1 00:00:17,620 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Too quick? 2 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:20,060 Speaker 2: No, it was perfect. 3 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:21,900 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Stop. You got it. 4 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,610 Speaker 2: Robert Smith, make the telegraph sound because I'm going to 5 00:00:28,650 --> 00:00:29,470 Speaker 2: talk about the telegraph. 6 00:00:31,090 --> 00:00:33,090 Speaker 1: I should practice it so it actually spells something. 7 00:00:33,230 --> 00:00:34,089 Speaker 2: Oh, that would be cool. 8 00:00:34,150 --> 00:00:35,150 Speaker 1: I'm going to work on that. 9 00:00:36,590 --> 00:00:40,500 Speaker 2: It's a lot of letters. I think the telegraph is underrated. 10 00:00:40,519 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 2: I think the telegraph is underrated. The telegraph, like, think 11 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,849 Speaker 2: of this. It's the first moment when you have instantaneous communication. 12 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:52,010 Speaker 2: It is the zero to one moment in the history 13 00:00:52,050 --> 00:00:54,030 Speaker 2: of sending information instantly. 14 00:00:54,570 --> 00:00:58,470 Speaker 1: Because something could have taken two weeks by horseback. Months! 15 00:00:58,670 --> 00:00:59,670 Speaker 2: Months by ship! 16 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:03,959 Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden... It's now. You're sharing 17 00:01:03,980 --> 00:01:04,900 Speaker 1: a simultaneous now. 18 00:01:04,960 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 2: You can have a conversation across the Atlantic Ocean in 19 00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:11,700 Speaker 2: basically real time. It was a huge change in the 20 00:01:11,740 --> 00:01:14,820 Speaker 2: way people lived, in the way people thought, understood the world. 21 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,279 Speaker 2: And of course, it was a huge change in business. 22 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,940 Speaker 2: And one of the people who understood it first and 23 00:01:20,980 --> 00:01:26,309 Speaker 2: who understood it best was one Julius Reuter. Of Reuters fame, 24 00:01:26,510 --> 00:01:27,690 Speaker 2: I'm Jacob Goldstein. 25 00:01:27,850 --> 00:01:30,490 Speaker 1: I'm Robert Smith, and this is Business History, a show 26 00:01:31,090 --> 00:01:32,030 Speaker 1: about the history of business. 27 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,050 Speaker 2: Julius Reuter built Reuters, a news agency that I think 28 00:01:36,090 --> 00:01:37,950 Speaker 2: is underrated in the United States. 29 00:01:37,970 --> 00:01:38,860 Speaker 1: You used to have apostrophe S. 30 00:01:39,370 --> 00:01:43,310 Speaker 2: Yes, now it's just Reuters like Father's Day, I think. 31 00:01:43,370 --> 00:01:46,590 Speaker 2: Does Father's Day have an apostrophe? Or it's R apostrophe S, 32 00:01:46,690 --> 00:01:50,110 Speaker 2: which makes no sense. It should be S apostrophe. Reuters 33 00:01:50,270 --> 00:01:56,850 Speaker 2: is in 165 countries. They have thousands of journalists. The 34 00:01:56,910 --> 00:01:59,940 Speaker 2: Pope in Rome is... was giving a speech in the 35 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,150 Speaker 2: late 20th century to a bunch of journalists, and he. 36 00:02:02,130 --> 00:02:02,650 Speaker 1: Said, if St. 37 00:02:02,710 --> 00:02:06,570 Speaker 2: Paul the Apostle, the man who spread Christianity, came back today, 38 00:02:07,050 --> 00:02:11,370 Speaker 2: he would run Reuters. Because Reuters is Christian. It's not. 39 00:02:11,410 --> 00:02:14,820 Speaker 2: It's not religious. But because in much of the world, 40 00:02:15,180 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 2: when you think news, you don't think the New York 41 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 2: Times or the BBC or in Rome, the Corriere della Sera. 42 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:23,910 Speaker 1: You think Reuters. 43 00:02:34,350 --> 00:02:37,790 Speaker 2: Robert Smith, this is the time in our program when 44 00:02:37,830 --> 00:02:41,070 Speaker 2: we do the full name, like in the second paragraph 45 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:41,850 Speaker 2: of the obituary. 46 00:02:42,060 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: He's not just. 47 00:02:42,860 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: Reuter, he is Paul Julius Reuter. Bonus, he was born 48 00:02:48,419 --> 00:02:50,559 Speaker 2: Israel Beer Josaphat. 49 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,780 Speaker 1: I like beer much better than Julius. Julius is a 50 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,989 Speaker 1: weird middle name. I knew this middle name was my name, too. 51 00:02:58,350 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 2: He was born in 1816 in Kassel, Germany. German Confederation 52 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: at the time. Germany was not yet Germany, but we're 53 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,460 Speaker 2: just going to call it Germany. His father was a rabbi. 54 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 2: And at an early age, he went off to Göttingen, 55 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,220 Speaker 2: I don't speak German, to work for his uncle's bank. 56 00:03:17,470 --> 00:03:22,970 Speaker 2: One of his biographers described him as small, dark, keen 57 00:03:23,010 --> 00:03:26,209 Speaker 2: of eye, and succinct in conversation. 58 00:03:26,810 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: They're missing a big thing about Mr. Reuter. Jewish? Jewish. No, 59 00:03:32,260 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: his giant, giant sideburns. And, you know, we've done a 60 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,180 Speaker 1: lot of sideburns in the show, but these are magnificent. 61 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:42,220 Speaker 2: Would you even call them sideburns? They're wings. As you 62 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,300 Speaker 2: pointed out the other day when we looked at this picture, 63 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 2: we have this old picture of him. 64 00:03:46,260 --> 00:03:46,860 Speaker 1: Of course, it's old. 65 00:03:48,940 --> 00:03:52,140 Speaker 2: They come down like triangles off of his cheeks. And 66 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 2: you pointed out that if he were to turn his head, 67 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:59,660 Speaker 2: they would sweep his shoulders like a broom. It's incredible. Yeah, 68 00:03:59,780 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 2: I feel like he looks like a, A Jewish John. 69 00:04:03,140 --> 00:04:03,660 Speaker 1: Lennon, basically. 70 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:05,710 Speaker 2: You know, he's got the John Lennon glasses, which we 71 00:04:05,730 --> 00:04:09,230 Speaker 2: should call the Julius Reuter glasses. There is a story 72 00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:13,510 Speaker 2: about Reuter as a young man when he's working for 73 00:04:13,550 --> 00:04:16,990 Speaker 2: the bank in Göttingen. That is delightful and at least 74 00:04:17,050 --> 00:04:18,780 Speaker 2: plausibly true. So I'm going to tell it to you. 75 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: Go with it. 76 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,900 Speaker 2: There's a mathematician in town by the name of Friedrich Gauss. 77 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:25,779 Speaker 2: Maybe you've heard of him. 78 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: I have. 79 00:04:26,340 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 2: Normal distribution. 80 00:04:27,380 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. 81 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 2: Bell curve. 82 00:04:30,730 --> 00:04:31,340 Speaker 1: One day.... 83 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:36,180 Speaker 2: Young Julius Reuter goes and picks up a bag of 84 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 2: gold coins from Professor Gauss to be deposited at the bank. 85 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: Apparently, it was very lucrative to draw curves back in 86 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:43,900 Speaker 1: the day. 87 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:50,660 Speaker 2: He was big in curves. And Reuter realizes that the 88 00:04:50,740 --> 00:04:54,380 Speaker 2: brilliant mathematician has put too many gold coins in the bag. 89 00:04:54,430 --> 00:04:58,570 Speaker 2: He has miscounted. Delightful. He goes back to tell him, 90 00:04:58,990 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 2: because he's an honest man. And Gauss is very grateful 91 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 2: and impressed. And he shows young Julius Reuter this thing 92 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,669 Speaker 2: he's tinkering with. This wire he has strung from the 93 00:05:08,710 --> 00:05:13,350 Speaker 2: top of a church steeple to send messages electronically. It 94 00:05:13,430 --> 00:05:14,930 Speaker 2: is a proto-telegraph. 95 00:05:15,190 --> 00:05:16,650 Speaker 1: What, a block? Three blocks away? 96 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 2: A few kilometers. A few kilometers, apparently. And Reuter is impressed. And, 97 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 2: you know, they don't quite have the code part yet. 98 00:05:26,860 --> 00:05:29,980 Speaker 2: Gauss is no Morse. But, you know, the idea is 99 00:05:30,020 --> 00:05:32,789 Speaker 2: that Reuters sees this and sort of stores it away. Like, ah, 100 00:05:32,910 --> 00:05:34,529 Speaker 2: here is a thing in the world that is coming. 101 00:05:34,710 --> 00:05:36,630 Speaker 1: Yeah, as they say with AI today, this is the 102 00:05:36,790 --> 00:05:39,550 Speaker 1: worst the telegraph will ever be. Yeah, yeah. It just 103 00:05:39,570 --> 00:05:41,850 Speaker 1: gets better from there. And if you can see that, 104 00:05:42,390 --> 00:05:44,170 Speaker 1: then you can see opportunities. 105 00:05:44,470 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 2: So it will be Reuters' big opportunity. It will be 106 00:05:47,220 --> 00:05:51,580 Speaker 2: what he seizes to build this enduring company. Although it's 107 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 2: going to take him a little while. He's got to 108 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,100 Speaker 2: bounce around the world for a few years first. 109 00:05:56,220 --> 00:05:56,420 Speaker 1: So. 110 00:05:57,450 --> 00:06:00,790 Speaker 2: He goes to Berlin and works in publishing a little bit. 111 00:06:00,830 --> 00:06:04,940 Speaker 2: He gets married, converts to Christianity, changes his name to 112 00:06:04,980 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 2: something a little less Jewish than Israel, Josaphat, to Paul 113 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 2: Julius Reuter. And after the revolutions of 1848, a tumultuous time, 114 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:19,420 Speaker 2: he moves to Paris, to France. And this is where 115 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 2: he gets into the news business for the first time. 116 00:06:22,690 --> 00:06:26,710 Speaker 2: He works initially as a translator in at this news 117 00:06:26,810 --> 00:06:32,410 Speaker 2: agency called Havas, spelled Havas, but I think pronounced Havas. 118 00:06:33,450 --> 00:06:38,549 Speaker 2: And Havas still exists today, amazingly, another one, like Reuters 119 00:06:38,570 --> 00:06:41,150 Speaker 2: still exists today. It's even older. And there's actually two 120 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:46,500 Speaker 2: sides of it. You've probably heard of AFP, Agence France-Presse, 121 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 2: the news agency out of France. So that is descended 122 00:06:50,300 --> 00:06:52,780 Speaker 2: from Havas. And then there's also a company called Havas 123 00:06:53,180 --> 00:06:58,740 Speaker 2: that it's in the marketing, kind of advertising communications business. Reuter, 124 00:06:58,779 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 2: of course, was early. He was working for the original Havas, 125 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 2: one Charles-Louis Havas, who had been a banker, who had 126 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:11,910 Speaker 2: loaned money to Napoleon. Of course, he didn't get paid 127 00:07:11,970 --> 00:07:14,470 Speaker 2: back part of the risk of lending money to Napoleon. 128 00:07:14,490 --> 00:07:16,690 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why you have a high interest rate. 129 00:07:16,710 --> 00:07:22,230 Speaker 2: That's right. So Havas' second act was to start this 130 00:07:22,940 --> 00:07:27,700 Speaker 2: News agency. Basically, he started out gathering information from foreign 131 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:32,890 Speaker 2: newspapers around Europe, translating it into French, and distributing the 132 00:07:32,930 --> 00:07:34,730 Speaker 2: information to newspapers around Paris. 133 00:07:34,950 --> 00:07:36,910 Speaker 1: Which would have been useful if you were lending money 134 00:07:36,970 --> 00:07:38,830 Speaker 1: to someone who's leading an army across Europe. 135 00:07:39,150 --> 00:07:41,250 Speaker 2: Yeah, you want to know what's the word in Austria. 136 00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:44,390 Speaker 2: This was after that. But if he could have only 137 00:07:44,420 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 2: had a report from Belgium back in whatever it was, 1815? 138 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,140 Speaker 2: When was Waterloo? 139 00:07:50,140 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: Yeah. 140 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 2: So Reuter works for Avas for a little bit and 141 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,940 Speaker 2: then decides to strike out on his own. He's an 142 00:07:56,980 --> 00:08:01,550 Speaker 2: entrepreneurial guy, decides to get into the news business himself. 143 00:08:01,790 --> 00:08:07,110 Speaker 2: And his first business is going to be printing basically 144 00:08:07,150 --> 00:08:11,270 Speaker 2: a newsletter, like a news sheet in German, and then 145 00:08:11,370 --> 00:08:13,660 Speaker 2: sending it off to his contacts from when he worked 146 00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:16,860 Speaker 2: in Germany. So it's basically delivering news from Paris to 147 00:08:16,900 --> 00:08:20,730 Speaker 2: people in Germany. And he rents this kind of crappy 148 00:08:21,330 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 2: top floor room on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 149 00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: I love Parisian street names. What a great address. I know. 150 00:08:28,300 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 2: How come we don't have Herman Melville Boulevard? 151 00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:32,339 Speaker 1: I mean, there's. 152 00:08:32,220 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 2: Probably a block. 153 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:35,990 Speaker 1: You might in Rhode Island or something. 154 00:08:36,010 --> 00:08:38,690 Speaker 2: Melville was a New Yorker. Melville was a New Yorker. 155 00:08:38,710 --> 00:08:41,369 Speaker 2: And don't tell me about a block. Don't write to 156 00:08:41,410 --> 00:08:43,670 Speaker 2: me about a block. Everybody's got a block in New York. 157 00:08:44,510 --> 00:08:48,170 Speaker 2: So Reuter rents this place. crappy room, a walk-up, top 158 00:08:48,230 --> 00:08:53,050 Speaker 2: floor of a walk-up on Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I love that. 159 00:08:53,270 --> 00:08:54,079 Speaker 2: Love you, Paris. 160 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: Oh, great, great news. 161 00:08:55,020 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 2: It's got dirty windows, you know, tattered curtains. Somehow they 162 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,439 Speaker 2: get a printing press up to the top floor. His 163 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 2: wife is doing most of the translation. And he's printing 164 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,790 Speaker 2: this daily news sheet. You know, there's like some gossip 165 00:09:12,030 --> 00:09:16,370 Speaker 2: from Paris, some news from the Paris papers. And crucially... 166 00:09:16,370 --> 00:09:21,660 Speaker 2: prices from the Paris stock market. And Reuter cleverly has 167 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,820 Speaker 2: rented this room right across the street from the main 168 00:09:26,059 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 2: Paris post office. And what that means is he can 169 00:09:30,070 --> 00:09:32,050 Speaker 2: get the market prices at the end of the day, 170 00:09:32,270 --> 00:09:35,349 Speaker 2: print his news sheet, run it over to the post office, 171 00:09:35,470 --> 00:09:38,010 Speaker 2: and get it in the last dispatch of the day 172 00:09:38,450 --> 00:09:39,309 Speaker 2: sent off to Germany. 173 00:09:40,390 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: It's like morning brew of the day. You've got to 174 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: know exactly what's going to happen. And the interesting thing. 175 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:48,740 Speaker 2: To me about this is it's not like it's going 176 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,780 Speaker 2: to get to Germany instantaneously. 177 00:09:50,850 --> 00:09:54,250 Speaker 3: It's going by post. It's going to take whatever, days, 178 00:09:54,309 --> 00:09:59,020 Speaker 3: I guess. But if you get one day... by getting 179 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:00,459 Speaker 3: the mail out early. If you get one day on 180 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:02,330 Speaker 3: your competitors, that is worth money. 181 00:10:02,380 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: Yes. 182 00:10:02,830 --> 00:10:06,150 Speaker 2: Like if you're in Germany and you're getting market prices 183 00:10:06,190 --> 00:10:10,310 Speaker 2: from Paris, you don't actually need to get them instantaneously. 184 00:10:10,850 --> 00:10:14,260 Speaker 2: You just need to get them before everybody else does. Right. 185 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,410 Speaker 2: The advantage, interestingly, isn't in how fast you get it. 186 00:10:17,510 --> 00:10:20,670 Speaker 2: It's a relative advantage. You just need to get it first. 187 00:10:21,309 --> 00:10:24,170 Speaker 2: And so this is a crucial insight that Reuter has, 188 00:10:24,270 --> 00:10:25,250 Speaker 2: still true today. 189 00:10:25,270 --> 00:10:27,469 Speaker 1: And we should probably just say what this is for, 190 00:10:27,570 --> 00:10:31,750 Speaker 1: which is, say a company is imploding in Paris and 191 00:10:31,770 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: the stock prices are going down and everyone owns that 192 00:10:34,380 --> 00:10:38,100 Speaker 1: company in Germany. If you have advance notice that the 193 00:10:38,130 --> 00:10:41,099 Speaker 1: stock prices are dropping, you can sell before everyone else does. 194 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:41,420 Speaker 3: Yeah. 195 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 2: Or even if you think of commodity prices, right? The 196 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,340 Speaker 2: prices of lots of things people are buying and selling 197 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:50,300 Speaker 2: in Germany are moving day to day in Paris. And 198 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,260 Speaker 2: If you're selling some commodity in Germany, then it matters 199 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:56,420 Speaker 2: to you what its price is in Paris. So this 200 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 2: sounds good. But like many media businesses, it doesn't work. 201 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,300 Speaker 2: It doesn't work. Reuters' first business fails. Creditors seize his 202 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:13,730 Speaker 2: printing press. And Reuters thinks about it. And he comes 203 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:16,610 Speaker 2: up with a thesis for why it failed. And that 204 00:11:16,710 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 2: is it wasn't focused enough. generally a good thesis in 205 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,420 Speaker 2: the media business, right? He realizes, oh, you know, his 206 00:11:25,490 --> 00:11:29,010 Speaker 2: newsletter had market prices. It also had Paris gossip. It 207 00:11:29,030 --> 00:11:30,490 Speaker 2: also had sort of news summaries. 208 00:11:30,530 --> 00:11:33,030 Speaker 1: Movie reviews, classifieds in the back. 209 00:11:33,750 --> 00:11:37,750 Speaker 2: And, you know, if you're paying for market prices, you 210 00:11:37,790 --> 00:11:40,930 Speaker 2: don't want to be paying for Paris gossip. And so 211 00:11:41,150 --> 00:11:45,710 Speaker 2: he decides two things, right? Two things. One, he's going 212 00:11:45,730 --> 00:11:50,949 Speaker 2: to focus more on financial news. And two, crucially, he's 213 00:11:50,970 --> 00:11:53,510 Speaker 2: going to find an edge. He's going to find an edge. 214 00:11:53,570 --> 00:11:56,750 Speaker 2: And his edge is going to be the telegraph. This 215 00:11:56,830 --> 00:12:01,910 Speaker 2: is the moment when Julius Reuter meets the telegraph. And 216 00:12:02,250 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 2: at this point, so we're around 1850 now, back in Germany, 217 00:12:07,980 --> 00:12:11,540 Speaker 2: they've just opened a telegraph line that runs from Berlin 218 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,580 Speaker 2: in the eastern part of the country to a town 219 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,110 Speaker 2: called Aachen in the west. And And there's a sort 220 00:12:19,130 --> 00:12:22,890 Speaker 2: of telegraph news office in Berlin actually run by this 221 00:12:23,010 --> 00:12:26,589 Speaker 2: guy who Reuter had worked with back at Avas, back 222 00:12:26,630 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 2: in Paris. And so Reuter's like, oh, I'll open a 223 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 2: telegraph office news office in the West, in Aachen. So 224 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,140 Speaker 2: he does that. He goes to Aachen and he opens 225 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,300 Speaker 2: the Institute for the Promotion of Telegraphic Dispatches. 226 00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:43,079 Speaker 1: Institute? It's just him, right? 227 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,930 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's thinking big. He's thinking big. And he's going 228 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,100 Speaker 2: to focus on financial news. And it's interesting to think 229 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 2: historically about this, about using a new information technology to 230 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:01,319 Speaker 2: deliver financial news faster. I mean, we'll see Edison do 231 00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:05,470 Speaker 2: this a few decades later. He'll invent an improved stock ticker. 232 00:13:05,510 --> 00:13:08,410 Speaker 2: That's one of his first big inventions to get people, 233 00:13:08,770 --> 00:13:12,250 Speaker 2: you know, better, quicker information about stock prices. And you 234 00:13:12,290 --> 00:13:14,250 Speaker 2: can jump all the way to the 21st century. I mean, 235 00:13:14,510 --> 00:13:17,980 Speaker 2: you probably remember it was like, oh, 15 years ago now, 236 00:13:18,020 --> 00:13:21,309 Speaker 2: a little more, there was this big story about companies 237 00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:25,330 Speaker 2: spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build One company 238 00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:27,610 Speaker 2: was building a fiber optic line. Another was doing. 239 00:13:27,929 --> 00:13:28,370 Speaker 1: Lasers. 240 00:13:28,770 --> 00:13:32,610 Speaker 2: Were there lasers? There were microwave towers. Just to get 241 00:13:32,670 --> 00:13:36,500 Speaker 2: information from Chicago to outside of New York, like literally 242 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,900 Speaker 2: milliseconds faster. It was already instantaneous. But if it could 243 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,900 Speaker 2: be slightly more instantaneous to get information from the futures 244 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:46,990 Speaker 2: market in Chicago to the stock market, computers that are 245 00:13:47,010 --> 00:13:49,550 Speaker 2: actually in New Jersey... you could profit. And so people 246 00:13:49,590 --> 00:13:53,309 Speaker 2: spent hundreds of millions of dollars to gain milliseconds. This 247 00:13:53,390 --> 00:13:57,190 Speaker 2: is the same game that Reuter is playing here. So 248 00:13:57,950 --> 00:14:01,860 Speaker 2: Reuter opens this business in Aachen. It does fine. But 249 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 2: of course, if he had stopped in Aachen, we wouldn't 250 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:05,780 Speaker 2: be talking about him. We would have never heard of him. 251 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: And his next move, I'm going to be honest with you, 252 00:14:09,340 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 2: it's my favorite part of the story. It's the most 253 00:14:11,380 --> 00:14:15,949 Speaker 2: delightful part of the story. And it's delightful because it's 254 00:14:15,990 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 2: about to telegraph But it's also about the lack of 255 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 2: the telegraph. So picture Reuter, right? He's there in Aachen 256 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,300 Speaker 2: at the west end of the Prussia telegraph line. 257 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,750 Speaker 1: Seems like there's a limited number of things that you 258 00:14:30,790 --> 00:14:33,410 Speaker 1: can profit on between Berlin and Aachen. Yes. 259 00:14:34,010 --> 00:14:35,930 Speaker 2: And so, of course, it's not the only place there's 260 00:14:35,970 --> 00:14:38,710 Speaker 2: a telegraph. There's also a telegraph network that connects, you know, 261 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:44,530 Speaker 2: Paris and Brussels and Brussels is just like 75 miles 262 00:14:44,630 --> 00:14:47,610 Speaker 2: or so from Aachen they're close together but there is 263 00:14:47,670 --> 00:14:50,350 Speaker 2: no telegraph line between them there is a gap right 264 00:14:50,390 --> 00:14:54,570 Speaker 2: the telegraph is a new technology and there's a train 265 00:14:54,590 --> 00:14:58,700 Speaker 2: a mail train that runs between Aachen and Brussels but 266 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,300 Speaker 2: it takes something like nine hours which is shockingly long 267 00:15:02,340 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 2: like you could run it in that time but I 268 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,460 Speaker 2: guess it stops a lot it goes slow it's not 269 00:15:06,500 --> 00:15:11,940 Speaker 2: a straight line um And Reuter realizes, oh, this gap, 270 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 2: this gap between Aachen and Brussels, this is an opportunity. 271 00:15:17,950 --> 00:15:22,170 Speaker 2: You know, you have instantaneous communication and then nine-hour train. 272 00:15:22,270 --> 00:15:25,359 Speaker 2: And he realizes there is a faster way. It doesn't 273 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,780 Speaker 2: have to be instantaneous. It just has to be faster 274 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 2: than the status quo. And it is not new. In fact, 275 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 2: what he is going to do here is quite ancient. 276 00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 2: He is going to use the technology that was used 277 00:15:36,220 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 2: by the ancient Greeks to report the winners of the 278 00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:44,590 Speaker 2: Olympic Games, the technology that Julius Caesar used to communicate 279 00:15:44,650 --> 00:15:48,430 Speaker 2: with his officers when he was conquering Gaul. Robert Smith, 280 00:15:48,470 --> 00:15:50,170 Speaker 2: you know what it is. Say what it is. 281 00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:51,750 Speaker 1: It is a homing pigeon. 282 00:15:52,050 --> 00:15:53,930 Speaker 2: A pigeon. He's going to use pigeons. 283 00:15:53,950 --> 00:15:58,390 Speaker 1: I need a pigeon sound to go with my telegraph sound. 284 00:15:58,810 --> 00:16:00,990 Speaker 2: And this is not a secret. People are using pigeons 285 00:16:01,130 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 2: even at this time. The Rothschilds are using pigeons of 286 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,990 Speaker 2: us occasionally use pigeons. but Reuter is gonna do pigeon 287 00:16:08,270 --> 00:16:12,730 Speaker 2: plus telegraph, such a beautiful old, new hybrid. 288 00:16:13,250 --> 00:16:16,070 Speaker 1: And it's interesting, when you have efficiencies on either end 289 00:16:16,110 --> 00:16:18,750 Speaker 1: and a gap in the middle, it creates this demand. 290 00:16:18,830 --> 00:16:21,270 Speaker 1: So you needed a lot more pigeons. And if you 291 00:16:21,290 --> 00:16:24,130 Speaker 1: think about AI, and if you're worried about AI in 292 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:24,860 Speaker 1: your jobs. 293 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,670 Speaker 2: There it goes, okay, give it a shot, give it 294 00:16:26,700 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 2: a shot. 295 00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: You just need to be the pigeon in the equation. Oh, 296 00:16:29,220 --> 00:16:30,660 Speaker 1: that is it, that is it. That is it, if 297 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 1: you have all these fast AIs, you're the pigeon. 298 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 2: You want to be the pigeon. 299 00:16:34,780 --> 00:16:36,980 Speaker 1: You can make them connect. Yes. 300 00:16:37,140 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 2: Well, so there is this idea of like messy jobs, right? 301 00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 2: There's this basic idea with AI that AI can do 302 00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 2: a task, but that a job is actually a bundle 303 00:16:46,260 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 2: of tasks. And so in that metaphor, like the task 304 00:16:49,140 --> 00:16:53,300 Speaker 2: is the instantaneous part, but connecting the different tasks, we're 305 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,660 Speaker 2: going to see you don't need pigeons for long. That's 306 00:16:55,700 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 2: the bad news for us. But for now, we can 307 00:16:57,620 --> 00:16:58,420 Speaker 2: try and be the pigeons. 308 00:16:58,460 --> 00:17:00,180 Speaker 1: Well, they can't run a telegraph wire. 309 00:17:00,260 --> 00:17:05,020 Speaker 2: And so... So, right. So, I mean, presumably people know 310 00:17:05,060 --> 00:17:06,749 Speaker 2: what a homing pigeon is, but just to say it, 311 00:17:06,860 --> 00:17:10,450 Speaker 2: the way pigeons work, this amazing thing about homing pigeons, 312 00:17:10,470 --> 00:17:13,310 Speaker 2: this kind of pigeon is like they are bred somewhere. 313 00:17:13,330 --> 00:17:16,850 Speaker 2: They live, you know, in their little dove cot. Is 314 00:17:16,869 --> 00:17:18,470 Speaker 2: that how you say that word? They live in their 315 00:17:18,510 --> 00:17:21,570 Speaker 2: little pigeon coop on, say, on your roof in Aachen. 316 00:17:21,590 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 2: And then if you take one of those pigeons on 317 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:29,869 Speaker 2: the slow train to Brussels and you release it, It 318 00:17:29,910 --> 00:17:32,730 Speaker 2: will magically fly home to its coop. 319 00:17:33,170 --> 00:17:34,990 Speaker 1: It's incredible. Do you have to show him the way 320 00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: on the train? 321 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 2: On the train? Like, do they have to see the 322 00:17:37,859 --> 00:17:38,540 Speaker 2: whole thing? 323 00:17:38,619 --> 00:17:39,580 Speaker 1: It's incredible. 324 00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:42,540 Speaker 2: It's incredible. So then you. 325 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: Just have to attach a message to the pigeon and 326 00:17:44,660 --> 00:17:48,620 Speaker 1: you have an almost instantaneous, well, whatever, an hour, whatever 327 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: it takes. 328 00:17:48,820 --> 00:17:50,899 Speaker 2: Two hours. It took about two hours relative to the 329 00:17:50,980 --> 00:17:53,370 Speaker 2: nine hours on the train. And there's a lovely description 330 00:17:53,490 --> 00:17:56,510 Speaker 2: of this in this book about Reuter and Reuters called 331 00:17:56,530 --> 00:17:58,310 Speaker 2: The Power of News about this moment. 332 00:17:58,350 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: Read it to us. On 24 April 1850, Reuter made 333 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,959 Speaker 1: an agreement with Heinrich Geller, an Aachen brewer, baker, and 334 00:18:06,020 --> 00:18:07,540 Speaker 1: pigeon breeder. Yes, sure. 335 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: A bundle of tasks. 336 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,380 Speaker 1: To supply a total of 45 trained birds to maintain 337 00:18:12,420 --> 00:18:16,050 Speaker 1: a service between Brussels and Aachen. The birds were sent 338 00:18:16,150 --> 00:18:18,629 Speaker 1: each day by rail to Brussels to fly back the 339 00:18:18,690 --> 00:18:22,590 Speaker 1: next day. The messages, tied under the wings of the birds, 340 00:18:22,910 --> 00:18:26,190 Speaker 1: were to be opened only by Geller himself upon their 341 00:18:26,270 --> 00:18:27,990 Speaker 1: landing in his pigeon loft. 342 00:18:29,420 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 2: So delightful. 343 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,250 Speaker 1: And in this miracle of nature, the bird lands and 344 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:37,550 Speaker 1: he opens a little thing. It's like gold down two francs. Yes. 345 00:18:37,790 --> 00:18:41,230 Speaker 2: And you can build a fortune on that. There is 346 00:18:41,290 --> 00:18:45,750 Speaker 2: a description from a messenger boy whose job was taking 347 00:18:46,090 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 2: the messages from the pigeon guy to Reuter. This guy 348 00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 2: later became a journalist and wrote about what it was like. 349 00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:55,619 Speaker 2: He said he would take it, you know, run over to... to, 350 00:18:55,820 --> 00:18:59,260 Speaker 2: they said, Bureau Julius Reuter, like the brass plate outside 351 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,780 Speaker 2: the office. He'd get in there and Reuter and his 352 00:19:01,820 --> 00:19:06,020 Speaker 2: clerks would be like hanging out, smoking cigars, reading the papers. 353 00:19:06,220 --> 00:19:07,660 Speaker 1: Doing nothing, just like newsrooms today. 354 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,010 Speaker 2: Yeah, until the news shows up. And he's showing up 355 00:19:10,109 --> 00:19:12,410 Speaker 2: with the news in from Brussels and it's like they 356 00:19:12,470 --> 00:19:15,330 Speaker 2: jump into action and they're copying the message and they're, 357 00:19:15,369 --> 00:19:17,250 Speaker 2: you know, sending it out to their local subscribers and 358 00:19:17,369 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 2: running to the telegraph office to send it on to Berlin. 359 00:19:20,970 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: And then they sold that as a service. And it worked. 360 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:24,460 Speaker 1: They grew. They grew. 361 00:19:25,070 --> 00:19:30,070 Speaker 2: But of course, as we know today, Brussels and Aachen 362 00:19:30,170 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 2: are connected by telegraph. That gap is not going to last. 363 00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:37,540 Speaker 2: And in fact, very quickly, it gets smaller. They're building 364 00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:39,180 Speaker 2: the wire. The gap is closing. 365 00:19:39,260 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: Well, and it's not just out of nowhere, especially if 366 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:45,389 Speaker 1: you see someone making money off that gap in technology. 367 00:19:45,450 --> 00:19:48,790 Speaker 1: That is your signal to say, oh, I'm going to 368 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: build that wire and take his... Yes. 369 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:57,190 Speaker 2: Reuters margin is the telegraph builder's opportunity. In fact, Reuters' 370 00:19:57,310 --> 00:20:00,750 Speaker 2: famous pigeon era lasts for less than a year. It's 371 00:20:00,790 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 2: kind of like the Pony Express. of European news. The 372 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 2: telegraph wire gets completed. No more need for the pigeons. 373 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 2: I don't know, actually, what happened to the pigeons. 374 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,220 Speaker 1: They lived in retirement on the roof of the building. 375 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 2: They lived in the mythology of news forever. Reuters was 376 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,260 Speaker 2: thinking big, as always. His next move, the center of 377 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,740 Speaker 2: the financial world in the mid-1800s, London. We'll talk about 378 00:20:27,770 --> 00:20:33,510 Speaker 2: that in a minute. Today's segment is sponsored by ChatGPT. 379 00:20:34,109 --> 00:20:36,690 Speaker 2: When we launched Business History last year, we started a 380 00:20:36,730 --> 00:20:40,609 Speaker 2: list of story ideas, just a shared spreadsheet that has 381 00:20:40,670 --> 00:20:42,910 Speaker 2: now grown to 470 rows. Although that does not mean 382 00:20:42,910 --> 00:20:50,230 Speaker 2: 470 story ideas because the list is a mess. There 383 00:20:50,270 --> 00:20:52,830 Speaker 2: are empty rows. There are dozens of stories that we've 384 00:20:52,869 --> 00:20:55,690 Speaker 2: already done but never took off the list. On some rows, 385 00:20:55,730 --> 00:20:58,120 Speaker 2: there are subject headings in the column where the idea's 386 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,340 Speaker 2: name should go. It got to the point where I 387 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 2: had sort of stopped looking at the list because I 388 00:21:03,060 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 2: couldn't deal with the mess anymore. So the other day, 389 00:21:06,060 --> 00:21:09,659 Speaker 2: I uploaded the spreadsheet to ChatGPT, and I wrote this prompt. 390 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,180 Speaker 2: Please copy this spreadsheet into a new spreadsheet and clean 391 00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 2: it up. Remove episodes we've already done. Keep any organizing 392 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,980 Speaker 2: information slash metadata that is in the current spreadsheet. and 393 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:23,109 Speaker 2: add columns to help us categorize slash organize the story 394 00:21:23,150 --> 00:21:28,130 Speaker 2: ideas we have along multiple dimensions. ChatGPT returned a new 395 00:21:28,170 --> 00:21:33,570 Speaker 2: spreadsheet and this message. Cleaned workbook. It contains 284 ideas, 396 00:21:33,950 --> 00:21:39,229 Speaker 2: merges 18 duplicate clusters, and removes 26 completed story entries. 397 00:21:40,070 --> 00:21:45,629 Speaker 2: ChatGPT added some useful categories for each story idea, era, industry, geography, 398 00:21:46,260 --> 00:21:50,850 Speaker 2: and a few gratuitous categories, record type, potential format. I 399 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,510 Speaker 2: asked it to get rid of those. Then, at the 400 00:21:53,530 --> 00:21:57,129 Speaker 2: suggestion of our showrunner, Jake Harper, I asked ChatGPT to 401 00:21:57,170 --> 00:22:00,730 Speaker 2: go through the list and look for well-reviewed, credible, nonfiction 402 00:22:00,770 --> 00:22:04,230 Speaker 2: books that might work as key sources for each story idea. 403 00:22:04,790 --> 00:22:07,390 Speaker 2: It came back with a long list of books, and 404 00:22:07,510 --> 00:22:09,910 Speaker 2: I think my next move is to focus on that 405 00:22:09,970 --> 00:22:12,350 Speaker 2: column and start reading through some of the books as 406 00:22:12,390 --> 00:22:14,429 Speaker 2: I think about what stories to work on in the 407 00:22:14,470 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 2: next few months. Get started at ChatGPT.com. Robert Smith, it's 408 00:22:23,020 --> 00:22:31,899 Speaker 2: time for Paul Julius Reuter, nay, Israel Beer, Josaphat, to 409 00:22:31,940 --> 00:22:32,570 Speaker 2: go to London. 410 00:22:33,230 --> 00:22:34,310 Speaker 1: No more Aachen for him. 411 00:22:34,330 --> 00:22:45,719 Speaker 2: Because not only is London, London, rad, powerful. But he's 412 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 2: still following the wire, following the cable. 413 00:22:48,090 --> 00:22:50,810 Speaker 1: He knows they're going to link up London with the continent. 414 00:22:50,990 --> 00:22:55,310 Speaker 2: And they are laying a submarine cable, a cable going 415 00:22:55,470 --> 00:22:59,010 Speaker 2: under the English Channel. They've actually been trying and failing. 416 00:22:59,030 --> 00:23:01,179 Speaker 2: One time it snagged on some rocks. One time a 417 00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 2: French fishing boat somehow cut it, I guess. 418 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,379 Speaker 1: Still a problem with data cables, I will say, to 419 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: this day. Yeah, amazing. 420 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 2: Like the Internet. The Internet goes down when random boats 421 00:23:13,010 --> 00:23:17,230 Speaker 2: snag it. But he knows. He knows the way technology 422 00:23:17,290 --> 00:23:19,609 Speaker 2: is going. He knows what it's going to mean. So 423 00:23:19,650 --> 00:23:24,110 Speaker 2: he moves to London and opens the Submarine Telegraph Office. 424 00:23:24,890 --> 00:23:25,090 Speaker 1: No. 425 00:23:25,330 --> 00:23:26,070 Speaker 2: Beautiful name. 426 00:23:26,350 --> 00:23:26,990 Speaker 1: No, really? 427 00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:28,580 Speaker 2: It is a submarine telegraph. 428 00:23:28,650 --> 00:23:29,300 Speaker 1: Yes, of course. 429 00:23:29,580 --> 00:23:33,860 Speaker 2: And a month after he opens his office, the cable 430 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 2: is operational and Reuter is in business. 431 00:23:38,060 --> 00:23:40,699 Speaker 1: I just want to pause to say he ran his 432 00:23:40,740 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: news business in the air, on land, and now online. 433 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:44,820 Speaker 1: under the sea. 434 00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:52,139 Speaker 2: What a legend. He has a reputation by this point 435 00:23:52,380 --> 00:23:57,530 Speaker 2: of delivering fast, accurate news. He's big on the continent. 436 00:23:57,630 --> 00:24:01,990 Speaker 2: They love him in Europe. And so he starts with 437 00:24:02,010 --> 00:24:06,050 Speaker 2: the basics. He starts providing business clients in London and 438 00:24:06,150 --> 00:24:10,500 Speaker 2: Paris with the opening and closing prices from the exchanges 439 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,369 Speaker 2: in both cities. And then he spreads out. You know, 440 00:24:13,410 --> 00:24:18,310 Speaker 2: he expands to Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Athens. And a crucial 441 00:24:18,350 --> 00:24:22,670 Speaker 2: thing is, not only is he fast, but he is reliable. 442 00:24:22,830 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 2: And this, I didn't really realize this before we did 443 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:33,739 Speaker 2: this show. Early telegraph messages were quite unreliable. 444 00:24:34,100 --> 00:24:37,859 Speaker 1: Hmm. Your dots from your dashes, you'd sometimes mix them up. 445 00:24:38,010 --> 00:24:40,330 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I guess they had to go through multiple 446 00:24:40,890 --> 00:24:42,409 Speaker 2: telegraph operators, right? 447 00:24:42,430 --> 00:24:42,930 Speaker 1: Of course, of course. 448 00:24:42,950 --> 00:24:44,669 Speaker 2: It's not like you just start at the beginning and 449 00:24:44,690 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 2: it goes all the way to the end. 450 00:24:45,820 --> 00:24:47,700 Speaker 1: There's not a London to Athens line. 451 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 2: The message degraded over space, and so you have people 452 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,220 Speaker 2: taking down the dots and dashes and then resending them. 453 00:24:54,869 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 2: It was almost literally a game of telephone. And in fact, 454 00:24:58,180 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 2: the telephone was invented as a way to improve telegraph communications. 455 00:25:03,790 --> 00:25:05,990 Speaker 2: It was invented not so people could call each other, 456 00:25:06,430 --> 00:25:09,930 Speaker 2: but so that telegraph operators could get the message more clearly. 457 00:25:10,170 --> 00:25:12,810 Speaker 1: But in a normal message, a few words you get 458 00:25:12,830 --> 00:25:17,170 Speaker 1: wrong doesn't matter. True. But in the financial business, one 459 00:25:17,250 --> 00:25:18,290 Speaker 1: transposed number. 460 00:25:18,590 --> 00:25:22,409 Speaker 2: One zero too many, or too few, and you are 461 00:25:22,490 --> 00:25:25,510 Speaker 2: out of business. There is actually this story of a 462 00:25:25,570 --> 00:25:29,899 Speaker 2: message going from London all the way to Bombay, Mumbai. 463 00:25:30,780 --> 00:25:33,070 Speaker 1: Which must have been 10 different leaps. Many leaps. 464 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,070 Speaker 2: And it got garbled a little bit and caused a 465 00:25:36,109 --> 00:25:39,930 Speaker 2: bank run because of the error. So as with today, 466 00:25:42,030 --> 00:25:45,869 Speaker 2: in financial news in particular, you have to get it right. 467 00:25:46,109 --> 00:25:51,139 Speaker 2: And Reuter had the reputation for getting it right. Now, 468 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,940 Speaker 2: there is, I don't want to call it a sickness. 469 00:25:55,500 --> 00:26:00,350 Speaker 2: But there is this problem that media entrepreneurs seem to have. 470 00:26:00,810 --> 00:26:04,510 Speaker 2: Reuter has carved out his successful niche. I'm always torn 471 00:26:04,550 --> 00:26:07,390 Speaker 2: between niche and niche, but my children tell me that 472 00:26:07,430 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 2: today it's all niche. Reuter has carved out this successful 473 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 2: niche in financial news. Still today, I'm going to say 474 00:26:14,859 --> 00:26:18,700 Speaker 2: the least bad kind of news business is financial news. 475 00:26:19,810 --> 00:26:21,930 Speaker 2: And he can't help himself. He wants to go bigger. 476 00:26:21,970 --> 00:26:24,950 Speaker 2: He wants to get into political news. Like every media 477 00:26:25,030 --> 00:26:28,929 Speaker 2: baron ever, he wants to get into political news. And 478 00:26:28,970 --> 00:26:32,290 Speaker 2: you can tell a story where this makes economic sense. 479 00:26:32,790 --> 00:26:37,369 Speaker 2: There's this lovely underused phrase, economy of scope. You know, 480 00:26:37,390 --> 00:26:39,929 Speaker 2: we talk about the economy of scale, where you make 481 00:26:40,070 --> 00:26:43,030 Speaker 2: one car and it costs $ 100 million, but you make 482 00:26:43,050 --> 00:26:46,310 Speaker 2: a million cars and each one costs you $ 10, 000 or whatever, right? 483 00:26:46,330 --> 00:26:48,210 Speaker 2: The more you make, the less each one costs. That's 484 00:26:48,230 --> 00:26:52,610 Speaker 2: the economy of scale. Economy of scope is if you're 485 00:26:52,630 --> 00:26:55,730 Speaker 2: already doing financial news, it shouldn't cost you that much 486 00:26:55,810 --> 00:26:59,450 Speaker 2: to expand into political news. You've already got your telegraph offices. 487 00:26:59,470 --> 00:27:02,450 Speaker 2: You've already got your reporters like covering stock prices. Just 488 00:27:02,510 --> 00:27:04,150 Speaker 2: cover what the prime minister said, too. 489 00:27:04,670 --> 00:27:08,100 Speaker 1: I think there's another reason for it, which is proximity 490 00:27:08,130 --> 00:27:12,459 Speaker 1: to power. You know, if you're sending financial information between billionaires, yeah, 491 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: you can make a few pennies, but you're not going 492 00:27:14,020 --> 00:27:17,510 Speaker 1: to really become a billionaire anymore. But if you are 493 00:27:17,570 --> 00:27:22,410 Speaker 1: exchanging information between powerful people, you become powerful. You become 494 00:27:22,450 --> 00:27:24,550 Speaker 1: part of the power equation. Yeah. They invite you to 495 00:27:24,570 --> 00:27:25,410 Speaker 1: their parties. 496 00:27:25,650 --> 00:27:27,810 Speaker 2: Right, the parties. So I do feel like you can 497 00:27:27,830 --> 00:27:30,770 Speaker 2: tell two stories of that one. One is it's good 498 00:27:30,790 --> 00:27:34,310 Speaker 2: for business to be close to the king. And two 499 00:27:34,390 --> 00:27:36,230 Speaker 2: is it's fun to be close to the king. 500 00:27:36,270 --> 00:27:36,690 Speaker 1: It's so fun. 501 00:27:36,710 --> 00:27:41,430 Speaker 2: It seems more like two. In any case, Reuter wants 502 00:27:41,490 --> 00:27:44,210 Speaker 2: to get into politics. The news business for real, not 503 00:27:44,250 --> 00:27:48,409 Speaker 2: just financial news. He's in London. And in London at 504 00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 2: this point, mid-1800s, there is one giant of the news business, 505 00:27:53,220 --> 00:27:56,620 Speaker 2: and that is The Times. Here in America, we call 506 00:27:56,660 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 2: it The Times of London. 507 00:27:57,700 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: It is just The Times. And if you see it 508 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:04,290 Speaker 1: to this day, it has that look of 1800s power 509 00:28:04,350 --> 00:28:07,770 Speaker 1: to it. Just the paper version of it. It's a giant. 510 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,500 Speaker 2: Is it still giant? They used to say that the 511 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 2: Wall Street Journal was as big as a bed sheet 512 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,219 Speaker 2: when you opened it out. Papers have been literally shrinking. 513 00:28:15,260 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: Now it's a pillowcase. Yes. 514 00:28:17,460 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 2: If you're lucky, now it's your phone. The Times of London, 515 00:28:21,940 --> 00:28:25,540 Speaker 2: it's an interesting paper. It's the paper of the rising 516 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,700 Speaker 2: middle class, of the merchant class. It's kind of anti-aristocratic. 517 00:28:30,220 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 2: It is bigger in terms of circulation than all the 518 00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:37,070 Speaker 2: other London dailies put together. And it is winning. It 519 00:28:37,130 --> 00:28:40,490 Speaker 2: is winning in the news business. You know, it breaks stories. 520 00:28:40,630 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 2: It gets the first copies of diplomats' dispatches. And politicians 521 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 2: are scared of The Times. So they, you know, they 522 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,500 Speaker 2: want to get in good. They give The Times scoops 523 00:28:52,540 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 2: so that The Times doesn't get mad at them. Right. 524 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,650 Speaker 2: At this point, they're the biggest because they're the biggest. 525 00:28:58,050 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 2: They're all over the world. They have special steamers going 526 00:29:01,580 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 2: across the English Channel, the occasional camel convoy to deliver 527 00:29:06,340 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 2: dues from faraway places. And so, you know, Reuter who 528 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,690 Speaker 2: wants power, who wants to be in the news business, 529 00:29:13,750 --> 00:29:16,470 Speaker 2: if he's really going to succeed with his news agency, 530 00:29:17,170 --> 00:29:22,010 Speaker 2: he needs to be selling to the Times. And the 531 00:29:22,110 --> 00:29:24,730 Speaker 2: manager of the Times at this point is a man 532 00:29:24,750 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 2: who is delightfully named Mowbray Morris. 533 00:29:28,020 --> 00:29:29,500 Speaker 1: Is it Mowbray? 534 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:31,380 Speaker 2: M-O-W-B-R-A-Y. 535 00:29:31,540 --> 00:29:34,380 Speaker 1: Mowbray. I'm going to picture him behind an enormous desk 536 00:29:34,460 --> 00:29:35,420 Speaker 1: smoking a cigar. 537 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,700 Speaker 2: Probably wearing a hat. Is he wearing a hat? Mr. 538 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: Morris. Mr. 539 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:43,180 Speaker 2: Morris. And so Reuter goes to Mr. Morris and offers 540 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,470 Speaker 2: the services of his telegraph news service. And Mr. Morris 541 00:29:46,490 --> 00:29:49,550 Speaker 2: says to him, the proprietors of the Times are not 542 00:29:49,610 --> 00:29:42,530 Speaker 2: prepared to enter into any arrangement. He doesn't want this 543 00:29:42,550 --> 00:29:44,770 Speaker 2: newfangled telegraph stuff. He doesn't trust this man. No. Trust 544 00:29:44,790 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 2: the camels. Reuter asks him again and again. And after, 545 00:30:02,980 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 2: I think, the third time, Morris says to Reuter that 546 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 2: his telegraphic summaries of foreign intelligence will not be used 547 00:30:10,980 --> 00:30:12,190 Speaker 2: by The Times. 548 00:30:14,150 --> 00:30:17,810 Speaker 1: I feel like this exact sentiment gets repeated again and again, 549 00:30:17,910 --> 00:30:20,470 Speaker 1: except it's like, you know, we're not taking news from 550 00:30:20,750 --> 00:30:25,380 Speaker 1: the Internet. We're not going to have your TikTok summaries. 551 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 2: If there is one thing journalists hate, it is anything new. 552 00:30:31,530 --> 00:30:33,010 Speaker 1: Which is funny because they're in the new business. 553 00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:35,430 Speaker 2: They're in the new business. You know, I worked at 554 00:30:35,470 --> 00:30:39,390 Speaker 2: the Miami Herald early in my career, 20 years ago now. 555 00:30:40,110 --> 00:30:42,530 Speaker 2: And there was an old timer when I got there 556 00:30:42,570 --> 00:30:44,850 Speaker 2: who had been there for 30 years at that point. 557 00:30:44,870 --> 00:30:47,390 Speaker 2: So we're going a long way back. And he told 558 00:30:47,450 --> 00:30:51,310 Speaker 2: me that the day that computers showed up in the newsroom, 559 00:30:51,890 --> 00:30:54,130 Speaker 2: one reporter stood up at his desk and dumped his 560 00:30:54,230 --> 00:30:57,030 Speaker 2: coffee out on the laptop and said, I will not 561 00:30:57,230 --> 00:31:04,340 Speaker 2: use this machine. This is Mowbray-Morris. scoffing at the Telegraph. And, 562 00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 2: you know, at this moment, Morris doesn't need the Telegraph. Yes, 563 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,090 Speaker 2: he says it's untrustworthy and boring, but he doesn't need 564 00:31:12,150 --> 00:31:15,390 Speaker 2: it because he is getting scoops because he is the Times. 565 00:31:16,710 --> 00:31:24,970 Speaker 2: Fortunately for Paul Julius Reuter, other papers are growing. And 566 00:31:25,010 --> 00:31:29,370 Speaker 2: they're growing in part because, well, because of the Industrial Revolution, 567 00:31:29,430 --> 00:31:32,450 Speaker 2: kind of. The You know, we're well into the Industrial 568 00:31:32,490 --> 00:31:35,430 Speaker 2: Revolution by this point. The Industrial Revolution started in England 569 00:31:35,430 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 2: 75 years before this. And England is transforming as a society. 570 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,180 Speaker 2: Education is becoming much more widespread. The rate of literacy 571 00:31:45,300 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 2: is going up. And new industrial technology means you can 572 00:31:49,260 --> 00:31:53,780 Speaker 2: make newspapers. You can print newspapers more cheaply. And so 573 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:58,620 Speaker 2: the Times costs four pence. Now there are new papers 574 00:31:58,660 --> 00:32:01,860 Speaker 2: that cost a penny more. which I guess is one pence, 575 00:32:01,910 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 2: but old British money is very confusing to me, but 576 00:32:04,220 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure they don't call it four pennies, four pence, 577 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 2: but much cheaper. And so Reuters starts going to these 578 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:15,469 Speaker 2: new penny papers offering his news service. And actually, the 579 00:32:15,510 --> 00:32:19,610 Speaker 2: editor of one of these papers, the morning advertiser, described 580 00:32:19,730 --> 00:32:21,860 Speaker 2: what Reuters said when he came and made his pitch. 581 00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:24,790 Speaker 1: Give it to us. It has occurred to me that 582 00:32:24,830 --> 00:32:28,550 Speaker 1: I might, therefore, be able to supply, by telegraph, the 583 00:32:28,590 --> 00:32:32,330 Speaker 1: daily press of London with earlier and more accurate intelligence 584 00:32:32,450 --> 00:32:35,210 Speaker 1: of importance at a cheaper rate than the morning journals 585 00:32:35,250 --> 00:32:40,510 Speaker 1: are now paying for their telegraphic communications from the continent. Cheaper, faster, 586 00:32:40,630 --> 00:32:41,190 Speaker 1: more reliable? 587 00:32:41,210 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 2: Cheaper, faster. He offers his service for 30 pounds a month, 588 00:32:44,620 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 2: which is 10 pounds less than they were paying. 589 00:32:47,460 --> 00:32:48,700 Speaker 1: Subscription model. 590 00:32:48,820 --> 00:32:54,020 Speaker 2: Yes, subscription model. And my favorite part? First, Fortnite is free. 591 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,540 Speaker 2: A free trial. Free Fortnite. Loved it now, loved it then. 592 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:00,500 Speaker 2: What do you got to do to cancel? 593 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:01,460 Speaker 1: You can cancel anytime. Anytime. 594 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 2: You just have to send a pigeon to Aachen. 595 00:33:04,580 --> 00:33:04,820 Speaker 1: Yeah. 596 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 2: Operators are not standing by when you want to cancel. 597 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 2: The Morning Advertiser says yes to the Fortnite free trial. 598 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 2: A bunch of other papers also agree to the trial. 599 00:33:14,180 --> 00:33:17,010 Speaker 2: And when the trial period is up, they subscribe. 600 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:17,530 Speaker 1: They pay. 601 00:33:17,850 --> 00:33:22,610 Speaker 2: It is, in fact, a good, reliable, cheaper service. Possibly 602 00:33:22,650 --> 00:33:24,450 Speaker 2: the first or at least one of the first messages 603 00:33:24,530 --> 00:33:27,250 Speaker 2: that goes out on this service in these papers in 604 00:33:27,310 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 2: London is on October 8th, 1858. Robert, give it to us. 605 00:33:32,060 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: All right, I'll do the voice. The following telegram was 606 00:33:35,460 --> 00:33:39,020 Speaker 1: received at Mr. Reuter's office, October 8th, Berlin. The official 607 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,860 Speaker 1: Prussian correspondence announces that the king has charged the prince 608 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,060 Speaker 1: of Prussia to act as regent with full power. 609 00:33:46,460 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 2: I like that it's always the 1945 American newsreel voice. 610 00:33:50,740 --> 00:33:51,580 Speaker 1: I'm bringing it back. 611 00:33:53,890 --> 00:33:57,330 Speaker 2: I actually want to point here, not to the whole 612 00:33:57,350 --> 00:33:59,850 Speaker 2: thing about the regions. I don't care about that. What 613 00:33:59,890 --> 00:34:04,410 Speaker 2: I care about is that first phrase, the following telegram 614 00:34:04,450 --> 00:34:10,910 Speaker 2: was received at Mr. Reuters' office. Because that part actually 615 00:34:11,060 --> 00:34:12,259 Speaker 2: went in the newspapers. 616 00:34:12,900 --> 00:34:13,260 Speaker 1: Mr. 617 00:34:13,340 --> 00:34:18,180 Speaker 2: Reuters' office. Reuters, from the start, really wanted the papers 618 00:34:18,260 --> 00:34:21,930 Speaker 2: to put his name on the story. There's even evidence 619 00:34:21,950 --> 00:34:24,890 Speaker 2: that in some instances he offered the service more cheaply 620 00:34:25,170 --> 00:34:27,450 Speaker 2: if they would put his name in. Often they were 621 00:34:27,489 --> 00:34:30,330 Speaker 2: happy to do it because then they, the newspapers, were 622 00:34:30,370 --> 00:34:32,049 Speaker 2: not on the hook for the accuracy. They'd be like, well, 623 00:34:32,070 --> 00:34:35,370 Speaker 2: this is what Reuters said. But Reuters realizes something really 624 00:34:35,410 --> 00:34:39,310 Speaker 2: important here, which is the papers are paying him for 625 00:34:39,330 --> 00:34:42,339 Speaker 2: this information. But if they're putting his name in, they 626 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 2: are also advertising his service. They are turning this commodity 627 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,620 Speaker 2: service that he is providing, just the straight news, into 628 00:34:50,060 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 2: Into a brand. Every time his name shows up in 629 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:56,700 Speaker 2: a newspaper, the idea that, oh, Reuters, that's where we 630 00:34:56,739 --> 00:34:58,589 Speaker 2: get the news, gets stronger and stronger. 631 00:34:58,890 --> 00:35:01,730 Speaker 1: And when Morris at the Times opens all these other 632 00:35:01,750 --> 00:35:05,450 Speaker 1: penny papers and he sees Reuters' name, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters. 633 00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:08,150 Speaker 2: Reuters is spinning. The paper is spinning up toward the 634 00:35:08,190 --> 00:35:12,820 Speaker 2: screen every time. Reuters is able to raise his rates. 635 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,740 Speaker 2: He's getting a brand, you know, moving from commodity to brand. 636 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,800 Speaker 2: As we always say, you can charge more. Now, Morris 637 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 2: at The Times will now occasionally publish some of Reuters' dispatches, 638 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,180 Speaker 2: but he still is more into camels than into telegraph. 639 00:35:26,219 --> 00:35:29,919 Speaker 2: Mowbray Morris will never really change. But Reuters is determined 640 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 2: to crack The Times. He is determined to make The 641 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,770 Speaker 2: Times of London become a full subscriber to Mr. Reuters' 642 00:35:38,110 --> 00:35:43,330 Speaker 2: telegraphic submarine cable news service. Sounds like a Sgt. Pepper song. 643 00:35:43,890 --> 00:35:46,790 Speaker 2: And to do that, he comes up with a plan 644 00:35:46,830 --> 00:35:51,340 Speaker 2: to get a scoop that will make even the times jealous. 645 00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 2: We'll talk about that scoop in just a minute. 646 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:57,580 Speaker 1: And by the way, if you have Pushkin Plus, you 647 00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,939 Speaker 1: get to skip the ads and you'll get that scoop 648 00:35:59,980 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 1: even faster. Look at me, Mr. Reuter, selling it. 649 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:13,870 Speaker 2: Pushkin.fm slash plus. The year is 1859. France is ruled 650 00:36:13,969 --> 00:36:16,129 Speaker 2: by Napoleon III. 651 00:36:16,310 --> 00:36:17,450 Speaker 1: What a way to come back from the break. 652 00:36:17,510 --> 00:36:25,950 Speaker 2: Nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. And France and Austria are maybe 653 00:36:25,969 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 2: going to go to war over potential Italian unification. 654 00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:34,420 Speaker 1: I feel like this is like the. 655 00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:37,009 Speaker 2: 1800s Europe story. And Napoleon III is going to give 656 00:36:37,050 --> 00:36:39,630 Speaker 2: a speech. And the speech is a big deal because 657 00:36:39,730 --> 00:36:43,609 Speaker 2: people expect that the speech will signal whether there will 658 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:44,860 Speaker 2: be war or peace. 659 00:36:45,380 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 1: To this day, news organizations love this situation where there's 660 00:36:48,860 --> 00:36:51,090 Speaker 1: something you can plan for, a big speech. And you 661 00:36:51,140 --> 00:36:52,840 Speaker 1: don't quite know what it's going to be. So you 662 00:36:52,860 --> 00:36:55,860 Speaker 1: can mass your forces ready to get that news as 663 00:36:55,940 --> 00:36:56,700 Speaker 1: quickly as possible. 664 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:58,259 Speaker 2: Today we call that the Super Bowl. 665 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 1: Yes. The big event. 666 00:37:00,140 --> 00:37:02,140 Speaker 2: Everybody knows it's coming. Everybody knows it's going to be news. 667 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,739 Speaker 2: Send all the reporters. Do all the stories. This is 668 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,860 Speaker 2: the Super Bowl of its era. And this is Reuters' 669 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:14,759 Speaker 2: moment to win. To win the news business. And so 670 00:37:14,780 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 2: he does two things here. 671 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:17,740 Speaker 1: First. 672 00:37:18,450 --> 00:37:21,430 Speaker 2: He gets the French government to give him an advance 673 00:37:21,469 --> 00:37:26,950 Speaker 2: copy of the Emperor Napoleon's speech under embargo. Embargo today 674 00:37:27,010 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 2: is a thing. It was new then. An embargo means 675 00:37:30,940 --> 00:37:33,900 Speaker 2: they will give you the information ahead of time, you, 676 00:37:33,980 --> 00:37:37,440 Speaker 2: the reporter, and you, the reporter, agree not to publicize 677 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:40,100 Speaker 2: it until a certain time, in this case, when the 678 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:44,800 Speaker 2: speech happens. So that's thing one. Thing two is he 679 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:50,390 Speaker 2: gets the company to That owns the telegraph line between 680 00:37:50,650 --> 00:37:52,030 Speaker 2: Paris and London. 681 00:37:52,150 --> 00:37:52,930 Speaker 1: Under the English Channel. 682 00:37:53,070 --> 00:37:57,470 Speaker 2: To give him exclusive use of the telegraph line for 683 00:37:57,700 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 2: one hour at the time of the speech. So he's 684 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,200 Speaker 2: got the speech and he's locking up the telegraph line. 685 00:38:06,060 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 1: So that he can send information but also no one 686 00:38:08,219 --> 00:38:08,980 Speaker 1: else can. Yes. 687 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,410 Speaker 2: And so the day of the speech comes. And Reuters 688 00:38:12,590 --> 00:38:16,710 Speaker 2: agent in Paris has the speech in a sealed envelope. 689 00:38:17,290 --> 00:38:19,990 Speaker 2: And he opens the envelope when the speech starts and 690 00:38:20,090 --> 00:38:26,080 Speaker 2: starts transmitting the speech to London right as the speech starts. 691 00:38:27,780 --> 00:38:28,540 Speaker 2: It's a boring speech. 692 00:38:29,090 --> 00:38:31,580 Speaker 1: He who ascends the steps of the throne supported by 693 00:38:31,620 --> 00:38:32,700 Speaker 1: the voice and feeling of the people. Yeah, yeah, get 694 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 1: to the key line. 695 00:38:33,180 --> 00:38:33,899 Speaker 2: There's a key line. 696 00:38:34,100 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: The first motives of his actions. Nope, that's not it. 697 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:37,360 Speaker 2: Next paragraph. 698 00:38:37,540 --> 00:38:40,820 Speaker 1: Peace, I hope, will not be disturbed. Say it again. Peace, 699 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,430 Speaker 1: I hope, will not be disturbed. 700 00:38:43,550 --> 00:38:44,410 Speaker 2: You know what that means? 701 00:38:45,489 --> 00:38:45,830 Speaker 1: War. 702 00:38:47,510 --> 00:38:49,049 Speaker 2: Somehow everybody knows. 703 00:38:48,830 --> 00:38:51,670 Speaker 1: At the time. When a Napoleon says the word peace. 704 00:38:52,250 --> 00:38:53,239 Speaker 2: It's bad news. 705 00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:54,300 Speaker 1: It's bad news for everybody. 706 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:54,980 Speaker 2: Mass your armies. 707 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:57,060 Speaker 1: So. 708 00:38:58,580 --> 00:39:03,690 Speaker 2: The speech lands in Reuters' office in basically real time. 709 00:39:04,270 --> 00:39:07,010 Speaker 2: And within two hours, the full text of the speech, 710 00:39:07,310 --> 00:39:13,010 Speaker 2: as reported by Reuters, is in the papers, extra, extra, 711 00:39:13,070 --> 00:39:15,790 Speaker 2: read all about it. So this is his moment. So 712 00:39:15,930 --> 00:39:20,630 Speaker 2: now Reuters has proved himself. He's not just the financial 713 00:39:20,690 --> 00:39:25,790 Speaker 2: news guy. He has the most important story and he 714 00:39:25,870 --> 00:39:29,420 Speaker 2: has it first. Give us this line from the Birmingham 715 00:39:29,460 --> 00:39:31,860 Speaker 2: Journal singing Reuters praises at this moment. 716 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,830 Speaker 1: Reuters is not only the man of the time, but 717 00:39:34,890 --> 00:39:37,469 Speaker 1: the master of time. 718 00:39:38,910 --> 00:39:43,010 Speaker 2: This is the telegraph story. This is Reuters. using this 719 00:39:43,180 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 2: new instantaneous communication to change what news means. 720 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: Because think about it, at the time, you are in 721 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:58,220 Speaker 1: almost real time hearing news. what the leader of France 722 00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,420 Speaker 1: is saying in London. I mean, it would just blow 723 00:40:01,460 --> 00:40:04,000 Speaker 1: your mind that that is even physically possible. 724 00:40:04,260 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 2: You would have been born, if you were our age 725 00:40:06,620 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 2: at the time, you're in your 50s, when you were born, 726 00:40:10,219 --> 00:40:14,620 Speaker 2: it would have taken days. Like when Napoleon Bonaparte lost 727 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:18,379 Speaker 2: at Waterloo, it took days for the news to arrive 728 00:40:18,420 --> 00:40:21,200 Speaker 2: in London. The biggest story of the century took days 729 00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,180 Speaker 2: to get there. And now it is coming instantaneously. The 730 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:31,140 Speaker 2: world has transformed and Reuters has... ridden that transformation to dominance. 731 00:40:32,260 --> 00:40:34,400 Speaker 2: So what does it mean for Reuter and the Times? 732 00:40:34,540 --> 00:40:35,180 Speaker 2: Just to close. 733 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,689 Speaker 1: Oh, Marbury Morris is still waiting for his camel to report. 734 00:40:38,510 --> 00:40:42,650 Speaker 2: On Napoleon III's speech. Marbury Morris said that Reuter's transmission 735 00:40:42,690 --> 00:40:45,950 Speaker 2: had omitted a key passage of the speech. Not true. 736 00:40:46,270 --> 00:40:47,870 Speaker 2: Not true. Just the bitter old man. 737 00:40:48,350 --> 00:40:52,110 Speaker 1: But he did look word for word to find the mistake. 738 00:40:52,250 --> 00:40:59,410 Speaker 2: And he kept complaining about Reuter's telegrams being frivolous and desultory. Desultory, classic. 739 00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:03,939 Speaker 2: But that is what the old newsman does, complain about 740 00:41:03,980 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 2: the new thing. And in fact, what matters is that 741 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:12,460 Speaker 2: the Times becomes a customer of Reuters. The Times prints 742 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,860 Speaker 2: Reuters telegrams. Robert Smith, this is the moment in the 743 00:41:16,900 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 2: show when we talk to the listeners. 744 00:41:20,410 --> 00:41:22,890 Speaker 1: And usually we ask for their story ideas and we 745 00:41:22,910 --> 00:41:24,110 Speaker 1: love them. Keep those coming. 746 00:41:24,170 --> 00:41:25,569 Speaker 2: Business history at Pushkin.fm. 747 00:41:26,010 --> 00:41:29,280 Speaker 1: But we want to also say today, if you like 748 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,700 Speaker 1: the show, if you're enjoying the show, tell a friend. 749 00:41:33,140 --> 00:41:35,739 Speaker 1: Tell a friend that you really should listen to this 750 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,340 Speaker 1: amazing podcast called Business History. 751 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,459 Speaker 2: It actually makes a difference. Our show is small enough 752 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 2: that a few people telling friends, we notice it in 753 00:41:45,060 --> 00:41:46,760 Speaker 2: the numbers and we are super grateful. 754 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:47,739 Speaker 1: They will thank you later. 755 00:41:48,380 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 2: And we will thank you now. 756 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:49,900 Speaker 1: Thank you. 757 00:41:50,270 --> 00:41:53,219 Speaker 2: Today's show was produced by Gabriel Hunter Chang. It was 758 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:57,460 Speaker 2: engineered by Sarah Bruguier, our showrunner and editor. This is 759 00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:58,040 Speaker 2: Jake Harper. 760 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,420 Speaker 1: My name is Jacob Julius Goldstein. I am Robert Anthony Smith. 761 00:42:03,460 --> 00:42:04,500 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening.