John Suchet on going from war zones to 24/7 news to classical radio
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The Pat Kenny Show with Timber Living Log Cabins, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. on News Talk. Conversation that counts. Well, the headlines about Venezuela are pretty terrible. Venezuela is coming to terms with a scene of deep and widespread devastation. Entire communities have been upended. Families still desperately searching for missing loved ones. In the midst of all the uncertainty, local volunteers are continuing their efforts, working against the clock in the hope of finding survivors. As you'll hear from this report on Sky News, James Matthews has been reporting on the ground in Venezuela.
I'm by the shore in a town called Katiel Amar. It's northwest of Caracas. And in this place, I think we get a clear sense of the devastation, certainly, and how that has impacted on the local people here. Take a look. high right and you can see the multi-story blocks that were once built here as luxury flats they are now crumpled some almost completely raised to the ground and they are currently being searched at a height by some volunteers closer to me here in the foreground well this is a grim scene being duplicated right across this region Rescuers here have found a body. They're not official rescuers because the police, fire brigade, official resources have been stretched to the extent the local people have been doing this job essentially by hand, using pickaxes, gardening tools.
trying to find survivors, trying to find their loved ones. I was round the corner and, you know, members, generations of families have been shouting, screaming into the rubble, shouting the names of their loved ones, women, children. I had one aunt shouting the names Maria, Christopher, youngsters that she had lost in the earthquake. No sign of them alive, but... Largely, it's the very worst news that people are coming to terms with here. They had the shock, clearly, of the earthquake, an initial escape for these people, but in the 48 hours since, it's been a question of this. looking in the rubble, looking for survivors, a race against time. Because where there are survivors, they have a finite time in which they will remain alive.
So there is a real sense of urgency, a sense of desperation here, and ultimately for many people, a sense of despair. You get an acute sense of how this... The earthquake has impacted on this place. You know, there is silence sometimes as you listen for sound. There is certainly the smell of death, and it is, for these people looking for their loved ones in their town, a most grotesque scene.
And that report from James Matthews of Sky News. And don't forget, tens of thousands of people are still missing and time may well be running out for many of them. And I'm wondering how that report might have triggered my next guest, because his career had two distinct phases. He was the face of both ITN's international coverage and presenter of their flagship News at Ten. He ultimately left the world of news behind him and embraced classical music, which was a lifelong passion. We'll talk about both of those aspects of his career. John Suse, good morning and welcome.
Thank you, Pat. Good to be with you.
I'm wondering how triggering was that description from James for you, because you have been that soldier.
Absolutely. I was thinking, listening to it, you know, the big difference between television news today and in my day, which, let's face it, was almost 50 years ago, is 24-hour news. Sky News that you've just played that report from, it's on air 24-7. I was working for News at 10. So I had all day to put the piece together and then satellite it to London, being very cognizant of the time difference and all that sort of thing. And once the piece aired on News at 10, I'd go to bed and work the next day for the next day's piece. But these reporters now on 24-hour news, they just never rest. I mean, it's extraordinary. And they are so good. James Matthews there, you know, he's probably... been up for 24 or 48 hours on a story of this magnitude, and yet he still turns in first-class eyewitness reports by satellite, live by satellite, which is another thing that you couldn't do in my day.
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