Journalist on headlines and heartache
Dunblane
When the call came through on March 13, 1996, the word was of a shooting at a school. It was thought a child may have been killed.
As I drove through, radio reports were of possibly two killed, which seemed unspeakable.
I got there about 11.30am and when we started getting information we thought it just had to be wrong.
These things didn’t happen at a lovely little school in picturesque Dunblane.
Watching parents arrive that lunchtime in a state of panic was an awful sight and one I’ll never forget.
Glasgow bin lorry crash
The 2014 bin lorry crash in Glasgow that killed six people was a terrible tragedy made worse somehow by the fact it happened so near to Christmas.
The juxtaposition that amidst all the lights and supposed happiness was this awful scene.
We got there early and went on air for an hour. I didn’t even have notes on the back of a fag packet, just a totally empty notebook.
People who had a story to tell were being shoved in front of me. After it, I got to know some of the families well because I made a documentary.
I hope they felt we did their stories justice.
Politics
Obviously politics has taken centre stage over the last few years and I’ve been lucky to be involved.
It’s now become routine that I’m part of our election night broadcast and then I’ll go right into Reporting Scotland the next day. If it’s a UK election I’ll go to London and if it is a Scottish one I’ll present the programme from Holyrood.
So it’s 48 hours without sleep, getting by on the adrenaline and coffee. But they’ve been so exciting, there’s been no better place to be. After it, I’m the cheapest date ever. If my producer Jackie and I are in London, we’ll hit the gin about 8pm that second night – but we don’t need much.
Lockerbie
In 1995, a cairn was set to be unveiled for those who had been killed in the Lockerbie tragedy at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Lots of Scottish families were going over and President Bill Clinton was going to inaugurate it. The ceremony was due to take place between 6.30pm and 7pm our time. When we came on air the President hadn’t arrived yet and I had to fill a half hour with various guests. Finally, he did arrive just 10 seconds before we went off air. In retrospect, they should have extended the programme, but they didn’t.
So I had the unenviable job of saying: “The President is arriving, the inauguration is about to begin, good evening.”
When we arrived back in Glasgow I saw we were front page news because, quite understandably, viewers felt they’d been badly treated. In the great scheme of such a tragedy, a broadcasting blip matters not a jot, but it’s a shame we couldn’t have done it justice.