Davos then and now

I covered Davos from 1979 to 1983 when it was in its infancy. Accreditation? Hardly necessary. The foreign press corps in Switzerland (mostly at the other end of the country in Geneva) boycotted it as a silly jamboree up in the mountains. They scoffed at me for indulging in a disguised holiday. No journalists jetted in from abroad [Reuters fields huge team for Davos meeting]. In those days, the good and the great really did become miraculously relaxed and approachable a soon as they took their first gulp of mountain air. Stories came my way in abundance, some literally around a log fire. In those days, Reuters practically owned Davos, with the sales people providing Monitors around which delegates swarmed as they were the only source of realtime information. Today, the media still sneer at Davos as a silly jamboree up in the mountains. But they fight tooth and nail to be there and say it all over again. ■