John Jessop's book

If correctly quoted from his book, Jessop is factually incorrect to credit the introduction of Stockmaster and Videomaster to Michael Nelson.

I do wholeheartedly share the view though that Michael Nelson deserves much, much more credit for Reuters successes than he has been given publicly. He indeed initiated the establishment of winners such as Reuters Monitor and Dealing.

The significance and fundamental Strength, as in Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities (SWOT) of the highly innovative Reuters Monitor in Reuters modern history may not be fully appreciated.

Videomaster, the Stockmaster successor, introduced by Glen Renfrew in 1964, was successfully challenged by Switzerland’s Telekurs’ Investdata Service in 1975. By February 1976, Reuters had a negative (cancellation) order book, amounting to US$1.3 million annual revenue in Switzerland alone. This was a highly significant part of Reuters total revenue and generator of profits in those days. By integrating Reuters Monitor and Videomaster functionality into a Single Terminal, a project spearheaded by David Ure, Reuters managed to see off Telekurs, after a four year dogfight for market share.

The strong currency, money market and news content of Reuters Monitor allowed Reuters to mask its lack of depth in fundamental equity coverage at the time.

Reuters Monitor, a project managed by André Villeneuve from the outset, also became the platform and funding cash cow for other ventures such as Dealing and Matching. ■