Gary O'Donoghue holds one of the most coveted journalism jobs in the world.
He is the BBC’s Washington correspondent.
He is also blind.
A regular on our TV screens and radios, Gary covers the biggest headline leading news stories surrounding the US, from the likes of former US President Donald Trump, to the COVID-19 response to President Joe Biden’s election win.
Starting his career in the early ‘90s, Gary was a trailblazer in a not-so accessible world. When he first started as a journalist, there was no internet, mobile phones were in their infancy and computers weren’t as efficient as we’re used to.
Photo: Gary O'Donoghue during a live broadcast. Credit: tvnewsroom.co.uk
“I wake up every day reminding myself how lucky I've been to have been in the world of work because it's not like that for everyone,” he told Studio 1 host Matthew Layton.
The employment barriers for people with disabilities, especially for those with vision conditions are the same in all developed nations, he explains.
Gary believes some of the barriers disabled people have faced in the workforce are starting to shift for the better due to the unique working conditions that necessitated out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It's created in some ways, a bit of a level playing field in terms of the sort of two-dimensional nature of the meetings,” he said.
Listen to the full interview with Gary O’Donoghue in the player below:
Studio 1 is Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view.
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