I never felt so proud as when I worked for Reuters. First in the Stockholm office then as bureau chief of the Baltics, a tiny cluster of countries -- but with NATO meetings and Russian conflict punching way above its weight. In those days the company used to reward you for all the many, many hours of hard work. So I got a brand new Audi A4 company car, my penthouse apartment in Riga was subsidised, my son's education was paid for by the company. Those kind of benefits, which I had aimed for and secured, made me work even harder -- working sometimes into the night to secure those scoops. Like we all did. And when I got the job as bureau chief, the perks made me redouble my efforts. The salary was incident, the passion was for the work and for the company. I felt I belonged to the company, had a lifetime future with it awaiting me. It made me feel so much better than those poor Bloombergers (and, yes, I worked six years for that sordid company so I know all about it). When the Thomson deal came it was billed as merger of equals but a family member of mine, a Reuters VP in the US, swiftly put me right. It was a reverse takeover, plain and simple, and it was going to be ugly. How right she was. Fast forward, and all my dark presentiments have been confirmed. All the things that made Reuters great are either gone or on the way out. Fear is widespread. And, I detect, the sense of purpose, of drive, has melted away, too. I remember, once, on a trip to Venice (and yes, I stayed up till the early hours on that jaunt to scoop the world with an exclusive interview with the CEO of Electrolux) I was asked by a puzzled Financial Times correspondent why I didn't work for the FT any more. I told him that I was prouder to work for the Baron than the FT and considered my job with it to be my as yet crowning glory. Then I proved it the next day with the world scoop and he came up to me and just said: 'respect.' I worked for the BBC and that was great. But not as great as working for Reuters. No more. I am so relieved I am not living through the pain of these massive job cuts. And I am so angry at the systemic dismantling of the Reuters tradition begun by that treacherous jackanape Tom Glocer, who upon taking over as CEO promised great things about respecting the Reuters tradition, but sold out to pocket a pile of cash. He installed a bunch of yes men and women who began the Great Unravelling. The rest, to mix metaphors, has been watching a train wreck in slow motion. The fact that I have watched it from the sidelines, safe and secure, has not reduced my pain at the demise one jot. RIP, Reuters, my old friend.
21 replies (most recent on top)
congrats buddy, you seem to have unleashed the years of pent up anger/frustration about the reuters acquisition. it was probably one of the most value destructive deals in the history of corporate M&A. not only did we have to write off billions, reuters is a major cost center for thomson with consistently declining revenues and insignificant margins. let me put that in simple terms for you journalists: reuters is a financial blackhole with no light at the end of the tunnel. i hope that gives you a slightly better idea of what you're actually worth vs what you think you're worth.
I won't pay a single dollar for your "scoop" mate.
Anyway I don't read Reuters anymore. Too much editorialized content written by journalists for journalists and not for the market. Editors are not gatekeepers of news anymore. They don't even know what news is.
Subtle like a sledgehammer to the skull
FU OP
Subtle troll is subtle
OP post must be a joke or a troll right? Trying to be super British sarcastic and ironic maybe?
No is stupid enough to write a post like that. I hope.
And seriously TLDR all of it
I'm quite puzzled - what do you jackanape (if you see fit to use that term on someone else then you should also be ok with being called that) hope to achieve by coming to a TR LAYOFFS page, boasting about your perks and lamenting their loss to a bunch of people who have lost their jobs or terrified to lose their jobs, and most of whom could never even dream of enjoying your perks while working their butts off.
To rub salt on wound you claim to have a safe and secure job and watching the carnage on the sidelines.
You must be a sociopath or at the very least someone who's socially/emphatically deficient, perhaps with a touch of megalomania. I hope your new employer knows what you've been up to.
Dude, no one gives a rat's a-- about your trip to Venice and your "world exclusive" on Electrolux.
What you call a "Great Unravelling" is probably the rightful unravelling of your perks and paying you for what your work is actually worth, which is probably a latte.
Just curious. Are the Reuters BCs currently enjoying similar perks as this hero?
I certainly hope not because the quality of the reporters nowadays seems to leave much to be desired. Think there's another thread discussing how Reuters botched the reporting of what Neil Masterson said on the call.
Agree OP is full of bulldoodie, and also he should learn what TL mothereffin DR means
next time use some f---ing paragraphs
and I think you are full of sh--
What a self unaware dickwad OP is. All your perks is why reuters got taken over. And just for hording non investigative news, which can be found now on twitter or elsewhere.
My guess is the "family member VP" was purged when Glocer, Wenig and the majority of Wenig's directs were shown the door. That was the turning point. Joerg had spent many millions on a sales reorg that was doomed from the start. Then, to right all wrongs, the new management team issued a "Green Book" which was a 50+ page document explaining and defining the fundamental structure and roles within the organization. Clear as mud, that was.
Blackstone might want to give Sharon Rowlands a call sometime. She had her flaws but she knew what she was doing. At the very least, she wasn't an a--hole, which I can't say about any of her successors past or present.
Your self-agrandizing and $3 will get you a latte. Although, I am truly impressed you worked into the night a couple of times because you got a car and subsidized housing/education. I’m sure none of the TR staff that have been laid off never worked after hours for just their regular salaries.
As others have pointed out, Thomson saved Reuters from itself. If you’re wondering why Reuter’s changed so much, look in the mirror.
I also find it hard to believe that a bureau chief never learned what a paragraph is. However, your fantastic use of irony in calling someone else a jackanape is to be congratulated.
Ha Ha, this guy is a tool and one of the glaring reasons why Reuters is in the current state it is. Anyone who utters the phrase treacherous jackanape, deserves to be boiled in his own pudding. Good Day, sir!
Who is this "family member - a Reuters VP in the US"?
If she really exists, then she clearly knows nothing.
Thomson acquired Reuters when Reuters was darn near bankruptcy and that was the most value-destructive deal that Thomson could have ever inflicted on itself. As someone pointed out here, billions of dollars had been written off.
Thomson SAVED Reuters. Without Thomson, Reuters would have been dead. Reuters was not making money then and is not making money now.
You, my friend, are clearly delusional. I suggest you educate yourself first before you come here to a TR layoff page, mouthing off about your Audi and penthouse and international school education. As you can see by now, none of us are amused.
Wow, luxury car, penthouse and education for kids (no doubt in an international school)!
How do I sign up to be a Reuters BC?
Nevermind that as whole, Reuters News brings in only 6% of total revenue while chalking up $600m in costs!
You all might think that you're saving the world, but have some sense of perspective that the rest of the company has been subsidising your crusades. And FFS, stop whining about the lack of perks. The world has changed - young kids half your age can now do your job at half the cost and double the efficiency.
With all due respect, you embody everything that is wrong with Reuters: self-entitlement and over-inflated sense of worth.
What exactly did your "scoops" bring to the company in terms of revenue? Yet you're complaining that your Audi, penthouse and subsidized education for your kids were taken away from you, and therefore Reuters is no longer great?
And now you're "watching on the sidelines, safe and secure", feeling sorry for your former colleagues at Reuters?
It is probably for the better, and perhaps more cost-effective, for TR if people like you are no longer with us.
Spare us the schadenfreude, the faux sympathy and the shameless tooting of your own horn, and enjoy your glorious life beyond Reuters, if that really is the case.
"The salary was incident." Your salary also included the penthouse, Audi and subsidized education for your kid. Was this for all BCs across the company? Big, generous expense account too I suspect. And now you are surprised that when you stick your snout into the trough, the feed supply is less generous? Sounds like you got a healthy share when compared to the rest of us. Or are we less worthy, less important, add less value than you?
Not sure what was "reverse" about that takeover. Thomson bought Reuters, and made the mistake of letting Glocer, Wenig and a handful other Reuters' empty heads stick around far too long. I realise Media kind of lived in their own world, but come on, they were like 5% of the revenue and their margins were dilutive. Billions (with a B) in goodwill had to be written off a few years ago.
Not sure what is the purpose of this post beyond lamentations that a Reuters BC used to drive an Audi and live in a penthouse and now that's no longer the case. To me this encapsulates why Reuters News has fallen so much from its glory days.
Grow up. Your sense of entitlement and nostalgia for an era long gone is quite sad.
Coincidentally, when was the last time we've seen a real scoop that really matters coming from Reuters?
Everyone with a smartphone can scoop you in this day and age. Someone's always on the scene. No point in paying someone to be there an hour late and a dime short. A quick license fee and a quick write up, done.