Stop press: the news just in from Bangalore

Reuters, the financial information giant, has taken offshoring to a new level by launching a pilot scheme to outsource journalism to Bangalore.

Reuters, the financial information giant, has taken offshoring to a new level by launching a pilot scheme to outsource journalism to Bangalore.

David Schlesinger, global managing editor, told The Independent on Sunday that last month the group hired six Indian journalists to report official company announcements such as results. If the three- month trial is successful, Reuters will take on more Indian reporters, he said.

Mr Schlesinger said that the move would not necessarily result in the loss of jobs for existing journalists. He said it would free them up to do more indepth reporting, such as interviews and profiles, but he admitted that redundancies, or not filling vacancies, was an option.

"We have a long tradition of hiring journalists in India. The only difference now is that they will be reporting on things outside of India. We will only do it if it makes sense."

Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer has launched a £440m cost-cutting drive as part of the "Fast Forward" programme to turn the struggling group round. The group is committed to cutting 3,000 jobs from its workforce of 15,000.

Last summer, Reuters announced it was outsourcing some of its IT functions to India, which would affect around 1,000 staff in the UK.

But the hiring of Indian journalists to report on non-Indian companies is believed to be the first move to outsource journalism jobs to India.

It was rumoured that Richard Desmond, owner of the Express and Daily Star newspapers, was interested in outsourcing sub-editing and production to India, to cut costs. He moved production from London to his print site in Lancashire instead.