Reuters sets the agenda with strike on Pakistan Taliban chief

Reuters broke the story on August 5 that a U.S. missile had struck a house belonging to the father-in-law of Pakistan’s Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, publishing its report 43 minutes before its nearest rival. Reuters was then nearly two hours ahead with news that Mehsud’s wife had been killed along with at least two militants. Reuters set the agenda again in an exclusive interview with Pakistan’s interior minister, who said it was likely that Mehsud had been killed along with his brother and seven bodyguards. Eleven hours went by before another international news organisation matched this report, during which Pakistani news channels and the BBC cited the Reuters story. Bloomberg cited Reuters, and Dow Jones eventually published an AFP report on Malik saying the same thing, but without the details of the other deaths. From Washington, Reuters was 12 minutes ahead of Dow Jones with a U.S. official saying there was a 95 percent chance that Mehsud was dead. The numerous reports were insightful and authoritative, explaining the implications of Mehsud’s death for the war against the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, from the dividends to the remaining risks for Western governments and Pakistan’s President Zardari.