Leveraging Reuters' global footprint on a big, global story

I am a former Reuters journalist who continues to read the file. Some aspects of Reuters' Ebola coverage have disappointed me - not the breadth of coverage but Reuters' inclination to resort to US datelines on its lead stories and the preponderance of US views. Reuters is a global news organisation, and it should bend over backwards at all times of the news cycle to present stories in their global context. If there is a global wrap on this story with a dateline from the epicentre, I cannot find it.

Today we have examples. The headline on Reuters’ lead Ebola story is "Ebola crisis turns a corner as U.S. issues new treatment protocols". The ebola crisis has turned a corner? That might be news to West Africa, where increasing numbers of victims are dying. Reuters’ second ebola story is "U.S. Republicans look to gain election ground on Ebola". An example of viewing this global story through the more narrow US lens.

I am not saying that developments in the US, medical or political, are not important. But the global dimension of the story and indeed the plight of the countries in Ebola's epicentre are lost in these stories, which are billed on the Reuters website and also on its mobile apps as the lead Ebola story.

Meanwhile, the BBC's main Ebola story this morning is "Ebola-hit nations get key supplies". US developments are wrapped into this story.

Has Reuters forgotten how to leverage its global footprint on a big, global story? ■