Reuters 'the acme of foreign corresponding'

Sandy Gall, the former ITN anchor who began his international reporting career with Reuters, was touchingly full of praise for the Baron on BBC Radio Four's Midweek programme today. He described Reuters as “the acme of foreign corresponding” because of its high standards of accuracy and impartiality and said he believed this was still the case.

In his 1983 autobiography, Don't Worry About the Money Now, Gall wrote of his foreboding as he entered the swing doors of 85 Fleet Street for a job interview in 1953. In the event, company secretary WS Carter appeared interested only in Gall’s sporting interests and not much else. He was hired on a salary of just over £400 a year and spent 10 years with the Baron, reporting on the Suez crisis, the Hungarian revolution, the Kenyan Mau Mau conflict and the Congo war. The title of his book referred to a pre-posting briefing from editor Tony Cole during which Gall timidly asked about a pay hike. Cole drawled: “Don’t worry about the money now, old boy. Keep in touch, so long.” ■