This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/14/sue-lloyd-roberts-tributes-bbc
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Sue Lloyd-Roberts: tributes to campaigning BBC journalist | Sue Lloyd-Roberts: tributes to campaigning BBC journalist |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Sue Lloyd-Roberts, the award winning BBC journalist who died on Tuesday, was renowned for bringing stories from some of the world’s most dangerous and inaccessible places to UK TV screens. | Sue Lloyd-Roberts, the award winning BBC journalist who died on Tuesday, was renowned for bringing stories from some of the world’s most dangerous and inaccessible places to UK TV screens. |
| Her reports from locations such as North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe and Syria, often filmed with little or no support, earned her widespread respect among fellow correspondents. | Her reports from locations such as North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe and Syria, often filmed with little or no support, earned her widespread respect among fellow correspondents. |
| Below, her colleagues and competitors share their memories. | Below, her colleagues and competitors share their memories. |
| Related: BBC journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts dies of cancer | Related: BBC journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts dies of cancer |
| Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News international editor | Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News international editor |
| “I always admired Sue Lloyd-Roberts because she was such a terrier for the story, frequently operating undercover, alone and at great personal risk. She went to extraordinary lengths to expose human rights abuse and government repression in places where it was extremely difficult to operate, such as North Korea and Burma. She would sometimes spend days or weeks undercover which required nerves of steel. Famously, she was the first western reporter into Homs when the Syrian uprising took off – smuggled in, hiding in the boot of a car.“Sue was understated and deliberate in her presentation – her precise tone and slight lisp was unmistakable. She could be quietly funny – the best example being when an imam in Gambia told her that female genital mutilation was for the benefit of women because a clitoris would itch or hurt, and she replied, mildly, that she had been in possession of a clitoris for 62 years without experiencing such problems.“I can’t think of another broadcast reporter who combines such a passion to uncover atrocities and injustice with technical skill and determination. She is a huge loss.” | “I always admired Sue Lloyd-Roberts because she was such a terrier for the story, frequently operating undercover, alone and at great personal risk. She went to extraordinary lengths to expose human rights abuse and government repression in places where it was extremely difficult to operate, such as North Korea and Burma. She would sometimes spend days or weeks undercover which required nerves of steel. Famously, she was the first western reporter into Homs when the Syrian uprising took off – smuggled in, hiding in the boot of a car.“Sue was understated and deliberate in her presentation – her precise tone and slight lisp was unmistakable. She could be quietly funny – the best example being when an imam in Gambia told her that female genital mutilation was for the benefit of women because a clitoris would itch or hurt, and she replied, mildly, that she had been in possession of a clitoris for 62 years without experiencing such problems.“I can’t think of another broadcast reporter who combines such a passion to uncover atrocities and injustice with technical skill and determination. She is a huge loss.” |
| Christina Lamb, Sunday Times foreign affairs correspondent | Christina Lamb, Sunday Times foreign affairs correspondent |
| “In my year as graduate trainee at Central/ITN between 1987 and 1988, she trained me, Ronke Phillips, senior reporter at London Tonight, Eric McInnes who was northern reporter for ITN, Tess Stimson, now a novelist and Jonathan Munro who is now BBC’s head of newsgathering. I think she found us quite exasperating sometimes; we went to Strasbourg to see the European Parliament and spent our week’s allowance the first day in a bar then couldn’t find our hotel and she had to rescue us. | “In my year as graduate trainee at Central/ITN between 1987 and 1988, she trained me, Ronke Phillips, senior reporter at London Tonight, Eric McInnes who was northern reporter for ITN, Tess Stimson, now a novelist and Jonathan Munro who is now BBC’s head of newsgathering. I think she found us quite exasperating sometimes; we went to Strasbourg to see the European Parliament and spent our week’s allowance the first day in a bar then couldn’t find our hotel and she had to rescue us. |
| “Later she went to the BBC and reinvented herself as an investigative/ documentary maker and I met her on the road in all sorts of unlikely spots such as undercover in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe where we had G&Ts at the Victoria Falls hotel. She was quite phenomenal, getting into all sorts of impossible places through charm, determination and maybe the fact that she always looked very proper. | “Later she went to the BBC and reinvented herself as an investigative/ documentary maker and I met her on the road in all sorts of unlikely spots such as undercover in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe where we had G&Ts at the Victoria Falls hotel. She was quite phenomenal, getting into all sorts of impossible places through charm, determination and maybe the fact that she always looked very proper. |
| “She never just stood by or waited to be sent, nor followed the pack, she was always in there and shining a light on some of the most forgotten places and people. It was impossible not to listen to her. She was also incredibly modest, never did that kind of ‘me, me, me’ journalism and sometimes one forgot the immense risks she was taking to bring back those stories.” | “She never just stood by or waited to be sent, nor followed the pack, she was always in there and shining a light on some of the most forgotten places and people. It was impossible not to listen to her. She was also incredibly modest, never did that kind of ‘me, me, me’ journalism and sometimes one forgot the immense risks she was taking to bring back those stories.” |
| Maggie O’Kane, Guardian multimedia investigations editor | Maggie O’Kane, Guardian multimedia investigations editor |
| “Sue Lloyd-Roberts was in a darkened ballroom in Banja Luka where Arcan, Zeljko Raznjatovic, a Serbian paramilitary leader, charged with some of the worst war crimes during Yugoslavia’s vicious breakup, was having lunch. It was the early 90s when Arcan was rising to become the war’s most infamous paramilitary leader. Stumbling on his group by accident, I endeavoured to snatch a quick interview. “Sue, with her the small Video8 camera on her shoulder, regarded me patiently from Arkan’s side. She had already been with him and his paramilitaries for some days ... I don’t think she said a word, but I remember thinking that I should not, under any circumstances, attempt to crash her party. I think I got a line or two from Arcan and then scampered off. | “Sue Lloyd-Roberts was in a darkened ballroom in Banja Luka where Arcan, Zeljko Raznjatovic, a Serbian paramilitary leader, charged with some of the worst war crimes during Yugoslavia’s vicious breakup, was having lunch. It was the early 90s when Arcan was rising to become the war’s most infamous paramilitary leader. Stumbling on his group by accident, I endeavoured to snatch a quick interview. “Sue, with her the small Video8 camera on her shoulder, regarded me patiently from Arkan’s side. She had already been with him and his paramilitaries for some days ... I don’t think she said a word, but I remember thinking that I should not, under any circumstances, attempt to crash her party. I think I got a line or two from Arcan and then scampered off. |
| “Over the years in Burma, in North Korea, on FGM it was always the same – Sue Lloyd-Roberts got there first, she was way ahead of the curve on stories that really mattered and perhaps most impressive of all – she always did it alone.” | “Over the years in Burma, in North Korea, on FGM it was always the same – Sue Lloyd-Roberts got there first, she was way ahead of the curve on stories that really mattered and perhaps most impressive of all – she always did it alone.” |
| Ian O’Reilly, BBC current affairs director and producer | Ian O’Reilly, BBC current affairs director and producer |
| I met Sue in the summer of 94 at the BBC. At the time Sue was at the forefront of video journalism. | I met Sue in the summer of 94 at the BBC. At the time Sue was at the forefront of video journalism. |
| Sue and I hit it off straight away and spent most of the next 20 years working together. Camcorders in hand we travelling the world. | Sue and I hit it off straight away and spent most of the next 20 years working together. Camcorders in hand we travelling the world. |
| Once Sue got a good story she was reluctant to let it go. Again and again we returned to countries such as Burma, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Romania. We secretly filmed a meeting with a Burmese general at military headquarters in Rangoon in the late 90s admitting he did business with British companies against sanctions, on a trip to Romania we secretly filmed ourselves arranging to buy a baby every day for week; Sue cried a lot when we made that film. Just last year we secretly filmed Sue negotiating to buying several rhino horns in Vietnam – we were promised a good price, the government was very unhappy. | Once Sue got a good story she was reluctant to let it go. Again and again we returned to countries such as Burma, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Romania. We secretly filmed a meeting with a Burmese general at military headquarters in Rangoon in the late 90s admitting he did business with British companies against sanctions, on a trip to Romania we secretly filmed ourselves arranging to buy a baby every day for week; Sue cried a lot when we made that film. Just last year we secretly filmed Sue negotiating to buying several rhino horns in Vietnam – we were promised a good price, the government was very unhappy. |
| It could be exhausting working undercover for periods of time, always trying to keep up a cover of being a tourist or an academic on a working holiday but Sue always strode on undeterred, she was determined to give voice to the voiceless and to expose the wrongdoings of autocrats and the corrupt. | It could be exhausting working undercover for periods of time, always trying to keep up a cover of being a tourist or an academic on a working holiday but Sue always strode on undeterred, she was determined to give voice to the voiceless and to expose the wrongdoings of autocrats and the corrupt. |
| Unlike most television reporters Sue was a campaigning journalist. Again and again she returned to the abuse of Muslim women through the cultural practices of forced marriage, honour killings and most recently female genital mutilation. | Unlike most television reporters Sue was a campaigning journalist. Again and again she returned to the abuse of Muslim women through the cultural practices of forced marriage, honour killings and most recently female genital mutilation. |
| Sue’s rage against wrong was her main weapon in her fight for the oppressed – a fight I gladly joined and was proud to be a part of. For over 20 years Sue and I were colleagues and close friends; I love her dearly and will miss her always.” | Sue’s rage against wrong was her main weapon in her fight for the oppressed – a fight I gladly joined and was proud to be a part of. For over 20 years Sue and I were colleagues and close friends; I love her dearly and will miss her always.” |
| Lyse Doucet, BBC chief international correspondent | |
| In our world of journalism, there was a Sue Lloyd-Roberts’ signature. Her stories always stood apart. They were always difficult stories to tell, often in dangerous places to tell them. Nothing seemed to stand her way. I often marvelled: “how does she do it?” How does she keep her calm, not lose her nerve, when she hid her real identity, and hid her camera, to expose human rights abuses the world over, and hold abusers to account. | |
| She went to places like Burma and Romania again and again. She told stories like female genital mutilation again and again, in many places where its still practised, and that included Britain too. She went into Syria in 2011, before any other Western journalist, to secretly film in the city of Homs the start of an uprising that is now a full-blown war. | |
| In the late 1980s, long before the “video journalist” designation of our day, Sue saw the power packed into the small state of the art Hi8 video camera. This became her weapon of choice to do battle. Sometimes she posed as a tourist, sometimes an historian, an ornithologist, a gems dealer. But there was always that Sue Lloyd-Roberts signature – telling human stories in a human way. There were flashes of humour, and rays of hope. And even in the most difficult places, with the dirtiest crimes, she maintained her understated feminine elegance, her precisely pressed shirts, her quiet charm. | |
| Ironically, a camera of choice now is a digital SLR. Even if its makers didn’t mean to carry her signature, her initials somehow got in. That’s classic SLR. |
Previous version
1
Next version