As he retires as Thomson Foundation chief executive - after a decade at the helm - Nigel Baker reflects on his previous 35-year career in journalism and lessons learnt along the way. Posted by Nigel Baker
Few jobs offer the opportunity to be bombed in Baghdad, set up an international TV news organisation and dance with the Pope.
I experienced all three during more than 35 years in journalism before being appointed chief executive of the Thomson Foundation in 2011. Each provided vital lessons in helping me to carry out the foundation's main purpose: supporting journalists in improving their skills and strengthening their businesses to help everyone get an honest account of what is happening in the world.
The moral of the story is you learn something from every experience. No-one can take away that knowledge, and the trick is to turn it to good use on a future occasion. You often learn more from the negatives than the positives: for example, working for a bad boss is dispiriting but can show you how not to behave when you are in charge.
I have been fortunate in my career that the bad bosses have been few and far between. From newspapers to local radio, national and international news agencies, and editing national and international television news services, I've had the privilege to work for - and learn from - some of the world's finest. So, what about those seminal experiences?
Image: Nigel interviewing Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, in Baghdad in January 1991, shortly before the outbreak of bombing in the first Gulf War
The value of training In 1991, I found myself as the producer for the UK television news network, ITN, in Baghdad when it was bombed by coalition forces after Iraq invaded Kuwait. While I was an experienced TV journalist, it was my first foreign assignment, and first in a war zone - a situation for which I had had no formal training.
Lessons learnt: The right training is vital for you to feel comfortable in the job and perform at your best; and whichever side of a conflict you may find yourself on, the overwhelming majority of ordinary people in any situation are decent, friendly and you get the best results as a journalist by treating them with respect.
Understanding cultures In 1994, I helped set up the international television wing of the Associated Press news agency and, as head of news, led the merger of its services with those of rival WTN which it bought in 1998.
Lessons learnt: As a provider of news coverage to most countries in the world, every nation has its own news culture and values. It is important to understand the local culture of wherever you are working. As digital technology evolved, it became important for journalists to understand the best technology to gather and distribute their stories.
-- Play
-- --
Watch: Nigel as head of news at APTV in the mid-1990s (from 0:43)
Storytelling skills And finally . dancing with the Pope. In 1982, as a reporter for the British national news agency, the Press Association, I covered the visit of the Pope to Liverpool. Outside the city's Catholic cathedral, I was standing next to John Paul II as he sang and swayed to the music with an ecstatic crowd. A colleague from the British tabloid, The Sun, reported a more colourful version that the Pope danced a jig of joy.
Lessons learnt: While my version was more strait-laced - and accurate - the idea of dancing with the Pope was more likely to keep the reader's interest then - and now! While being a news agency reporter instilled the importance of accuracy, the story is a reminder that telling a good story well is the essence of journalism. If we don't think about engaging an audience, we are talking to ourselves.
More from the archives: Nigel as an ITN TV producer in 1986, at a Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth, UK
Nigel with an ITN cameraman filming at the Red October Mine in Donetsk, Ukraine, during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
Telling a good story well is the essence of journalism. If we don't think about engaging an audience, we are talking to ourselves.
Nigel Baker, chief executive, Thomson Foundation
Related content
Parting shot: The greatest reward has been helping to progress the careers of countless journalists - Nigel Baker
Thomson Foundation appoints Caro Kriel - a veteran journalist with more than 20 years' experience in international news - as its new CEO
Change at the top: Thomson Foundation has announced that Nigel Baker, chief executive since 2012, will retire from the role in July 2021
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
As he retires as Thomson Foundation chief executive - after a decade at the helm - Nigel Baker reflects on his previous 35-year career in journalism and lessons learnt along the way. Posted by Nigel Baker
