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Veteran newsman Hugh Riminton filed his last daily report for Channel Ten on Friday, reflecting on six decades of journalism, from telexes to a connected world, and the stories that marked him.
Veteran newsman Hugh Riminton has signed off at Channel Ten after more than six decades in journalism, filing his last daily report on Friday. He said the emotions were strong, not just because of the finality of the moment but because of the sheer span of time between his professional curtain rising and now falling.
He said the curtain cords may not have been steam-driven when he started, while now they are AI-programmed, but it is close. His career has spanned no fewer than six decades and included a long stint with CNN. Riminton recalled how dramatically the industry has changed since he began.
Career Spanning Six Decades Of Journalism
He said the first major story he covered was the Mount Erebus plane disaster in the late 1970s, when his radio station in Christchurch sent a telegram delivered by cable boy ordering him to come to work. Newsrooms then ran on telexes and manual typewriters, while today everyone everywhere is connected to just about everything happening in the world. Asked to reflect on the highs and lows and the most moving moments he witnessed, he responded instantly.
He named being with Colin Powell on the night in November 2008 that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Powell was a Republican whom many thought might be the first black president, and his wife convinced him not to run, fearing assassination. Riminton said that as he spoke to Powell, the former secretary of state wept, so moved that a black man had finally made it.
When the interview ended, Powell stood up and hugged him, and Riminton hugged him back. He said they both recognised how historic the moment was for the world, and it was a privilege to share it, a sense of privilege he has never lost. The most harrowing story, he said flatly, was Port Arthur.
Reliving The Trauma Of Port Arthur
He had just landed in Melbourne when his phone started going off with instructions that a gunman was loose in Tasmania and he should get on a flight to Hobart immediately. He arrived while the gunman was still shooting. He described going into the site with a police escort hours after the massacre, when the evidence of the slaughter was so obvious, as soul-shaking. That day marked him forever.
He recalled birds at Port Arthur called plovers, which have a loud and distinctive cackle. He said that to this day, when he hears that sound or even sees a plover, it takes him back. The most extraordinary person he met, he said, was Nelson Mandela, naming Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela as the three moral giants of the 20th century.
He acknowledged people talk of Winston Churchill as the greatest human of the 20th century, and there might be an argument there, but for him those three stood above. Riminton was in Johannesburg's Carlton Hotel on the night South Africa's first free election results were announced. He recalled the room was filled with veterans of the struggle and legends of the cause mixed with the rising generation, and a band was playing on stage.
Suddenly the band stopped and Nelson Mandela came out. Mandela said in a stern, serious voice that he had just received a call from the Independent Electoral Commission, then read the results from around the country. The ANC had won nearly two-thirds of the vote and he was the new president.
Witnessing Nelson Mandelas Historic Victory
Mandela then said that for the first time they knew the true meaning of the words: Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last. He was quoting Martin Luther King. Riminton said the room went nuts, Mandela did a small toyi-toyi dance and left the stage.
Riminton heard a strange noise that sounded like a roar from the air-conditioning, opened a window, and saw the streets utterly packed with hundreds of thousands of black faces dancing and celebrating, which he described as a power plant of joyful energy. Asked why he was leaving now, even though there is no suggestion his work has diminished in quality as he approaches 70, Riminton said the time is right.
Journalism Faces Financial And Structural Challenges
His son is doing the HSC and his father in New Zealand is approaching 100, so he needs to spend time with both. On the state of journalism as he leaves, he said it is fractured, with sources of information splintering and the advertising market scattered. He said advertisers traditionally underpinned good journalism and now they are scattered, which is a huge challenge.
He said there can only be one solution: people must realise there is a real value for themselves and the world in paying for facts-based journalism. If you do not pay for quality, you will not get quality, and society loses its way. His final advice to young hungry journalists looking to the future was that journalism is like jazz music.
It is harder than it looks, it is a public good and it is great fun, but unless you are Miles Davis, do not expect to make any money out of it.
theage 
smh:Tears, trauma and telexes: Hugh Riminton signs off after a lifetime 
brisbanetimes:Tears, trauma and telexes: Hugh Riminton signs off after a lifetimeThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Hugh Riminton Channel Ten Journalism Career Colin Powell Port Arthur Nelson Mandela
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