Reuters then, and now

As a kid growing up in what was then Rhodesia, I was always fascinated by news and was determined to become a journalist when I “grew up” - even though it was a very unfashionable profession in that era and reporters writing for foreign news organisations were considered lower than pond scum.

My favourite television programme was UPITN’s Roving Report - in those days we only had black-and-white TV - and I would scour The Chronicle in my hometown of Bulawayo looking for the IANA-Reuter signoffs at the bottom of foreign stories that signified they’d been written by what I considered was the world’s best news agency.

As a cub reporter with The Chronicle and The Herald shortly after Zimbabwe’s independence I did my first stringing for Reuters - mostly on the foreign cricket teams that were lining up to tour the country, but also on the Matabele rebellion that was steadily growing. I made hay during the Entumbane uprising, providing the same material to Reuters, AP, AFP and UPI. Whoever paid the most got it first, and it was the start of a fascination with conflict and hostile environment reporting that remained with me for decades.

When I finally joined Reuters full-time in 1991, it was a dream come true. For the next two decades I covered most of the biggest stories on the planet and landed what I considered to be the two greatest jobs in the company - Bureau Chief East Africa and Indonesia. I worked with some amazing talent - on the desk and on front lines around the world - many of whom have left the company, but many who still toil on. You knew you were following in the footsteps of great reporters, photographers and TV folk - and great deskers - and you strived to live up to their reputation.

Most of you know the circumstances of my departure from the company two years ago [Reuters fires bureau chief over crude remark]. It is an error I remain deeply embarrassed by, but I also feel I was badly let down by a few utterly spineless individuals who were desperate to ingratiate themselves with the new Thomson Reuters regime. It was a devastating period, and for a while I was genuinely adrift, unsure how I would survive without the Reuters umbilical cord.

From the outside, that regime now seems to be tearing down everything that I held in high regard. It would be easy to dismiss my remarks as those of a disgruntled former employee, but I hear the anguish every week from friends and ex-colleagues who still work there.

With this in mind, regarding the wave of redundancies currently being offered, I would urge anyone who is on the fence to give serious consideration to leaving - particularly those who, like me, have devoted a large part of their adult life with the company. You can become handcuffed to the organisation and it only takes a couple of years away for you to realise this. I am proud of what I achieved at Reuters despite my ignominious departure - and I will always cherish the experiences and friendships - but I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I am glad I no longer work for them, and that is a direct result of the current environment.

Having swapped the bunkers of conflict zones for the bunkers of golf courses around the Asia-Pacific, I can attest that there is life after Reuters - even if writing this letter to The Baron suggests I haven’t quite got away. ■