THROUGHOUT a period when the newspaper industry was undergoing fundamental change, Robert Farmer was at the helm of the world’s oldest professional organisation of journalists.
Bob Farmer, as he was familiarly known, was a stranger to the world of journalism when he was appointed general secretary of the Chartered Institute of Journalists in 1962. He was an administrator, not a journalist, but through his professionalism he was quickly able to familiarise himself with the idiosyncrasies and special needs of the journalist and became not only a leader intent on improving the salaries and conditions of journalists, especially those working on provincial papers, but also a respected representative in the wider counsels of the journalistic world. For four years he served on a government committee on the law of defamation, which reported in 1975.
He was also a consultative member of the original Press Council from 1962 to his retirement in 1987, and was intimately involved in the inception of the Media Society, which had its origins in the Institute of Journalists, and acted as its secretary from 1973 to 1982. He was appointed OBE in 1985 for his services to journalism.
Robert Frederick Farmer was educated at Saltley Grammar School, Birmingham, and qualified as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. He served from 1941 to 1952 in the Royal Armoured Corps, being commissioned in the 3rd Carabiniers, with whom he served in the Burma campaign, where he was mentioned in dispatches. After leaving the Army he worked in the secretariat of the Institution of Plant Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Four years after becoming general secretary of the IOJ, Farmer was thrust into the turmoil of a proposed merger between the smaller independent Institute and the more politically aligned National Union of Journalists. It was an era of union amalgamations and the ideal of one strong organisation embracing all journalists had been a cherished goal of many members of both. Three earlier attempts had all failed but a fresh effort at fusion in 1966 almost succeeded. Dual membership arrangements were agreed for an interim period during which the Institute ceased its trade union activities in favour of the NUJ and concentrated, under Farmer’s direction, on professional and ethical matters for the two organisations. The so-called “trial marriage” lasted almost five years while negotiations continued on issues of detail and principle, but divisions again emerged in both organisations and the plans were scuttled at the eleventh hour by militant union activists.
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The temporarily reduced role of the IOJ left it in a vulnerable situation. Farmer, assisted by his deputy, James Paterson, had the tasks of restoring the institute to its independent status and resuming its trade union role. It was largely due to Farmer’s skill and professional advice that the transition was speedily accomplished.
Bob Farmer had the ability to cut through what might appear to be insoluble difficulties and produce an acceptable compromise. Innumerable presidents of the institute have reason to be grateful for his sound guidance through delicate procedural matters during conference sessions. Away from the dramas of the debating chamber, he could occasionally be persuaded to entertain his colleagues with a jazzy session on the piano, at which he was no mean performer. Cookery was one of his main interests and the habit of snuff-taking an old-world indulgence.
He suffered a brain haemorrhage and died in a Guildford hospice.
He is survived by his wife Anne, whom he married in 1958.
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Bob Farmer, OBE, consultative member of the Press Council and general secretary of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, 1962-87, was born on August 19, 1922. He died on July 27, 2003, aged 81.