Paul Smurthwaite
Reuters 'the acme of foreign corresponding'
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Sandy Gall, the former ITN anchor who began his international reporting career with Reuters, was touchingly full of praise for the Baron on BBC Radio Four's Midweek programme today. He described Reuters as “the acme of foreign corresponding” because of its high standards of accuracy and impartiality and said he believed this was still the case.
In his 1983 autobiography, Don't Worry About the Money Now, Gall wrote of his foreboding as he entered the swing doors of 85 Fleet Street for a job interview in 1953. In the event, company secretary WS Carter appeared interested only in Gall’s sporting interests and not much else. He was hired on a salary of just over £400 a year and spent 10 years with the Baron, reporting on the Suez crisis, the Hungarian revolution, the Kenyan Mau Mau conflict and the Congo war. The title of his book referred to a pre-posting briefing from editor Tony Cole during which Gall timidly asked about a pay hike. Cole drawled: “Don’t worry about the money now, old boy. Keep in touch, so long.”
Paul Smurthwaite
nbnbn
In his 1983 autobiography, Don't Worry About the Money Now, Gall wrote of his foreboding as he entered the swing doors of 85 Fleet Street for a job interview in 1953. In the event, company secretary WS Carter appeared interested only in Gall’s sporting interests and not much else. He was hired on a salary of just over £400 a year and spent 10 years with the Baron, reporting on the Suez crisis, the Hungarian revolution, the Kenyan Mau Mau conflict and the Congo war. The title of his book referred to a pre-posting briefing from editor Tony Cole during which Gall timidly asked about a pay hike. Cole drawled: “Don’t worry about the money now, old boy. Keep in touch, so long.”
Paul Smurthwaite
nbnbn
Ron Sly
Monday 17 January 2011
Ron's hesitant manner and diffident nature concealed a top class news brain and tight writing style which forged an enviable reputation at both Reuters and The Associated Press, where he was also a senior editor for many years. He was a thoroughly decent man who went to endless lengths to help young journalists establish themselves in often unfriendly territory.
To those of us trained in the provinces the name was instantly familiar through the widely-known Sly's News Agency, which fed media organisations throughout the UK with London-dated news items, particularly court cases and inquests. Ron's father Eric, a Quaker, was the proprietor.
When he retired in the mid-1980s, Ron took his devoted wife Morag on a grand tour of the Far East during which he bade farewell to colleagues in several countries. We couldn't help noticing that Ron, for whom a half pint of bitter was taken on only the most special of occasions throughout his career, had developed an entirely new relationship with the amber nectar. He was last seen gambolling down a beach on Bali, long white beard flowing and beer-can in hand.
Paul Smurthwaite
To those of us trained in the provinces the name was instantly familiar through the widely-known Sly's News Agency, which fed media organisations throughout the UK with London-dated news items, particularly court cases and inquests. Ron's father Eric, a Quaker, was the proprietor.
When he retired in the mid-1980s, Ron took his devoted wife Morag on a grand tour of the Far East during which he bade farewell to colleagues in several countries. We couldn't help noticing that Ron, for whom a half pint of bitter was taken on only the most special of occasions throughout his career, had developed an entirely new relationship with the amber nectar. He was last seen gambolling down a beach on Bali, long white beard flowing and beer-can in hand.
Paul Smurthwaite
David Nicholson
Tuesday 04 August 2009
Sadly, we're becoming all too familiar with the dreaded phone call informing us that another good friend has died. But because I had enjoyed a very extended "lunch" with Dave Nic and Bill Saltmarsh less than a week ago, it came as an even greater shock than normal to get that call.
Dave had been on sparkling form in the pub, hopping from one topic to another with his usual verve, toying with words as only the truly articulate can do. Oddly, it occurred to me during that last session that Dave had handled his increasing health problems with tremendous courage. Spinal degeneration had bent his neck double so he was forced to slump almost horizontally in order to meet you eye to eye. When we worked together, Dave regarded me as the desk's in-house physician (I don't know why) and would often book a consultation for an upcoming pub break. It was during one of those meetings that he told me he had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and I rushed home to check my medical tomes. It was not good news, particularly for a large chap who once held the round-the-desk sprint record for many years at 85, Fleet Street. But for the last 20 years, he never ever whinged. Not once.
Paul Smurthwaite
Dave had been on sparkling form in the pub, hopping from one topic to another with his usual verve, toying with words as only the truly articulate can do. Oddly, it occurred to me during that last session that Dave had handled his increasing health problems with tremendous courage. Spinal degeneration had bent his neck double so he was forced to slump almost horizontally in order to meet you eye to eye. When we worked together, Dave regarded me as the desk's in-house physician (I don't know why) and would often book a consultation for an upcoming pub break. It was during one of those meetings that he told me he had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and I rushed home to check my medical tomes. It was not good news, particularly for a large chap who once held the round-the-desk sprint record for many years at 85, Fleet Street. But for the last 20 years, he never ever whinged. Not once.
Paul Smurthwaite
