On Nov. 13, 1851, Paul Julius Reuter sent his first message over the new undersea telegraph cable connecting Dover and Calais.
Before moving to London, he used carrier pigeons to relay stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, bridging a gap in the telegraph line. Nearly a century later, on D-Day, Reuters correspondent Montague Taylor sent one of the first reports of the landings with Gustav, an RAF pigeon. Gustav flew 150 miles in five hours and 16 minutes. Our tools have changed, but commitment to being accurate has not.
It was an honor to dedÃcate nearly six years of my career at The Associated Press and compete with colleagues. As New York TV Bureau Chief and North American Operations Director, it was my job to help fund journalism through local news gathering, subscriptions, broadcast services, commercial productions. My experience showed me how fragile that funding has become for a nonprofit news cooperative.
Happy 175th, little brother Reuters, and thank you to the competition from your 180 year older sibling, The Associated Press and the combined thousands of journalists who combined keep the world informed.