Kate Adie

“On the Northern Ireland question, for instance, the British and Irish governments prohibit media contact with members of the IRA, but we have always gone ahead, believing in the right to information.”

“War zones are dangerous, protests can be violent, also, natural disasters are difficult to cover, so there are going to be risks.”

“There was no equal pay law when I started working. I was no different to any other woman in any other job at the time.”

“In any war, there is a concealment of certain kinds of setbacks because it's propaganda for the enemy.”

“It's totally mistaken to suppose that an armed escort is going to give a journalist any protection - on the contrary, journalists who turn up surrounded by armed personnel are just turning themselves into targets and in even worse danger.”

“Now children as young as nine carry AK47s which can kill 30 people in seconds.”

“Beslan, where the Russian authorities stopped live coverage of the school being stormed, was an illustration of the progress we still have to make.”

“No two wars are identical.”

“I don't find an advantage or disadvantage in being a woman when reporting. What little advantages there might be in some instances is cancelled out by the basic lack of lavatories round the world for women.”

“I've never been one to sit around and eat my heart out. Life's too short.”

“I have nothing to do with the selection of stories. I'm the reporter.”

“I also read modern novels - I have just had to read 60 as I am one of the judges for the Orange Fiction Prize.”

“I sailed through my childhood with a complete lack of any drama.”

“I was sent to a nice Church of England girls' school and at that time, after university, a woman was expected to become a teacher, a nurse or a missionary - prior to marriage.”

“Twenty-four hour news delivers people who stand and talk to camera rather than deliver reported packages with their own camera crew where it's happening.”

“If I'm in danger then it's usually my fault and it's up to me to get myself out of it. I am not in it just to get an adrenalin rush. No way!”

“I never desired to go into war zones. I never had any thought about it. It sort of just happened as part of the job.”

“I don't want to be involved in endless media gossip.”

“Hair is also a problem. I remember once, when I was reporting from Beirut at the height of the civil war, someone wrote in to the BBC complaining about my appearance.”

“I was timid and frightened as a child. Yours truly did not shin up mountains or do any other kind of adventurous stuff.”