Our contributing foreign editor David Pratt has been providing unrivalled worldwide coverage to The Herald for years.
We've caught his opinion on politics, Covid and his vast career in today's question and answer session.
Make sure you never miss one word of David's analysis in The Herald by taking out a digital subscription.
What’s been the highlight of your career?
This is a difficult question to answer given so many highlights but perhaps the simple act of meeting such a diverse range of people across the world and being present at so many historical moments is the highlight itself. My time covering the Arab Spring uprisings in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia and Syria come especially to mind.
If I had to choose a specific event though, I think the coming together of the BBC Documentary ‘Pictures from Afghanistan’ looking back at my life, writing and photojournalism in the country along with the retrospective exhibition of my photography that same year 2019- 2020 stands out.
What’s your favourite part of Scotland and why?
I think the wilds of Sutherland always move and impress me because of their remoteness, ruggedness and dramatic coastlines. Glencoe has a special place in my heart too, given I spent a great part of my boyhood and youth mountaineering there and it holds great and affectionate memories.
What was the last book you read?
The last book I read was Travels with Herodutus by the Polish journalist, Ryszard Kapuściński. In my opinion, he is one of the finest traveller-reporters and foreign correspondents of modern times. The book before that was Matisse - the life, Hilary Spurling’s biography of one of my favourite painters, French artist Henri Matisse
What do you write about for The Herald?
As contributing foreign editor for The Herald my writing focuses entirely on international affairs. My weekly column on Wednesday is often a personal analysis of a major global news story drawing on four decades of experience covering world affairs from everywhere such as the Middle East to Africa to Latin America, Europe and beyond.
My ‘big’ read for the Sunday edition does the same but much more in-depth can be reportage or analysis. Post pandemic and when back on the road, these pieces will be much more reportage driven.
What will be the biggest stories of 2021 and the next decade?
As a foreign correspondent, my prime focus is overseas, and I can see so many stories resonating over the next year and beyond. This year, 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath will continue to affect us no matter where in the world we are for a long time to come. Beyond that, I believe the challenge to existing powers structures by popular protests, cybersecurity, transnational terrorism, environmental issues and shifting relations between the West and China will be the stories to watch.
What do you make of both the Scottish and UK government’s response to Coronavirus?
I believe the response to the pandemic revealed the glaring inadequacies of governments almost everywhere in the world. Massive lessons must be learned from these failings and quickly. While I think Scotland has performed and come out of this better than many nations, the UK government’s response has at times been utterly incompetent and incomprehensible. The tragic death toll UK wide is testimony to that.
Who’s going to win the Holyrood election and why?
The SNP will win the Holyrood election despite the party’s tactical shortcomings and hugely damaging and inexplicable desire to shoot itself in the foot of late.
What will happen with indyref2 after the election?
What happens with indyref2 very much depends on what happens in the May elections. But I’m convinced that the desire and drive now in Scotland for independence is so strong and unstoppable that even should the SNP do worse than expected in the May ballot, the move towards another referendum is inexorable.
Why should Scots sign up for a Herald subscription?
Quite simply Scotland is engaged in one of the most important periods in its history and the need for Scots to be abreast of fast-moving and profound events and take part in the crucial debates unfolding has never been more pressing.
The Herald now has an incredibly strong body of journalists both reporters and columnists that can keep our nation in touch with this discourse. I’d like to add from a personal perspective that Scotland needs also to look outwards and stay informed of the myriad dramatic and profound events happening globally. To that end, The Herald has now given a welcome commitment to deliver journalism from beyond Scotland and the UK’s borders.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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