Thomson Foundation CEO Janet Boston pays a personal tribute to Russell Lyne, a cornerstone of the Foundation’s international success, who died recently
Like many of you, I won’t forget the first time I met Russell Lyne … except I didn’t. It was over the phone and he was chuckling about sending me to a conference before even officially joining the organisation.
“Welcome to the xxxx world of journalism training,” he said. “And, if you thought the media was bad for competition (a viper’s nest), you’ve not seen anything yet.”
I can’t go into much more detail, but – needless to say – he dispatched me, with cloak and dagger, to carry out the mission.
Thinking back, I am not sure how many missions we undertook or plotted together, but what many of you will recognise is the fun he brought to the work. It was a trait that masked a deep and serious commitment to building the skills of both the media and all those using communication for change, be it in Botswana, where he helped develop the TV station while also trying to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS, or in Ukraine, where he used chat shows to break down tension across the border with Poland.
In fact, no idea was too ‘out of the box’ for him to consider and it was this insight that gave his proposal writing an edge and helped secure many of our past projects.
Time after time I meet people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East who tell me, quite unprompted, that he was one of the best trainers they ever had. Apparently Russell’s energy bounced off the training room walls either with pleasure that the group were responding or with complete irritation at their lack of enthusiasm.
Despite his own passion to train, he was equally committed to developing and recognising the skills of others – snapping up talent wherever he spotted it and driving the idea that we may not be the biggest but we could be the best!
Importantly, he recognised the value of local knowledge and was not afraid to try different approaches in consolidating partnerships with old and new networks.
It was this thinking that positioned us as the lead organisation in our biggest contract with the EU. And how proud he would have been to know that Thomson was involved in a Berlin training project, based on his model, 20 years after the wall came down and nearly 15 years after he first started working in Eastern Europe.
I was lucky to see Russell during his last weeks in hospital. As ever he wanted to know everything that was going on – what work was coming up; who was doing it and why so-and-so wasn’t doing it.
I told him I’d been to Highway Africa at the Rhodes University School of Journalism and reminded him that his quote: ‘Every journalist has a novel locked up in them – it should stay that way!’ was there for posterity on one of the walls. Did he still believe this? “Oh yes!” came the reply.
Russell’s stories could have filled more than one novel, but he wasn’t keen on the media’s obsession with itself. What mattered, he believed, was its power to tell stories.
I, like all who knew Russell, will miss him greatly. But at least he is now free from the pain that has been a daily trial for him over the last years. I can’t list the many condolences which the Foundation has already received from around the world – we too send our thoughts to his family at this sad time.
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Russell and I first met in 1994. I liked everything about this small, rotund man but his height was the only thing “small” about Russell. As a professional he was a giant. At the time I was leading a team of ten TF television and radio journalists I had selected to teach the South African Broadcasting Corporation how to cover their first democratic election. Nelson Mandela was soon to take power.
Russell joined the Johannesburg team and immediately fell in love with the training / consultancy business. He did it extremely well backed by his huge knowledge of both TV and radio journalism. His students adored him and his fellow trainers were proud to have him in the team.
Russell soon became a mainstay. Botswana, Ukraine, India, Belarus, Serbia, Croatia were a tiny handful of the many countries he worked for us.
When working in Belarus he actually befriended the government agent who was put on his tail during a month of work in the regions. Realizing he was being followed he simply went and asked the guy if he’d like to join him for a drink….. or two. When the agent cold no longer stand up Russell wished him goodnight and went to bed. He was full of mischief.
Russell took on huge amounts of work both in the field – he loved that most of all – and back at headquarters where he devised many successful projects.
The sadness of his long illness touched us all. He will be deeply missed.
Ian Masters, former Controller Broadcasting, TF.
Russ was a very good friend and colleague for nearly 30 years. I first knew him when he was on the newsdesk at the Western Mail and I was a stringer. Then, we worked together at the BBC and, later, he was instrumental in my joining his team at HTV Wales as North Wales news editor. I was proud and privileged to be part of that team and even though we largely worked 150 miles apart — he in Cardiff, myself in Mold — we enjoyed a close working relationship. Indeed, my years with Russell were among the most enjoyable and satisfying of nearly 50 years in journalism.
Russ was just a year older than me and our career paths had crossed as teenagers, when I worked as a 15-year-old copy boy at the Daily Herald’s offices in London while he was working at the newspaper’s Cardiff office. It was to be another 20 years before we met and began working together.
I found him to be a true inspiration — a totally dedicated professional who knew how to get the best out of his team while creating a working atmosphere in which we had a lot of fun, even when — to quote one of his favourite phrases — we were “on the ledge.”
Russ could be a hard taskmaster, but outside the office, over a pint or two, he was most entertaining company. We had some hilarious times together, particularly at ITV news editors’ conferences where the drinking went on all night.
We still kept in touch after he left HTV and I really appreciated the opportunity he gave me to spend two memorable weeks running training sessions for local radio station managers and journalists in Ukraine.
I know many journalists in high places who owe their careers to Russell’s fatherly guidance and the high standards he set. For those who knew how hard he worked and what he gave to us all, it was so distressing to see him struck down by a stroke at such a relatively young age..and with so much more to give. But he still talked with optimism and his great wit and wicked humour never waned.
Russ, in his own self-deprecating way, used to refer to himself as a “little Gwenty.” But,as Ian says, he was a real giant in journalism and we loved him for the way he made us laugh and drove us all to achieve so much more than we ever thought we could. He was a great friend, an inspiring leader…a wonderful guy. We’ll miss him very much.