Mike Rhea
'Nasty nocturnal shifts'
Sunday 01 April 2012
I had two years of Fleet Street nights in the 1970s and wouldn’t have missed a single shift [● ‘Nasty nocturnal shifts’ go as Reuters merges regional desks]. Great days under the two Jims [Forrester and Flannery]. Great stories (out of thousands of highlights, the fall of Saigon live on the phone, e.g., and, memorably, the sacking of Whitlam written off raw AAP as our corro was off feature-writing in the Pacific). Wonderful friendships, wonderful gastronomic nights (haggis, tatties and neeps or French tripes cooked on a camping gaz stove on the horsemen’s desk). Fortifying pints in the early hours at the Newspaper Workers’ Club, where Telegraph typesetters were hitting the industrial-strength lager with triple Pernod chasers. Speaking to colleagues live on the other side of the world as history was made. Playing chess and bridge in the quiet periods. Time to reflect and de-stress. The quiet relief as the sun rose over St Bride’s. I agree with Mike Rhea, no hemisphere should be left unprotected.
Roger Crabb
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Roger Crabb
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'Nasty nocturnal shifts'
Sunday 01 April 2012
I worked the overnight for about 27 of my 31 years at Reuters, either by myself or as part of a team [● ‘Nasty nocturnal shifts’ go as Reuters merges regional desks]. I picked up the phone hundreds of times to alert staffers and managers, work national stories in areas with no stringers and chase CNN newsbreaks. I took three calls from Air Force One. While science shows that no individual can function at 100 per cent all the time on those hours, I think it’s a bad idea to leave the hemisphere unprotected. Clients will complain.
Mike Rhea
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Mike Rhea
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Changing editorial priorities
Friday 24 February 2012
Before I joined Reuters in 1974, I was assistant news director of WINS-AM all-news radio. I handled the contest entries. Policy changes are NOT necessary [● Reuters changes editorial priorities in quest for Pulitzers]. The prizes begin at the assignment editor level. The second step is giving reporters freedom to pursue major stories without producing smaller stories on their beats. The third phase is editing with the help of the reporter. Merit is also determined by consequences that follow publication. I was a full faculty member of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, while I worked the overnight in New York in 1983-1984. Reuters has the staff and the editing to win Pulitzer Prizes. The new management may be the key.
Mike Rhea
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Mike Rhea
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Multiple corrections
Tuesday 31 January 2012
I call it the “term paper” syndrome [● Multiple corrections on US story earn Reuters a black mark]. An alleged reporter with an agenda determines whether to heap praise on a politician or do a “hatchet job” in the morning. Then he or she spends the rest of the day gathering supporting evidence. If the evidence isn’t there, the reporter uses “congressional aides” or some other term to insert his or her own opinions. I recognized it on the desk, sanitized it when possible and questioned it to no avail. It is a corrupt and repulsive practice. The way to eliminate it is by managers refusing to accept blind sources.
Mike Rhea
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Mike Rhea
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Desk shake-up
Thursday 26 January 2012
In my less than humble opinion, any desk problem in my 31 years was based on the elements of hiring and training [● Reuters editorial desk shake-up in drive for quality]. Individuals were singled out and promoted by managers too lazy to read their raw copy. Some sub-editors demanded that copy fit their political leanings. Few understood that copy did not need to be changed in order to be edited. Good reporters and writers should be allowed their styles. I would hope that sub-editors would remain in two pools. In some cases, single skill business writers were both helpless and hopeless in handling general news.
Mike Rhea
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Mike Rhea
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Training
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Obviously, an individual with this background [● Reuters hires Pulitzer winner and new deputy social media editor] needs no training. However, news agency work and Reuters in particular deserves some orientation. For those who don’t know me, I taught three years at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia, including one year as a full faculty member. I hold an Ed.M. from Columbia in Curriculum Theory and Design. I think all new hires, including those at the stratospheric level, should spend two weeks on the Americas Desk in Washington or the World Desk in London to get an understanding of the organisation and how it works. I found it a difficult adjustment coming from all-news radio in New York, even with an AP background.
Mike Rhea
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Mike Rhea
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