For veteran newsman Hugh Riminton, turning up at Channel Ten for his last day of daily reporting on Friday, the emotions were strong – and not just for the creeping finality of it.
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emotions → turn → it
It was reflecting on the sheer amount of time between his professional curtain rising and now falling – and the change he has seen in a career spanning no fewer than six decades.
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he → reflect → decades
No, it was not quite that when he started the curtain cords were steam-driven, while now they’re AI-programmed, but it’s close.
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they → start → ?
“The first major news story I covered,” he says, “was the Mount Erebus plane disaster in the late ’70s.
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he → cover → 70s
My radio station in Christchurch sent a telegram, delivered by cable boy, ordering me to come in to work.
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station → send → work
The newsroom ran on telexes and manual typewriters.
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newsroom → run → telexes
As I leave today, everyone, everywhere, is connected, to just about everything happening in the world.
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everyone → leave → world
But what a time he has had over those years, what stories he has chronicled, what people he has met, what organisations he has worked for, including a long stint with CNN.
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he → have → CNN
Asked to reflect on the highs and lows, the most moving moments he has been a witness to, he responds instantly.
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he → ask → highs
“The one I think about most often,” he says, “is being with Colin Powell on the night in November 2008 that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States.
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Obama → think → States
Powell was a Republican who many thought might be the first black president.
uncertain
many → think → ?
His wife convinced him not to run, fearing assassination.
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wife → convince → assassination
As I spoke to him, he wept, he was so moved that a black man had finally made it.
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man → speak → it
When the interview was over, he did a strange thing.
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he → do → thing
He stood up and hugged me.
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He → stand → me
I hugged him back.
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I → hug → him
We both recognised just how historic this moment was for the world.
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moment → recognise → world
It was such a privilege to share that.
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It → share → that
I don’t think I’ve ever lost that sense of privilege.
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I → think → privilege
“Port Arthur,” he says flatly.
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he → say → ?
“I had just landed in Melbourne and my phone was going off.
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phone → land → Melbourne
I got there while he was still shooting.”
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he → get → ?
Asked for the most compelling image he retains from that terrible day that is still publishable, he pauses.
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he → ask → day
“It was going into the site with a police escort, hours after the massacre, when the evidence of the slaughter was so obvious.
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evidence → go → slaughter
It was … soul-shaking.”
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It → shake → ?
That day marked him forever.
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day → mark → him
They have a loud, distinctive cackle.
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They → have → cackle
To this day when I hear that sound, when I even see a plover, I … I …
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I → hear → plover
“It takes me back.”
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It → take → me
And the most extraordinary person you met?
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you → meet → person
“Nelson Mandela,” he says.
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he → say → ?
“People talk of Winston Churchill as the greatest human of the 20th century, and there might be an argument there.
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People → talk → century
Riminton was there on the night in Johannesburg’s Carlton Hotel when the results of South Africa’s first free election were announced.
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results → announce → election
“The room was filled with veterans of the struggle, legends of the cause,” he recalls, “mixed with the rising generation.
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room → fill → generation
Suddenly, it stopped.
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it → stop → ?
Nelson Mandela came out.”
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Mandela → come → ?
Again, Riminton’s voice becomes husky.
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voice → become → ?
“Mandela said in this stern, serious voice: ‘I have just received a call from the Independent Electoral Commission …’
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I → say → Commission
And then he read the results from around the country.
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he → read → country
The ANC had won nearly two-thirds of the vote.
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ANC → win → vote
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
