A splash of political colour

Lara Masters asks Political Correspondent Gary O’Donoghue about becoming one of the most familiar faces on the BBC and keeping up appearances in an image-obsessed industry

When we meet at 5pm, he’s been on shift since six that morning, but Gary O’Donoghue is warm and enthusiastic about answering my questions – even the ones he’s doubtless been asked hundreds of times before.

“When I was eight, I lost my sight finally the day we got colour television at home but being blind gave me a Rolls Royce education. My brothers went to the local comp but I was plucked from this system and sent to highly academic special schools. At the grammar school for the blind in Worcester they let us try anything we wanted including learning to drive. Our instructor took us to a disused MoD airfield; there was one kid up front and four in the back all screaming; “Faster, faster!” And we played football every day. It’s a dirty, dirty game, there were loads of injuries but I ended up playing for the Blind England Team.

“The school instilled in us a confidence bordering on arrogance so when I went to Oxford University and met people who behaved oddly towards me, I was shocked. I ended up going to the university counselling services; they gave me a book called Stigma (Erving Goffman) which explained the processes behind alienation and was an enormous comfort.“

Whilst at uni Gary did work experience for the BBC on news and politics radio programmes and after graduating landed a succession of freelance contracts before becoming the youngest reporter on The Today Programme.

“I’ve always come across individuals who have been prepared to take a punt on me” says Gary who recently flew to the NATO Summit on the Prime Minister’s plane. Gary has covered countless poignant political moments in his 18 year career including reporting from the Macedonian border during the Kosovo bombings, working on Today in Parliament during the ’92 election and presenting The World Service during the Iraq War. However, there have been hurdles; in 2007, his story that Gordon Brown was flying back from holiday to deal with the foot and mouth crisis was handed over to June Kelly to present on the BBC News prompting Gary to take up a discrimination case.

“I love working for the BBC but they are a public service broadcaster and should be reflecting the people living in Britain properly. Recent research shows that audiences want to see disabled people on TV but programme makers need to catch up.”

Fitting in, in-front of camera, also takes determination. “Since working in TV, I take lots of advice on my image. Five years ago I would buy suits off-the-peg, now I get them made-to-measure. My partner, Sarah, helps with choosing my clothes and the BBC have people who will spend your money in Selfridge’s for you if you ask them to.

“A political correspondent has to look authoritative and that ties in with the way you look. There’s a uniform for the men but also TV correspondent ‘fashion’. At the moment every reporter doing a piece outside is wearing a little scarf because someone, somewhere, has said a splash of colour round the throat looks good. Up until Christmas I wore a red scarf because I thought it was warm and Christmassy, now it’s spring I’m wearing a blue one.”

If he’d take one fashion tip from me, I’d suggest that he wore cooler, more distinctive ties. The tie is the one area where men who dress that way can make their own statement. Plain silk, or something with big bold patterns would make him look more authoritative.

Gary sees no point in trying to hide or mask his blindness.

“I try to be as honest as I can with showing I’m disabled on TV; if I’m walking with an interviewee I carry my white stick but I don’t want that to deflect from what I’m saying. The first time people see me reading Braille they probably won’t listen to me but they’ll get used to it. I tell the cameraman to keep the shot nice and loose because what you don’t want is to see my hands moving just below screen without knowing what I’m doing; that would really put the viewers off!”