Talk:John Tusa

I rate this article on Sir John Tusa in the 'A' category.

I have known John Tusa and followed his career since the 1970s, when I joined the BBC World Service as a 26-year-old and John was a stalwart journalist, presenting the current affairs programme in English, "24 HOURS". He soon moved to "NEWSNIGHT" on BBC2.

John Tusa is one of those rare British journalists whose work consistently achieves serious academic quality. This article is a fairly complete piece on his life and career and I believe it is correct in all respects. One of the aspects not mentioned here is his work as a member of the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London in the 1980s and 1990s. It was an era of great optimism and exciting work in both the BBC World Service and Chatham House. The BBC World Service Television News was John Tusa's idea and its launch in the early 1990s a result of his dogged determination and inspiration. I am one of the many ex-BBC World Service journalists who are for ever grateful to John for protecting us from the excesses of John Birt's director-generalship. It was largely due to Tusa's decision to take on Birt and defend World Service that later cost him director-generalship of the BBC. The BBC's loss was the Barbican Centre's gain.

Although John Tusa is past 70 years of age now, he is still very active and vigorous in his work. Had this not been the case, I would have considered awarding this article the highest rating.

Deepak Tripathi