Ask Donal MacIntyre transcript
|
| This event took place Thursday 2nd May, 2002 |
 |
 |
Donal MacIntyre
Investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre, joined us and answered your questions about his new series, life-threatening situations and lots more ...
|
|
|
Question from Jennifer: How did you come to be doing this job?
Donal MacIntyre: Like most jobs, it was entirely by accident. I come from a journalistic background but ended up doing undercover work after four children died in a canoeing holiday disaster in Lyme Bay in the early 1990s. At the time, I was working for an investigative sports series called 'On The Line' and as a former Irish canoeing international, it made sense I investigated the issues. We did some undercover filming and that was the start of my investigative reporting.
Question from Charlie Davies: MacIntyre are you crazy? Do you find it exhilarating to get into life threatening situations?
Donal MacIntyre: Charlie, when I was shot at in Burma, it had taken me two days walking and hiking over 5,000 feet hills in 40 degree temperatures. It would have been a relief to be shot dead on the spot as I was so knackered! At the time, I was so out of it with exhaustion, the real threat didn't really hit home.
Question from Rob M: As crystal meth produces such undesirable effects, do you really see it taking off in clubland? Clubbers won't go back to a dealer who sell meth as E.
Donal MacIntyre: I think it's how meth-amphetamine is sold here and that is the real threat. If it's sold here as it's marketed in Thailand etc in pill form - and cheaply - people get a cheap buzz very quickly - and often - and that's the danger.
Question from Sharon: You do great work - but you should've given Jonathon Ross a slap for not letting you talk - he hasn't got the hang of interviewing yet. With all your public appearances, will you be considering plastic surgery?
Donal MacIntyre: I think Jonathan Ross is funnier actually behind the cameras than on camera! There was little for me to say other than to take the abuse, which I was happy to do. I have never considered plastic surgery but I once did university boxing - before one match I had a crooked nose and after the match it was straight, so the cheapest plastic surgery ever I think!
Question from Pete Jones: Hi, what has been the scariest position you've been in in all the operations you've done?
Donal MacIntyre: I think, for me personally, the scariest was last week - the knife being pulled on me. The threat then was immediate and close at hand. More than that, I was disarmed and not expecting it. In many ways, that man disarmed me like I had the football hooligans some years previously.
Question from Julie Mellor: What drives you to put yourself in such danger?
Donal MacIntyre: I think the number one priority is the journalist in me. I think everything journalists do - we are prepared to go to some lengths to tell our stories. I'm not afraid of some things that others are, but other people are not afraid of things that I'm afraid of. For example, I'm not really good in the dark, I always sleep with the radio on and a little light in the room. This was all through my childhood and still goes on!
Question from Graham: Was there at any time that you thought you had bitten more off than you could chew during the filming of tonight's programme?
Donal MacIntyre: Certainly when we became involved in effectively what was a civil war in an alien landscape in harsh conditions, I felt as if events were out of control. When the Burmese military came chasing after us in the middle of the night, we had to pack up our gear and run down a green hill which was littered with holes and rock. We had no lights, because we couldn't use them in case we became target practice - we had to cross a river with our backpacks on. My journalist colleague and myself ended up heading up a hill away from it but ended up going back the wrong way. We eventually were found and were rescued.
Question from Julia Calver: What determines the choice of story to follow and investigate?
Donal MacIntyre: It's a team process and dynamic, everyone contributes to that. The mugging programme was an idea generated by myself and two producers. It was my suggestion that I be the one who gets mugged. The meth-amphetamine story was brought in with a producer and two journalists and the shocking expose next week is a programme which was generated within the team.
Question from Calvin Jones: Have any of your investigations proved fruitless? As in you started a story you believed in, then discovered whilst filming (and commissioned) there wasn't much of a story there - what do you do then?
Donal MacIntyre: In the event of the story not standing up, we just don't do the story. That involves bravery in the broadcasters and lots of other people. We were committed on our mugging programme to just spending three days in Brixton and it was on the third day I got mugged. However, if I wasn't mugged, there wouldn't have been a programme - in my view.
Question from John D: Isn't your face becoming too well known to continue investigating?
Donal MacIntyre: Yes, to some extent it is. Many people said that after the last series though, and we ended up doing significant amounts for this series. It will certainly be harder for the third series but we'll have to see how that goes.
Question from Patrick Morse: If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
Donal MacIntyre: I'm sure I'd be a very good beach bum! I think a mountain guide or climber but as I spend most of my time either in the cinema or a coffee shop, I would happily work in a cafe!
Question from Tommy Gunn: The football programme with the headhunters was incredible. Do you receive much retaliation or threats?
Donal MacIntyre: The threat from that programme will stay with me for a long time. We got convictions for a lot of these, we took on a huge cultural issue, some very violent people. A lot of people associated with this feel very angry towards me. We've had bodyguards, safe houses and sometimes it's been very terrifying, but by standing by our journalism in a court of law, these men were convicted and this struck a blow to the terrible English disease that is football hooliganism.
|
|
Suggest a Star or Expert to answer your questions