Episode With Richie Sadlier: Fergal Keane
With the war in Ukraine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza dominating the news agenda, Richie is joined for the final show of the series by BBC special correspondent and veteran war reporter, Fergal Keane.
Fergal, who’s spent much of the last couple of years covering both conflicts, has been reporting from frontlines across the world for over three decades. But recently, he’s been adapting how he does the job, taking on assignments that place him out of harm’s way, yet still get him close enough so that he can tell the stories of the ordinary people whose lives have been upended.
He made that decision after privately battling with PTSD for years, a condition which he thinks dates back to well before his career as a journalist, all the way back to his turbulent childhood, even.
And as he explains to Richie, it’s one of a number of choices he’s made which have brought him a sense of peace for the first time in his life, even while he continues to be deeply affected by his reporting on the Ukrainian and Palestinian lives which continue to be lost every day.
Our film with @nikcam12 @AliceDoyard @haneenabdeen4 on the death of baby Sabreen. Thank you to her family for allowing us to tell the story and to our brave colleague in Rafah. https://t.co/PeWFZ05l7H
— Fergal Keane (@fergalkeane47) April 27, 2024
Fergal also describes how distant a ceasefire in Gaza seems to him right now, how he ensures he doesn’t go back on his promise to steer clear of frontline reporting, and he remembers the life of a Gazan who died at just five days old, baby Sabreen al-Sakani.
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Richie meets Duffer – cracking interview available now to all https://t.co/ybGgvy4uDG
— Eoin McDevitt (@EoinMcDevitt) May 29, 2024