Low Battery, high stakes: Reporting the Islamabad talks 

By James Neish 

It’s nearly midnight in Islamabad and for a moment my concern shifts from the Islamabad Talks to how I’m going to charge my phone as it’s increasingly looking like a long night ahead. I lost my phone charger somewhere in the chaos of the media centre. Probably between a live broadcast and shifting bags at the Jinnah Convention Centre.  I shouldn’t really have been upset. In perspective, it was nothing.  The real loss was far greater: a missed chance at peace as the US-Iran talks came to an end with ‘no deal’. 

As a journalist, being at the heart of a major story is exhilarating.  If you know me you will know I love the rush and controlled mayhem that comes with live and breaking news.  Sometimes the TV ‘hits’, as we call them, are not as slick or perfect as you would like them.  Sometimes you’re slightly out of breath having rushed to your anchor point from trying to find out the latest.  It always moves fast and you have to think on your feet.  I feel audiences connect well with this, we’re finding out things together, in real time. 

You may have heard me say in GibTalks how my career has given me wonderful opportunities and many moments I never expected – like covering sport.  But being the News Anchor deployed to US-Iran peace talks was much more than unexpected. 

I never planned to find myself in Pakistan.  I moved to Karachi in August last year after my three years as CEO and Editor-in-Chief at GBC.   I had been approached to join Asia One, a new international English-speaking channel.  So I took on a new role as presenter, originally for just three months and in February I went on to launch my own World Tonight programme on the network’s prime time.  It’s meant I’ve extended my original contract here twice now. 

I’ve said before luck sometimes plays a role in how our lives are shaped, but you also make your own luck.  There’s also a sense of timing and being in the right place at the right time.  As our channel is based in Pakistan we were amongst the first to break the news that the country had emerged as a mediator in the current conflict, as well as the confirmation of talks.  As a journalist I wasn’t looking at this story from a distance, I found myself right in the middle of it! 

There were moments during our coverage when we went with live updates while bigger international outlets were still waiting for confirmation.  We had the sources and confidence to deliver every twist and turn in this story.  Not bad for a channel which isn’t even a year old.  It really has been an honour to help shape and contribute so significantly to its output. 

Seeing Asia One play at airport lounges and on the big screen at the media centre in Islamabad gave me a huge sense of pride.  It was here where local and international journalists gathered.  More than 150 had been accredited for these talks. The atmosphere was electric.   Journalists hunched over laptops, producers constantly on their phones, lights being switched on and off as reporters went live for channels across the world. 

The talks went on for 21 hours at the nearby 5-Star Serena Hotel.  Inside the hall the atmosphere reminded me of election night in Gibraltar.  The nerve wrenching wait by candidates and supporters for a result.   But this never had the triumphant feel of an election night.  No payoff.  No clear winners.   It felt more like the disappointment of those who failed to get elected. 

For Pakistanis it was a real sense of anticlimax. They had been so proud to host these talks.  Islamabad was beaming with pride as huge banners and billboards swifty went up across the capital.  Hundreds of flags were flown reminding me of National Day.  You couldn’t miss that something big was happening. 

Despite the outcome what Pakistan has achieved is truly remarkable.  Getting the US and Iran to hold face to face talks for the first time in decades was a big moment.  As one analyst put it a “mediator can open doors but cannot unlock them”. 

I love the job and enjoyed the challenge, despite a gruelling 30-hour shift (with a quick power nap somewhere along the line that I seem to have forgotten already).  During the coverage I interviewed former US and UN Ambassador Masood Khan.  It’s not the first time I interview him as he has appeared on my World Tonight show remotely before.  It was the first time we met in person and he congratulated me on air, even giving Gibraltar a mention, which I’ll admit, made me feel quite nostalgic.  It’s not every day that our small corner of the world gets a mention at an international diplomatic event. 

I also spoke to GBC from Islamabad about my experience, one which sometimes I find difficult to put into words because there’s a huge mix of emotions.  I normally sum up living in Pakistan as wonderfully chaotic.  I can assure you it’s much more than what you think.  It’s a country that has been trying to clean up its image in the eyes of the world (one of the reasons why an international news channel with HQ in Karachi was launched).  Politicians here know there is more work to do but what a moment this past weekend was for Pakistan after emerging as the unlikely peace maker. 

The recent Gibraltar Treaty negotiations played a big part in shaping how I approached this story. Leading GBC’s coverage at the time taught me that diplomacy has its own rhythm, almost its own language.  Sometimes journalism requires a lot of patience because the wait is long.  And if there’s one thing I’ve learnt is that sometimes the real story isn’t in the statement or soundbites.  It’s in the silences, in what’s not being said. 

I write this as I fly back to Karachi, still not knowing what the next opportunity may look like.  For now, I just know I need some sleep.  And yes, I still need a new charger. But somehow, that feels like the least important detail of all.