insightful and compelling.
Throughout his career, Felix has established himself as a distinctive voice on financial issues, the economy, and the media industry. We will tap into Felix’s expertise in those areas, while also asking him help us tackle a range of topics that uniquely interest our audience — from climate change and technology to art and culture.
He will work closely with our digital producers and designers to tell stories by weaving text, sound, video, photos and data into one. They’ll be focused developing smart, irreverent, informative content for all of our platforms – from television and the web to Instagram and other emerging platforms.
Felix comes to us from Reuters where for the past 5 years he has provided analysis and commentary for their digital properties. Prior to his work at Reuters, Felix has also written stories for a number of other publications including Portfolio, Politico, and Wired.
I believe Felix’s decision to join Fusion reflects his deep understanding of the way the millennial generation likes to communicate and consume information. His vision and forward-thinking approach to news coupled with Fusion’s interest in pushing beyond the capabilities and restraints of what traditional media companies are able or willing to offer makes him the perfect addition to our team.
Felix penned a piece explaining why he is joining Fusion, you can read that here.
Please join me in welcoming Felix (@FelixSalmon) to the Fusion team.
Abrazos,
Isaac