David Schlesinger
Tips for running a successful news agency
Wednesday 12 January 2011
David Schlesinger's ● Tips for running a successful news agency are a really good leadership philosophy. I've worked for 11 CEOs in the three companies where I was head of PR, and only the very best where able to articulate how they saw their jobs. This makes me want to know more, under each heading. How, for example, would David outline the standards and ethics he sees as vital?
Bjorn Edlund
Bjorn Edlund
Facts and comment
Friday 22 October 2010
Phil Stone, who as UPI bureau chief in the Nordics hired me in 1977 for my first real job in journalism, takes up a key issue [● Do we want commentary from our news agencies?]. In its extension, news becomes of no value if it is not processed using strict quality criteria – without integrity, even facts are suspect. As Google and other aggregators already devalue good reporting and news itself, I think forgetting the basics would do indelible harm to Reuters. Hats off for dealing with the offending columnist swiftly. And hats off to David Schlesinger for trying to keep Reuters ahead of the game – including interaction in chat rooms. But my question for David would be, what is value if not the integrity of your business, news?
Bjorn Edlund
Bjorn Edlund
Journalists' families
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Reuters is committed to looking after the families of our journalists and we are proud of how we support them when we have tragic situations.
We always pay compensation when a staffer or contractor is killed on assignment. When one is held, we work to obtain clarity on the charges and, if that is not forthcoming or inadequate, for his or her release.
We did press the US for compensation for the families as well, and while some was offered the families felt the amount was derisory and rejected it.
As I have stated publicly we continue to press for constructive dialogue with the military across a range of issues.
David Schlesinger
We always pay compensation when a staffer or contractor is killed on assignment. When one is held, we work to obtain clarity on the charges and, if that is not forthcoming or inadequate, for his or her release.
We did press the US for compensation for the families as well, and while some was offered the families felt the amount was derisory and rejected it.
As I have stated publicly we continue to press for constructive dialogue with the military across a range of issues.
David Schlesinger
Journalists' families
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Many of us who have been responsible for staff, and I expect many current members of staff, would like to know what the company did for the family of Ibrahim Jassam during his detention [● US military frees Reuters photographer in Iraq after 17 months], and what it is doing for the families of those two poor murdered men [● Video released showing US Army’s killing of Reuters news staff]. David Schlesinger's op-ed in The Guardian [● David Schlesinger: What I want from the Pentagon] had much more of the robust tone one would expect from an organisation of the stature of Thomson Reuters. Will the company now also be pressing for compensation for the families?
Michael Reupke
Michael Reupke
Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Two small points in response to Hans Ouwerkerk's intervention. Firstly I am not English, secondly Hans should know me well enough to know that I am concerned not only for the welfare of journalists and that I would have made as much fuss for a technician, a salesman or an accountant. I was merely applying the conventional wisdom, reaffirmed many times when issues of murder by government forces, kidnap and unlawful detention have been discussed in the International Press Institute or the Inter-American Press Association which groups employers as well as editors. That wisdom says make a loud noise and keep the spotlight on the case, never let it off the front pages or out of sight until you have the desired result. An exception is if noise is likely to endanger the life of the victim further. If that has been the case I of course bow to Tom Glocer's and David Schlesinger’s knowledge of the situations. It is perhaps time I shut up. Let me cast one more small pebble: It is galling that the nation which purports to teach the world democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom, should so blatantly flout the principles it claims to uphold. Every American should be ashamed of the recent events on which we have touched in this column.
Michael Reupke
Michael Reupke
Hugh Pain
Saturday 27 February 2010
When I joined Reuters in Asia in the late 80s, Hugh was a renowned figure as Chief Correspondent, South Asia. He had one of the classic Reuters careers, combining distinguished desk stints with time as a correspondent in the field.
David Schlesinger
David Schlesinger
Thomson Reuters' share structure
Wednesday 22 July 2009
I hope I can set a predecessor's mind at ease: when Thomson Reuters was created, it was created as a dual listed company. Thomson Reuters Corp is domiciled in Toronto and Thomson Reuters PLC has been in London. There has been one Reuters Founders Share in each of the two companies. Obviously if one of the two companies in the dual structure goes away so too will its founders share, but the other remains. I can assure all that from my perspective as Editor-in-Chief, the current Reuters Founders Share Company directors take a vigorous and active interest in the company and in editorial. That interest and engagement has, if anything, increased in the months before and after the consummation of the deal, particularly if I compare it to, say, a decade earlier.
David Schlesinger
David Schlesinger
Ibrahim Jassam
Thursday 28 May 2009
Thanks to Brian Horton for writing about this case, where progress has indeed been unsatisfactory. Your readers can be assured we are working actively on this – in Iraq, in Washington and through the Committee to Protect Journalists (where I am a board member).
My position has been consistent throughout: if there is a charge against or suspicion about any of our journalists, let it be aired publicly. If there is a charge, let the journalist defend his name with the aid of counsel and in an open, fair tribunal. If there is a suspicion about his actions, let us know what it is: we will happily explain why our journalists rush to the scene of conflict instead of away and why they, and we, put such a premium on speed of response.
We have no interest in harbouring a proven evil-doer on our staff. But I will not tolerate or accept innuendo or vague, unspecified charges against a journalist who has never done anything to cause us to question his probity.
David Schlesinger
Editor-in-Chief
My position has been consistent throughout: if there is a charge against or suspicion about any of our journalists, let it be aired publicly. If there is a charge, let the journalist defend his name with the aid of counsel and in an open, fair tribunal. If there is a suspicion about his actions, let us know what it is: we will happily explain why our journalists rush to the scene of conflict instead of away and why they, and we, put such a premium on speed of response.
We have no interest in harbouring a proven evil-doer on our staff. But I will not tolerate or accept innuendo or vague, unspecified charges against a journalist who has never done anything to cause us to question his probity.
David Schlesinger
Editor-in-Chief
Ibrahim Jassam
Thursday 28 May 2009
I noted your recent posting on the Reuter cameraman Ibrahim Jassam. The situation seems most unsatisfactory. I am sure that Thomson Reuters have been active in his case, however, I wonder if anything more could be done. Jassam, like the Gitmo detainees, seems to be in a sort of limbo. In view of President Obama's recent remarks on Guantánamo Bay could we not draw his attention to the fate of other prisonerers in other extra-legal detention? Perhaps David Schlesinger could find a way of alerting the White House to this injustice.
Brian Horton
Brian Horton
Arthur Spiegelman
Thursday 25 December 2008
Following is a quick wrap of Arthur’s funeral service on Tuesday, December 23, 2008.
The service was at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City near Los Angeles, which is surrounded by a hilly cemetery (Al Jolson is buried there). About 150 people attended amid a lot of tears and a lot of laughter as they paid their respects to Charlotte, sons Michael and Adam, daughter-in-law Karen, granddaughter Molly Mae and brother Marvin. Most Reuter staff came from the Los Angeles bureau. Betty Wong, global managing editor, and Evelyn Leopold, former Reuters UN chief correspondent, flew in from New York and Kevin Krolicki, former LA bureau chief, came from Detroit where he is now bureau chief. (Charlotte intends to hold a memorial in New York, at a time and place not yet decided.)
Highlights from the service in order of the eulogies.
Rabbi John Rosove read at length from Belinda Goldsmith’s tribute on Arthur’s career, including quotes from David Schlesinger, Bernd Debusmann and Bernie Woodall. He also spoke of a little known event in Arthur’s life when he was 9 years old. “He, his young brother Marvin, and mother Hannah were walking in the Bronx one Shavuot day and Hannah was fatally struck by a car. Arthur’s leg was badly injured and spent the next three months in a hospital. His doctor wanted to amputate, but Arthur’s father wouldn’t hear of it and did everything he could to successfully save his son’s leg.” The full text is attached.
Evelyn Leopold: “Arthur has been part of my life since The (Bergen) Record days. Charlotte was still Charlotte Alter, as wonderful then as she is now, and Michael and Adam were not yet in sight. He paved the way for my joining him at Reuters in London...
“A poet once said, We are the dreamers of dreams... Yet we are the movers and shakers.’ Arthur dreamt big, lived his dreams and made us laugh and cry at the words he used to shed light on the pleasures and sorrows of the world. We heard his voice, his laughter. We miss his warmth, friendship, wonderful sense of humor and never-ending quest for answers. We are blessed for having known him...”
Bernie Woodall (Reuters LA bureau who visited the Spiegelman household throughout Arthur’s illness)
“Arthur is gone but he lives on in his friends and his family – his wife of 42 years Charlotte, his sons Michael and Adam, his daughter-in-law Karen, his 14-month-old granddaughter, Molly Mae... I’d say that Michael’s and Adam’s kindness and humor are in large part derived from our dear friend Arthur.
“We can’t be Arthur. We surely won’t be able to write like him. But if we remember him, he can help us be better people. Write a better story. Put more passion into a letter. Be the one people are happy to see. Be kind.”
Sam Hall Kaplan (journalist, author). Sam first met Arthur while he was at the Bergen Record in the 1960s. Sam was then at the New York Times and recommended they hire Arthur. “He had street smarts... He sang even then as did his copy... The Times then made it clear it wanted Jews who may have thought Yiddish – as I did – but looked British. It was their loss and subsequently Reuters’ gain.” Sam met Arthur again years later in LA, hung out in his office “to score a book or two and laugh and laugh and laugh.” ... “He really had a sharp pencil, a sharp tongue, a sharp mind... You had to like him... a mensch.”
Larry Klingman (film producer). “You don’t cry in baseball and you are not supposed to cry in journalism. What I observed here is laughter. And it wasn’t the kind of laughter when you don’t know what to say and what to do. It was the kind of laughter that reflects Arthur... Arthur lit up the room... “I held on to Arthur on his way out... and I whispered one last joke, one last bad joke, and asked him to share it on his journey... Arthur opened his eyes and looked deeply into my eyes: ‘Are you kidding. That is the worst joke you have every shared with me’.”
Richard Dysek (actor who played Leland McKenzie on LA Law) who met him three or four years ago along with his artist wife, Kathryn Jacobi. He attributed the Yiddish-British line to Arthur and said Arthur gave it in response to a question from a young journalist. “What is important,” Arthur said, “Dress British think Yiddish”... “He was one of a kind. There was a man.”
At the end of the ceremony, Rabbi Rosove noted that everyone had stories about Arthur that made them laugh. He suggested that they be sent to Charlotte at charlotte520@mac.com (Address is 520 N. Fuller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036). In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Sova Food Pantry www.jfsla.org/sova/index.php.
Many of us then went to the Spiegelman residence where food was delivered in large quantities, starting with a load from Mary Miliken, LA bureau chief, and baskets from Zabar’s in New York.
Rabbi Anne Brener, a psychotherapist and friend of Charlotte (who is a clinical social worker), presided over the Shivah (Jewish mourning service). She said: Arthur died at the beginning of Chanukah, the time of the winter’s solstice, the darkest time of the year. She encouraged Charlotte and the family to allow the seasons, with their slowly increasing light to comfort and guide them as they move from this darkness toward a brighter future. “By binding themselves to the natural world, it is my hope that they will find consolation and hope.”
Evelyn Leopold
The service was at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City near Los Angeles, which is surrounded by a hilly cemetery (Al Jolson is buried there). About 150 people attended amid a lot of tears and a lot of laughter as they paid their respects to Charlotte, sons Michael and Adam, daughter-in-law Karen, granddaughter Molly Mae and brother Marvin. Most Reuter staff came from the Los Angeles bureau. Betty Wong, global managing editor, and Evelyn Leopold, former Reuters UN chief correspondent, flew in from New York and Kevin Krolicki, former LA bureau chief, came from Detroit where he is now bureau chief. (Charlotte intends to hold a memorial in New York, at a time and place not yet decided.)
Highlights from the service in order of the eulogies.
Rabbi John Rosove read at length from Belinda Goldsmith’s tribute on Arthur’s career, including quotes from David Schlesinger, Bernd Debusmann and Bernie Woodall. He also spoke of a little known event in Arthur’s life when he was 9 years old. “He, his young brother Marvin, and mother Hannah were walking in the Bronx one Shavuot day and Hannah was fatally struck by a car. Arthur’s leg was badly injured and spent the next three months in a hospital. His doctor wanted to amputate, but Arthur’s father wouldn’t hear of it and did everything he could to successfully save his son’s leg.” The full text is attached.
Evelyn Leopold: “Arthur has been part of my life since The (Bergen) Record days. Charlotte was still Charlotte Alter, as wonderful then as she is now, and Michael and Adam were not yet in sight. He paved the way for my joining him at Reuters in London...
“A poet once said, We are the dreamers of dreams... Yet we are the movers and shakers.’ Arthur dreamt big, lived his dreams and made us laugh and cry at the words he used to shed light on the pleasures and sorrows of the world. We heard his voice, his laughter. We miss his warmth, friendship, wonderful sense of humor and never-ending quest for answers. We are blessed for having known him...”
Bernie Woodall (Reuters LA bureau who visited the Spiegelman household throughout Arthur’s illness)
“Arthur is gone but he lives on in his friends and his family – his wife of 42 years Charlotte, his sons Michael and Adam, his daughter-in-law Karen, his 14-month-old granddaughter, Molly Mae... I’d say that Michael’s and Adam’s kindness and humor are in large part derived from our dear friend Arthur.
“We can’t be Arthur. We surely won’t be able to write like him. But if we remember him, he can help us be better people. Write a better story. Put more passion into a letter. Be the one people are happy to see. Be kind.”
Sam Hall Kaplan (journalist, author). Sam first met Arthur while he was at the Bergen Record in the 1960s. Sam was then at the New York Times and recommended they hire Arthur. “He had street smarts... He sang even then as did his copy... The Times then made it clear it wanted Jews who may have thought Yiddish – as I did – but looked British. It was their loss and subsequently Reuters’ gain.” Sam met Arthur again years later in LA, hung out in his office “to score a book or two and laugh and laugh and laugh.” ... “He really had a sharp pencil, a sharp tongue, a sharp mind... You had to like him... a mensch.”
Larry Klingman (film producer). “You don’t cry in baseball and you are not supposed to cry in journalism. What I observed here is laughter. And it wasn’t the kind of laughter when you don’t know what to say and what to do. It was the kind of laughter that reflects Arthur... Arthur lit up the room... “I held on to Arthur on his way out... and I whispered one last joke, one last bad joke, and asked him to share it on his journey... Arthur opened his eyes and looked deeply into my eyes: ‘Are you kidding. That is the worst joke you have every shared with me’.”
Richard Dysek (actor who played Leland McKenzie on LA Law) who met him three or four years ago along with his artist wife, Kathryn Jacobi. He attributed the Yiddish-British line to Arthur and said Arthur gave it in response to a question from a young journalist. “What is important,” Arthur said, “Dress British think Yiddish”... “He was one of a kind. There was a man.”
At the end of the ceremony, Rabbi Rosove noted that everyone had stories about Arthur that made them laugh. He suggested that they be sent to Charlotte at charlotte520@mac.com (Address is 520 N. Fuller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036). In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Sova Food Pantry www.jfsla.org/sova/index.php.
Many of us then went to the Spiegelman residence where food was delivered in large quantities, starting with a load from Mary Miliken, LA bureau chief, and baskets from Zabar’s in New York.
Rabbi Anne Brener, a psychotherapist and friend of Charlotte (who is a clinical social worker), presided over the Shivah (Jewish mourning service). She said: Arthur died at the beginning of Chanukah, the time of the winter’s solstice, the darkest time of the year. She encouraged Charlotte and the family to allow the seasons, with their slowly increasing light to comfort and guide them as they move from this darkness toward a brighter future. “By binding themselves to the natural world, it is my hope that they will find consolation and hope.”
Evelyn Leopold
David Schlesinger's Emmy
Tuesday 02 December 2008
David Schlesinger is possibly the best business journalist I have encountered in my lifetime in journalism. He will lift Thomson Reuters to even greater heights. The very best of luck to him.
Graham Earnshaw
Graham Earnshaw
David Schlesinger's Emmy
Thursday 20 November 2008
David Schlesinger is a brilliant journalist and thoroughly deserves this award. I enjoyed working with him and wish him all the best for the future.
Andrew Browne
Andrew Browne
