Andrew Marshall
Paper publishes story Reuters spiked
Thursday 23 June 2011
The story, based on confidential diplomatic cables sent by the US embassy in Bangkok and obtained by the website Wikileaks, is about the royal family of Thailand, where strict lèse majesté laws prohibit any discussion deemed harmful to the monarchy.
Marshall, pictured, a senior editor in Singapore when he resigned three weeks ago, wrote in a sidebar headed “Why I decided to jeopardise my career and publish secrets” that the story is likely to be widely denounced.
“It is a story that has already cost me a job I loved with Reuters, after a 17-year career. Once it is published, I will be unable to return to one of my favourite countries for many years. There is a risk – small, but real – that I will face international legal action. And several people who I consider friends will be dismayed, and probably never talk to me again.”
Marshall said that as he read more than 3,000 US cables on Thailand he realised two things: “They could revolutionise our understanding of Thailand. And there was no way I could write about them as a Reuters journalist.
“Reuters employs more than 1,000 Thai staff. The risks to them were significant. In my 17 years at Reuters I've covered many conflicts; I spent two years as Baghdad bureau chief as Iraq collapsed into civil war. Several friends in the company have been killed. I've always been proud to work for Reuters. When I was told my story could never be published, I understood… With great regret, I resigned from Reuters at the start of June to publish my article for anybody who wants to read it.”
Having published the piece, Marshall said he was now a criminal in Thailand.
A Reuters statement said: “Reuters didn’t publish this story as we didn’t think it worked in the format in which it was delivered. We had questions regarding length, sourcing, objectivity, and legal issues. Also, we were concerned the writer wasn’t participating in the normal editing process that would apply to any story Reuters publishes.”
● SOURCE The Independent
Reuters editor quits over unpublished story
Friday 03 June 2011
Andrew Marshall, a senior editor in Singapore, has resigned over a story that he said Reuters refused to run.
Marshall, who was formally disciplined in April over what Reuters termed an “insensitive and inappropriate” remark in a company Internet chat room, posted the following on Facebook and Twitter on Thursday: “I just officially resigned from Reuters, so that I can publish a very important story on Thailand they refused to run. Watch this space.”
Marshall joined Reuters in 1994 as a graduate trainee and has reported from more than 25 countries, including conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories and East Timor. He was previously based in Jakarta, Bangkok, Baghdad and Dubai. In Singapore he was responsible for coverage of emerging and frontier Asia – Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South East Asia and Mongolia.
The incident that prompted his reprimand also resulted in the summary dismissal of Jakarta bureau chief David Fox for making a crude comment in response to Marshall’s remark. Fox was on temporary assignment to Tokyo at the time.
● Andrew Marshall's blog
Marshall, who was formally disciplined in April over what Reuters termed an “insensitive and inappropriate” remark in a company Internet chat room, posted the following on Facebook and Twitter on Thursday: “I just officially resigned from Reuters, so that I can publish a very important story on Thailand they refused to run. Watch this space.”
Marshall joined Reuters in 1994 as a graduate trainee and has reported from more than 25 countries, including conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories and East Timor. He was previously based in Jakarta, Bangkok, Baghdad and Dubai. In Singapore he was responsible for coverage of emerging and frontier Asia – Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South East Asia and Mongolia.
The incident that prompted his reprimand also resulted in the summary dismissal of Jakarta bureau chief David Fox for making a crude comment in response to Marshall’s remark. Fox was on temporary assignment to Tokyo at the time.
● Andrew Marshall's blog
Reuters fires bureau chief over crude remark
Friday 15 April 2011
Fox, who arrived in Indonesia in January to become Jakarta bureau chief, was on temporary assignment to Tokyo last month to cover the aftermath of the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan.
His offending remark was made in an overnight exchange with Andrew Marshall, a senior editor on the Asia desk in Singapore. At a disciplinary meeting this week Marshall was reprimanded and given a written warning for his part in the online exchange [● Reuters editor punished for chat room remark]. Other journalists, mostly in other regions, were also in the chat room, a virtual space created specifically for Reuters people involved in the Japan disaster story, and saw the remarks of both men.
Fox, from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, was dismissed without possibility of appeal. He joined Reuters in 1991.
Reuters editor punished for chat room remark
Thursday 14 April 2011
Marshall is responsible for coverage of emerging and frontier Asia – Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South East Asia and Mongolia.
His comment about radiation levels in Tokyo following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown – “Is your hair starting to fall out?” – was directed to a bald colleague in Japan.
It was in the middle of the night on the Asia desk in Singapore where he was alone on the overnight shift that had been started after the Japan crisis hit.
There were about 25 to 30 people in the Reuters messaging chat room created specifically for journalists involved in the Japan disaster story. All were Reuters journalists, mostly in other regions.
“I was feeling slightly miserable alone on the Asiadesk in the middle of the night watching images of death and suffering on multiple TV screens … I thought my message might raise a few smiles, and I know from extensive experience working in war zones and disaster areas how important this is for team morale,” he said.
Told he would be disciplined, he was interviewed and given a written warning, the least severe of three formal disciplinary sanctions available to Reuters. Marshall was told his comment was “both insensitive and inappropriate”. “I consider the penalty to be excessive and inappropriate,” he said.
Marshall joined Reuters in 1994 as a graduate trainee and has reported from more than 25 countries, covering conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories and East Timor; political upheaval in Israel, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma. He was previously a correspondent in Jakarta, deputy bureau chief in Bangkok, bureau chief in Baghdad, managing editor Middle East, based in Dubai, and Asia political risk correspondent in Singapore.
Reuters insiders in Asia said Marshall’s story is part of a wider saga, details of which are likely to be told soon.
