Obituary: David Betts

He died after a massive stroke, his wife Patricia said. “He celebrated his 78th birthday last Saturday. We had a lovely day together.” They had moved to Dornoch in Scotland earlier this year from Sturminster, Dorset.

In the late 1960s, the World Desk was the hub of Reuters’ new General News Division. Betts became its head with the title world services editor in 1975. The three assistant world services editors were Basil Chapman, Roger Green and Jack Hartzman. George Short, a London-based correspondent who later became training editor, immediately dubbed them “the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”, a name that endured.

Betts began his life in journalism as a reporter on the Mail-Star in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1956, quickly followed by a spell on the Chronicle-Herald. In 1962 he moved to Toronto to join Canadian Press and joined Reuters in London in 1964 as a sub-editor.

He was chief correspondent, UK and Ireland in 1969 before transferring to the World Desk as night editor and deputy world services editor. He was world services editor from 1975 to 1983. Various desk roles were followed by two years as audio editor-manager before a posting to Beirut as chief representative, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Cyprus. This was followed by an assignment to Oslo as manager, Norway. On his return to London he had a training and new projects role before retiring in 1991. Work as a training consultant to the Reuters Foundation continued until 2000.

Postscript: The funeral will be at Dornoch Cathedral (Church of Scotland), Dornoch, Scotland at 11:00 am on Wednesday 29 October. Patricia Betts requests family flowers only. ■