Rugby taught me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” says James Waterhouse, a former professional sportsman who switched careers into journalism a decade ago and is now the BBC’s Kyiv correspondent.
Waterhouse is speaking to MHP Mischief director Alan Tovey about what he has seen since arriving in Ukraine’s capital in January.
The interview – part of MHP Mischief’s Media Network which offers insight into journalism – starts with sirens droning in the background warning of a Russian attack.
Waterhouse holds up the gas mask he was handed when he checked into the hotel the BBC is using as a base. “Not your normal room service,” he quips.
He arrived in the country as tensions with Russia grew. His first lesson was that locals had got used to having a belligerent neighbour in Russia, something which had faded from the West’s memory.
“Russia annexed Crimea eight years ago,” he says. “We can’t imagine that. It’s like someone taking over Norfolk.”
After months of tensions ratcheting up, Russia’s deployment of troops on February 24 sent Waterhouse into a frenetic schedule – and a strange mindset needed to deal with life on the frontline.
“We were constantly broadcasting, every 10 minutes,” he says. “The job got simple. Before the invasion it was geopolitical news, then it was reporting on life on the ground.”
Constant pressure changed his way of comprehension, he says: “I stopped thinking more than an hour into the future for the first few weeks.”
He developed an unusual way of coping with the sounds of war as the situation normalised: listening to hardcore dance music at high volumes on his earphones.
“Ironically, I got into heavy bass,” he says, with Ibiza Club Classics a particular favourite.
Waterhouse has been surprised at the reception Western journalists have had, with locals coming up to him to share often heart-rending stories.
“I’ve been to towns the Russians have just flattened,” he says. “There’s nothing, just craters. It’s like a film set.”
"God forbid their mothers to experience the same, what they’ve done here. They do not deserve living in this world, such cruel people."
Our report from Makariv, a small town close to Kyiv.
Still in its darkest chapter.
(With @4nnchor @siobhanlucyl @O4acamera) pic.twitter.com/3kjV9cVzHR
— James Waterhouse (@JamWaterhouse) May 6, 2022
As the conflicts bogs down and global interest wanes, Waterhouse says the challenge is no longer just about reporting events but “bearing witness, and cutting through the jargon and war of words”.
He adds: “We’ve got to convey emotion and put Ukrainians at the heart of story. What we do today – through trust with our audience – will influence decisions in the future. What we report might make a world leader think twice in the future.”
For Waterhouse, who modestly adds he “wasn’t that great a rugby player”, that means “staying curious, and keeping people interested” in the stories he covers – no matter how uncomfortable they might be.
For the full interview, click below:
Sign up to our mailing list:
"*" indicates required fields
Read on for what brands can learn from the reaction to sustainability u-turns and see how we tackled food waste, brought nature to a neglected part of East London and made ‘buildbackability’ front...See More
Welcome to the Media Network bulletin, brought to you by MHP Group. Our unrivalled team of former journalists and media experts bring you the latest insights behind the headlines....See More
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category . |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
PHPSESSID | session | This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_gat_gtag_UA_12122976_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
vuid | 2 years | Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
wc_session_ids[all_forms] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[default] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][0] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][1] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][2] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][3] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][4] | 8 minutes | No description |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
__sharethis_cookie_test__ | session | ShareThis sets this cookie to track which pages are being shared and by whom. |