Barry Moody is the new Editor of The Baron

Making the announcement at the Baron’s Bash - an annual gathering of ex-Reuters worthies - Marcus Ferrar, chair of The Baron’s editorial advisory board, asked the gathering to show its appreciation for May’s great achievements in conceiving and running the website for 15 years. This provoked extended and resounding applause for The Baron’s founder, who joined former editorial colleagues at the Bash with his wife Dolly.

Ferrar said the board had at May’s request been looking for a new editor for several months, and the latter had enthusiastically welcomed the choice of Moody. The two Barrys (Pictured) have been working together on the site since late last year.

Moody joked that the transition should be smooth since some “crack Reuters reporters” had regularly mixed them up in the past. He praised Barry May’s enormous commitment to The Baron, to which he had frequently devoted two or three hours a day over many years, and paid admiring tribute to how he had soldiered on bravely despite illness.

Moody said he had hesitated to take up the role because of the time and commitment required but accepted in the end because he wanted both to help Barry May and ensure the survival of The Baron.

He said the site was a valuable resource for ex-Reuters comrades, a fount of news about the company, and sometimes a way of drawing attention to controversial decisions and policies by Reuters management. He cited as an example the 2021 UK Armed Forces Covenant scandal, when Thomson Reuters rescinded its support after an outraged campaign on The Baron.https://www.thebaron.info/comment/support-the-baron-defend-reuters

Moody appealed for help from others in editing and writing copy, saying he could not devote as much time as May to the task, and welcomed an early offer from Helen Womack, now based in Budapest, to provide occasional editing assistance. Others would be needed.

He also asked for suggestions of how to boost readership and contributions from a younger generation of former and serving Reuters correspondents, with news from inside the agency at a premium.

Getting people to sign up for the daily email digest of Baron articles was a good way to stimulate interest from a wider audience, Moody said.  

The site is very short of money to pay IT developers and others and Moody appealed for Reuters veterans to revive their yearly subscriptions.

 Barry Moody was one of Reuters longest serving correspondents and editors, reporting from across the globe for more than four decades. He led coverage of the 2003 Iraq war during a seven-year stint as Middle East Editor and was Africa Editor for 10 years. He worked in Italy for a total of 12 years in four different assignments. His other postings included Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australasia and the United States. He ran editorial operations in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal at the height of the EU debt crisis.

PHOTO:Rob Taggart's picture of the two Barrys (May and Moody) ■