Chris Boffey arrived at the Observer in 2007 with a reputation as one of Fleet Street’s most experienced reporters and news executives, a journalist who had worked on papers as diverse as the Sun, News of the World and the Sunday Telegraph. Chris, who has died aged 74 of cancer, also brought along his own set of rules, which he deemed essential to the conduct of his reporters, of whom I was one. His mandates brought a subversive edge to the newsroom.
First there was his 10-minute rule. A reporter, returning from a war zone or some other grim assignment, was given this strict time limit for their pub recollections of their experiences. After that, watches were stared at and interruptions began. As a colleague put it: “Chris had no time for ‘show ponies’.”
