David Fox

I was dismayed to learn of the disciplining of two experienced Reuters correspondents over remarks they made on a closed chat-line restricted to a couple of dozen colleagues, while covering a physically and emotionally draining event such as the Japanese tsunami and its nuclear aftermath, which seems to smack of US-style political correctness gone mad [Reuters fires bureau chief over crude remark, Reuters editor punished for chat room remark]. Whatever the two may have said, it seems inconceivable that this could add up to a sacking/official warning offence. Fox and Marshall have had their share of tough assignments. Marshall was bureau chief in Baghdad when it was at its most violent and dangerous. He was asked when he came out of Iraq by our chairman Niall FitzGerald why he was prepared to take such risks. He responded, “because it was for Reuters”. One doubts whether he would say that now. It is hard to know which is worse - the colleague(s) who shopped the two to management, or the managers who decided that it was a disciplinary matter. A sad day for the old firm. ■