What I've been reading (and listening to)

Glen Oglaza, the former ITN and Sky News reporter, has written two books based on detailed diaries he kept during his long and successful broadcasting career.

The titles (When I Stories and More When I Stories) may seem a bit obscure but Glen explains that the phrase relates to foreign and political journalists sharing their stories, many of them fuelled by some prodigious drinking.

As it happens I know Glen (slightly) because we were at Aberdeen University at the same time and he was president of the students’ union when I was co-editing a Private Eye-style publication in which he occasionally featured, albeit not in a bad way.

Truth is, we had a soft spot for him, unlike some of our principal targets.

He had also written for the official student newspaper but I was nevertheless surprised when I saw him on national television, a decade later, reporting for ITN.

As he explains in the books, he worked for ITN from 1986 to 1997 before moving to Sky News where he focussed on politics until retiring from frontline reporting in 2013.

Our paths crossed a couple of times - once when I was being interviewed on College Green opposite the Houses of Parliament, and again in Bournemouth during a Lib Dem party conference.

On the first occasion he was walking past and came over to say hello, which was nice of him.

On the second occasion I was being heckled (very loudly) by anti-tobacco protestor Stuart Holmes whose use of a megaphone was drowning out whatever conversation Glen was trying to have on his phone on a balcony outside the conference centre.

I’m not sure he knew it was me who was the target of Holmes’ tirade. Either way, he gave the tiresome oik both barrels, shouting at him to "Shut up!". Thanks, Glen!

Anyway, I mention this because he was recently interviewed by LBC broadcaster Iain Dale for the latter's All Talk series of podcasts.

Naturally they talked about the period covered by Glen's books during which he reported on the miners' strike, the poll tax riots, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the war in Kosovo – and that was just the ITN years.

Having read the first book I can confirm that it was hugely entertaining, albeit a bit exhausting due to the sheer volume of information.

As Iain hinted in the podcast, it could probably have done with a bit of editing.

Nevertheless, as Iain also acknowledged, it's an obvious primer for anyone who has ambitions to be a reporter or political correspondent.

Either way, do listen to the podcast. If nothing else, it's a joy to listen to two broadcasters, neither of whom utters a single "umm" or "err" in 58 minutes.

Other broadcasters (including some top BBC 'talent'), take note!

To listen to Iain Dale's All Talk podcast featuring Glen Oglaza, click on the image below