You learn all sorts of amazing things when you settle down in the Reuters Bangalore newsroom for a few months. You discover that there are more than 60 reporters here who cover news about U.S., U.K. and Canadian companies. Six more cover commodities news, including those nasty, “inadvertent” releases of poison gases and other mishaps. There are a dozen “filers,” which at newspapers you would call the copy editors. (I’m one of those)

What else? There are editors-in-charge, a bureau chief, a training editor, reporters handling research notes from analyst firms, people who poll economists and release data about what those people think, and people who churn out newsletters for Reuters customers on tight deadlines.

The best part about all these people is that they all have names, and you can look them up and then address them personally. It’s much more personal than asking, “Is Bangalore handling that update?” or “Tell Bangalore to do it.” I like this whole “individual name” thing, and I might just stick with it…