HE’S reported on the most seismic events of the past five decades and has seen first hand the power that a free press can wield.
But now Sir Trevor McDonald fears that the media is under attack like never before – as politicians try to discredit journalists with cries of “fake news” and social media spreads information which is neither accurate or balanced.
He writes in his new book, An Improbable Life, that he is shocked by “how readily unscrupulous politicians reach for the label ‘fake news’ to describe anything which attempts to hold them to account.”
These powerful figures, he says, are “openly contemptuous of the very concept of a free press, they see unbiased reporting as the enemy of the state. Faced with incontrovertible evidence of their lies and deceit they shamelessly describe reported facts as fake news.”
It is a situation which harks back to the Nazis, where fascists labelled reports they didn’t like ‘Lügenpresse’ – or lying press.
Sir Trevor thinks this “bears an uncomfortable resemblance to what happens in our politics today,” adding: “Be on your guard whenever you hear the words ‘fake news’: it may be nothing more than the new term of abuse for inconvenient facts.”
At 80 years old and indisputably one of our most influential journalists, Sir Trevor knows what he’s talking about.
During 46 years as a TV journalist he has witnessed the world’s biggest news stories firsthand and interviewed some of its most important figures – including Nelson Mandela and Saddam Hussein.
But over tea in a South London pub, he reveals that his commitment to journalism came at a price – admitting that it is “disastrous for your personal life.”
The father-of-three, married to second wife Josephine for 31 years, says: “Families suffer a great deal, but in the end they come to an understanding and tolerate it. But it’s not ideal for family life. Reporting is not a 9-5 job.”
Indeed, being a foreign correspondent for ITN meant dropping everything at a moment’s notice and dashing to the other side of the world.
Sir Trevor recalls how once he was summoned to Washington on a day off, and changing planes in New York, was greeted by a flight attendant who said: “‘Mr McDonald, I have a message here from your wife: she says, ‘You were off to play tennis when I left home this morning. What the hell are you doing in New York?”’
Sir Trevor smiles: “I did a programme on the Mafia the other day and one of the women whose father was a gangster told me how he would do a lot of his nasty work in the morning but he would always be home at 6.30 for dinner. Then he’d go out after and kill people. But the way I lived my life didn’t afford me able to be home for dinner!”
Despite the sacrifices he has made, the extraordinary course of Sir Trevor’s career has been worth it.
Born and raised in Trinidad, he always idealised Britain and at 29 arrived in London to start work for the BBC World Service.
But when BBC bosses tried to recruit him as a TV reporter, he turned them down – after one let slip over lunch that the Race Relations Board was pressuring them to recruit more black presenters.
Sir Trevor explains: “I have a few problems about positive discrimination and I did not want to be a part of it. I wanted to be seen as someone who could do a job. I can see the benefits of positive discrimination in certain cases, but in my own tiny case I didn’t want to be employed simply because I am black. I wanted to prove myself regardless of what my colour was.”
The chance to do so came when Sir Trevor landed a TV reporter job with ITN in 1973.
Having been satisfied that his appointment had nothing to do with his colour, Sir Trevor was surprised to discover that it caused a stir. He was Britain’s first ever black reporter on national television, and with that came plenty of media interest.
He recalls: “One of my faults is that I didn’t really understand the climate or what it meant to be the first black reporter. But I quickly became aware of it.
“If it had any effect it all, I did occasionally think in the quiet of 2 o’clock in the morning, I mustn’t mess up. You have a greater responsibility and you put it on yourself.”
By 1992 Sir Trevor was the sole presenter of ITV’s News At Ten, before moving on to Tonight With Trevor McDonald and multiple documentaries. Having risen to the top of his field, he is the ultimate immigrant success story – so what does he think of the debate around immigration today?
“I know this is a controversial view now, but I am an integrationist,” he says. “I think if you don’t want to inculcate some of the traditions of a country like this, then stay where you are. I see only virtue in the business of integration.”
Growing up in the island paradise of Trinidad, Sir Trevor could scarcely imagine the places his extraordinary career would take him.
Looking back, he says his proudest achievement was interviewing Nelson Mandela when he walked free from prison in 1990. And his scariest was when he came face to face with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“I was under firm instructions from my bosses in London to be very tough with my questions,” recalls Sir Trevor, who took them at their word.
“The bit where I got really worried was when, after the interview, Saddam said: “I would like to have a word with you.”
“I thought “Jesus Christ, I’ve gone too far.” But actually he walked with me up and down this beautiful palace for about 40 minutes telling me how evil the Kuwaitis were. It was not about me at all, thank God! But I don’t think I have ever been that scared.”
Later, back in London, a former henchman of Saddam’s told Sir Trevor that he’d been “f***ing rude to our president.”
He is probably one of the few people who can claim to have done so and survived.
So away from the cameras, what’s Sir Trevor really like?
He laughs: “I think of myself as a fairly undisciplined and lazy person who spends most of Saturday watching three football matches in a row. I wish I was more of a party animal but I can actually happily sit and read on my own all day”.
He’s certainly earned the right to that.
An Improbable Life by Sir Trevor McDonald is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in hardback (£20), ebook (10.99) and audio (£19.99)
