Posts tagged ‘Meet the media’
Meet the media: Ruth Rodgers
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Farming Life editor Ruth Rodgers took up the post almost three years ago following the retirement of David McCoy, who had served as editor for 25 years. Farming Life made its first appearance as a supplement in the News Letter in 1953 under the editorship of William Warren. It has grown to become a twice weekly supplement (Wednesday and Saturday) and is now firmly established as Northern Ireland’s favourite farming newspaper. In brief, what does your working week involve? Farming Life is published twice a week within the News Letter, so every day is busy. Most of my time is spent dealing...[full story]
Meet the media: Michael Fitzpatrick
Monday, October 10th, 2011Michael Fitzpatrick is a duty editor and reporter at Downtown Radio and Cool FM. He joined the station after completing a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism at the London College of Communication and has worked in a similar role at another commercial station in Northern Ireland. He has a keen interest in politics and was based as a reporter at Stormont during the last Assembly’s first few years. Briefly describe how you got started in journalism. After completing my undergraduate degree at University of Ulster I applied to a post-grad course in broadcast journalism in London...[full story]
Meet the media: Gail McGreevy
Friday, September 2nd, 2011This month, agendaNi asks a press officer about their work and interests. Gail McGreevy is Head of Communications for the Probation Board and previously worked for the PSNI, SDLP and Fianna Fáil. Outline your career path to date. I always had an interest in journalism and politics but thought lawyers made the big bucks. So I graduated with a law and politics degree from Queen’s University, hoping to ‘keep my options open’. After graduating, I went to Dublin and worked for the Insurance Ombudsman of Ireland which was a terrific first job to land as a graduate. The Ombudsman was...[full story]
Meet the media: Jim Fitzpatrick
Friday, April 15th, 2011How did you get started in journalism? It was a last minute change of mind which took me towards journalism. I’d always enjoyed writing and was very interested in current affairs but was initially planning to study law. Once I realised that I didn’t want to be a lawyer, the only thing I could think of was journalism. I managed to get a place on the old NCTJ pre-entry course at the old College of Business Studies and went straight into this practical training course after school. My first full-time job in journalism was as the news editor of the first community radio station outside...[full story]
Meet the media: Kathy Clugston
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Kathy Clugston’s voice is well-known to radio listeners: she presents the news on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, provides voices for The Folks on the Hill on Radio Ulster and is the PR4L (Posh Radio 4 Lady) on The Scott Mills Show on Radio 1. Born in Belfast, Kathy studied French and Russian at Queen’s University and the University of Bath. Her first book, A Brief History of Tim, was published by Virgin Books last October. How did you get started in journalism? A mixture of luck and cheek. My friend spotted an ad in the paper for a TV continuity announcer at BBC Northern...[full story]
Meet the media: John Irvine
Friday, January 28th, 2011ITV News’ international correspondent John Irvine began his career in journalism as a junior reporter in Omagh. After growing up on the Malone Road in Belfast, he covered major events such as the Shankill Road and Remembrance Day bombs for UTV before being appointed ITV’s Ireland correspondent in 1996. His experience of covering conflict led to him reporting on stories across the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Gulf region for ITV News. How did you start out in journalism? My start in journalism followed an unequal struggle with the A-level examination board. As university was...[full story]
Meet the media: Lisa Smyth
Friday, December 3rd, 2010Lisa Smyth, the Belfast Telegraph’s Health Correspondent, has moved from reporting the courts to covering the wide range of topics that make up the health news. The hope and courage of people fighting serious illnesses is an inspiring part of the work. How did you get started in journalism? By accident. I did a degree in English literature but didn’t know what I wanted to do from there. I found that my degree did not open many doors in terms of a career because I lacked any real experience. I decided I needed to gain a postgraduate qualification and one in which I would gain vocational...[full story]
Meet the media: Marie-Louise Connolly
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010BBC Northern Ireland’s Health Correspondent, Marie-Louise Connolly, has been at the corporation since 1992 and took on the health role in April 2009. After completing a degree in politics at Queen’s University, she studied a masters in journalism at Dublin City University. Work experience on the Sunday Sequence programme and a Texas radio station fuelled her passion for journalism and she has covered many memorable events since then. How did you get started in journalism? When I was a child growing up, I was always aware of the radio being on in the kitchen. My parents, though...[full story]
Meet the media: Mark Simpson
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010Mark Simpson on covering Ireland for the BBC, following Tony Blair’s last campaign trail, and aiming to achieve his sports stadium ambition. How did you get started in journalism? Confession time. I never wanted to be a news journalist. I wanted to be a sports reporter. The idea of being paid to watch football was my idea of a good career. However, after I left Queen’s University (where I studied history and politics) I was advised to work in news for two years before switching to sport. That was 22 years ago … My first job was at the News Letter. I then went to the Irish...[full story]
