Through his work he has known and travelled abroad with seven Prime Ministers, the first of whom was Rob Muldoon. He has also met some of the most celebrated world leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, most of the Australian Prime Ministers, among them Paul Keating who once called him a “blow fly”, and President Bill Clinton.
Barry covered both the Fijian coups in 1987 and 2000, and was the first international journalist to secure an interview with rebel leader, George Speight. He was also the only New Zealand broadcast journalist to stay on in Suva after the shooting started within a week of the coup.
In 2001, Soper was named Individual Radio Journalist of the Year at the radio awards.
Currently, Soper’s main role is that of political editor for Newstalk ZB.