Last Thursday evening we hosted an inspiring finale to our ARCH ‘Behind the Mic’ series with our ‘Meet the BBC’ event. It was an honour to be joined by an exceptional panel of experienced BBC professionals who shared invaluable advice and entertaining insights into working in media.
Our panel proudly included a TV presenter from BBC South Today, a producer from Radio 4’s The TODAY Programme, and a host from BBC 5 Live Sport.
There was a clear message that anyone who is tenacious and won’t take no for an answer, can open the door to a varied and exciting world of opportunity within the world’s leading public service broadcaster.
As an ARCH event, we warmly welcomed students from 9 schools in the area that signed up to attend, alongside our Abbey Community.
After a kind welcome from The Abbey’s Podcast with a Cake host, Nia (Upper VI), headteacher Dr Sarah Tullis sat down with our panel as they shared their career stories, explained more about what their jobs actually entail and gave extremely helpful advice.
Jo Kent is a familiar face on our TVs, often presenting BBC South Today at 6:30pm. She kicked us off by explaining how she came to be a regular anchor of the main evening news programme, as well as what it’s like to be a TV reporter. Jo explained how she was also able to spend time working in other areas of the BBC such as BBC Sport, the News Channel and The One Show. She was a brilliant example of how the BBC can support its staff getting experience in other departments.
This was also true for Lottie Garton, who is now a producer on the flagship breakfast show of Radio 4 – The Today Programme. Lottie started out in Local Radio working at BBC Radio Oxford after graduating from St Andrew’s University. Working her way up from an entry role to producer of the breakfast show at Oxford, she then successfully interviewed to spend 12 months at Woman’s Hour. She never went back and continued to produce presenters such as Emma Barnett and Anita Rani, before moving to The TODAY Programme.
Lottie explained how the world famous breakfast show, which has almost 6 million people listening each day, is actually put together. It was fascinating to find out how much a producer shapes a programme, even when it can often feel like a presenter does it all, “You decide what story you want to tell, how you want to tell it and when”. The variety of content that she gets to work on is phenomenal from covering elections, to speaking to a Nun on TikTok, through to scientists developing artificial wombs.
Our third panel member was able to talk about working within sport at the BBC. Anthony Wootton is a sports journalist and one of the hosts of 5 Live’s NFL Show which covers live American football games. Anthony explained how you actually present a show that has live sporting action within it, when you can’t plan in advance exactly what will happen.
Jo shared a fantastic video and presentation all about the apprenticeships that the BBC offers to suit all levels from school leavers through to degrees and postgraduate qualifications. They are competitive but Jo said her best advice is to “show a genuine passion and interest and be your authentic self”. You can find out more about the apprenticeships at @bbcgetin.
The recurring theme was a real passion for their work and the drive they all have. Jo said that “getting work experience is hard but you need to be tenacious”, while Anthony shared that perseverance is key and “If you have a goal, if you work hard enough you can achieve whatever you want”. Lottie encouraged students to “get involved with community radio, student radio, podcasts”.
This was clearly picked up by Nia who shared afterwards that “The ARCH event was an inspirational insight into Journalism. I believe the key take-away from the talk was the importance of persistence and developing connections in order to create opportunities and to elevate your knowledge and skills to prove your passion for Journalism and Radio.”
After the panel concluded on stage, guests had the chance to stay and chat with our guests. One Abbey student couldn’t quite believe they were talking to a producer of the radio show they’ve listened to since they were 10 and dream to work on themselves. Anthony offered reassurance to another that there’s never been a better time as a female to strive for a career in sports media. A common concern was how competitive getting into the BBC feels, but the message from Jo, Lottie and Anthony could not have been clearer – just smash those doors down as anyone who wants it enough can, and will, get there!
