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Reporting blind on Trump shooting - 19th August 2024

BBC reporter Gary O’Donoghue was at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania when he heard gunshots. There’d been an assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Once it was safe, O’Donoghue, who’s blind, started interviewing witnesses. He spoke to Greg Smith, who had a beer in one hand and wore a pro-Trump visor with fake orange hair.

O’Donoghue’s blindness allowed him to focus on Smith’s words, not his appearance. He didn’t realise how odd Greg Smith looked, but Smith had important information about the shooter. Smith described how the shooter had climbed on a nearby roof. He said that people warned the police, but they didn’t listen.

Blind since the age of 8, O’Donoghue graduated from Oxford University and became a junior reporter at BBC Radio. Many doubted whether a blind person could be a reporter, but O’Donoghue’s proved them all wrong. In 2015, he got the prize job as the BBC’s Chief Political Correspondent in the USA.

O’Donoghue uses braille and adaptive technologies like screen readers to help with his work. He gets about with the aid of a long white stick. He believes his blindness gives him a unique view on situations.

From a young age, O’Donoghue wanted to change ideas about blindness. His use of technology has now become a standard for accessibility. He works to support diversity and inclusion in journalism.

O’Donoghue’s experience at the Trump rally has made him think. If he wasn’t blind, he might not have interviewed Greg Smith. He believes that not seeing can help him focus on what really matters.

Photo credit: Tim Kennedy, CC BY 2.0 and SWinxy CC BY 4.0 via Wikicommons

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