Pledge

When I joined Reuters as a young sub-editor in the early 1970s one of the first things drummed into me on the World Desk was never to allow through in copy the word “our” in reference to the British (or any other) armed forces. I was told in no mistakable terms that Reuters was an international news agency, its reporting owing allegiance to no particular country.

Over 30 years subsequently reporting from various places around the world, including on wars and conflicts in torn and divided nations, I rarely encountered anything but respect for Reuters because of its independence and lack of bias. This protected me and my colleagues and enhanced our reports in some hairy situations.

Now someone, presumably acting out of ignorance, has casually thrown this away, putting our reputation and the safety of our journalists worldwide at risk.

The editor-in-chief surely must now quickly speak out and forcible deny and retract this “pledge” to the British armed forces, or resign. ■