Reg Watts - diplomacy's doyen

The term gentleman is frequently applied to Reg Watts. Deservedly so. Kind, supportive and appreciative further number among his attributes. But his diplomatic skill also served me well.

In the 1970s I was the first specialist econ correspondent to visit Iceland. As a sidebar to my trip (and to earn some brownie points with the commodities desk) I taxied to a local aluminium smelter. Iceland was then pulling off the neat trick of importing bauxite ore from places such as Australia, smelting at relatively cheap cost due to abundant geothermal energy, and then shipping aluminium and its products to places such as Western Europe. Surely my initiative in getting there and filing a unique on-site outlook for production and prices warranted departure from standard econ reporting style? Having taxied back to Reykjavik I punched my own telex at the hotel and shipped my masterpiece off to London. In those days it was impossible to see the econ turnaround until I re-based in Stockholm some days later. A nasty shock awaited. The London desk had butchered my masterpiece into econ's traditional number-oriented style, deleting any attempt at background or local colour. Red mist descended and in full prima donna mode I telephoned Reg. He of course had dealt with prima donnas before. Even senior managers had hissy fits. He asked if the desk had written errors into my story, a cardinal offence. It hadn't. So Reg recounted that every correspondent gets a savaging from the desks now and then. Provided this is not a regular occurrence and no errors are introduced, reporters should take it on the chin and just let go. He then lavished praise on my willingness to provide him with copy no competitor could match. He subsequently had words with my London butcher, praising him for fearlessness in tackling incoming copy but warning him of the need to talk with the author before radical changes were made. As a result of Reg's diplomacy both the desker and myself were left with egos suitably polished, and we both went on to work happily and productively for him in future.

Subsequently, as a news editor, I often copied Reg's diplomatic wisdom when urging correspondents to park a grievance and let the offending desker be dealt with in private. ■