Post Grads get top tips from Newsbeat

By UK Journalism

Post graduate radio students have been given key tips on how to break into working at the BBC by the Deputy News editor of Radio Oneís Newsbeat.

Kevin Silverton, a former UCLan journalism student, visited the department to tell students what its like to be a journalist at one of the countryís top radio stations and what it takes to get there.

ìWe like to bring the cream of post graduate talent down to Newsbeat and let them see what we are all aboutî he said.

Kevin described it as one of the best places for a journalist to work because Radio One approaches journalism in a different manner to the rest of the BBC. With a core audience of 15 -28 year old the news has to be ësexy and creative.í

ìWe have around three seconds to catch the audience with a story so everything we do needs to be creative and in a language the listener can relate toî he said.

Kevin cited ëinteractivityí as being a fundamental issue on how journalism has changed over the last few years and that Newsbeat has had to ëmove with it.í

Revolutionised

He said: ëTexting has revolutionised the way we do journalism. Now we can have an instant pool of information on any topic from listener contribution.í

Kevin is one of several ex-UCLan students now working at Radio One. He landed his first radio job at 2CR in Bournemouth after completing the Post Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism in the department over 10 years ago. This was followed by a six month stint at Rock FM before moving onto working at BBC Radio Nottingham for six years. From there Kevin got a job as a reporter for Newsbeat and later became Deputy News Editor at the station.

He described working at Newsbeat as his ëdream job.í

ìFor me it was always my goal to work on Radio One and itís great to have achieved that. Newsbeat can be a great stepping stone and many of our journalists have gone on to become foreign correspondents or work in television.î

Kevin gave the students some excellent tips on how to step up on their careers paths and said that work placements can be the key to making important future contacts.

He added: ëThere is no substitute for work placement people who are enthusiastic and make an impression because they are the ones that you remember years down the line. Commercial radio is also a fantastic place to start because they throw you in at the deep end and you can get your mistakes out of the way.í

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