Beslan, Where The Russian Authorities Stopped Live

Hair Is Also A Problem. I Remember Once, When I Was Reporting From Beirut At The Height Of The Civil War, Someone Wrote In To The Bbc Complaining About My Appearance.

I Was Sent To A Nice Church Of England Girls' School And At That Time, After University, A Woman Was Expected To Become A Teacher, A Nurse Or A Missionary - Prior To Marriage.

People Always Seem To Assume That We Have A Full, Back-up Support Team - Make-up, Costume And A Driver - But Usually, In A War Zone, There's Only Me And The Cameraman.

It's Totally Mistaken To Suppose That An Armed Escort Is Going To Give A Journalist Any Protection - On The Contrary, Journalists Who Turn Up Surrounded By Armed Personnel Are Just Turning Themselves Into Targets And In Even Worse Danger.

On The Northern Ireland Question, For Instance, The British And Irish Governments Prohibit Media Contact With Members Of The Ira, But We Have Always Gone Ahead, Believing In The Right To Information.