Curriculum Vitae

I am an enthusiastic and highly-motivated TV and radio reporter, producer and news presenter of almost eight years’ experience with a passion for delivering exclusives and finding innovative ways of telling stories as well as the technical skills to get them on air.

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Employment History

Channel M Television - News Reporter, Producer & Presenter: (August 2008 to March 2010)

As the channel’s longest serving reporter I built up extensive experience of producing daily news reports for the flagship evening show as well as longer features. I also demonstrated my skills as a confident presenter in the live studio having previously fronted the station’s breakfast and lunchtime news broadcasts. My highlights included:

Generating original and exclusive material through good contacts to ensure Channel M News pushed ahead of the competition for breaking stories first.
Taking charge of several extended programmes including live coverage of a ballot on congestion charge proposals for Manchester and Budget Day discussion programme. Both involved developing innovative story treatments to cover the events with limited resources.
Leading several extended interviews with national figures including politicians William Hague and George Osborne and the head of the Press Complaints Commission.
Reporting on a wide range of stories including packages from the Conservative Party conference, areas cut off by snowfalls and the visit of Prince Charles to Manchester.
As part of a fully converged newsroom developing stories to work across different platforms including print, online, and radio as well as television, most notably with a series of reports run across an entire week focussing on internet safety for children.
Covering for the News Editor in his absence including producing the main evening news programme, taking decisions on breaking stories, redeploying reporters and rewriting programme running orders.
Developing technical skills including self-editing reports, designing and producing my own graphics sequences and processing material for uploading to the channel’s website.

Real Radio Yorkshire - Senior Broadcast Journalist: (February 2003 to August 2008)

As one of the team’s most experienced news reporters, bulletin readers and programme producers I put together both pre-recorded and live material daily. Some highlights from my time at Real Radio included:

Being nominated as IRN Reporter of The Year in 2007. As a senior journalist my reports also featured heavily on the team’s winning entries in the Arqiva Commercial Radio News Team of the Year award.
Producing a 40 minute documentary about terminal cancer patient Jane Tomlinson including exclusive material I got during my time reporting live from the end of her charity bike ride across America.
Reporting in both live and pre-recorded reports, while securing the best interviewees and persuading reluctant contributors to tell their story accurately and with sensitivity.
Developing my skills as a court reporter most notably covering the whole of the trial of David Bieber, the former American bouncer who murdered Leeds police officer Ian Broadhurst.
Coordinating and leading a 12 week training scheme for students interested in commercial radio.

Real Life Media Productions - Researcher (work placement): (September 2000 to March 2001)

My time was split between development and production. After a period working on new programme ideas I worked as a researcher on programmes currently in production including ‘Medical Horrors’ and ‘The Lee Bowyer Story’, both for Channel 5, as well as an interactive DVD for a community project.

Education & Qualifications

University of Leeds (Bachelor of Broadcasting with Management: Class 2:1 (Honours): (September 1998 to June 2002)

Taught in co-operation with BBC Training, this four year course gave me a good foundation in both television and radio production techniques. Modules studied included:

Media law and ethics.
Responsibilities of broadcasters taught through BBC Producers’ Guidelines.
Single and multi-camera filming and editing both on location and studio-based.
Researching, planning, scripting and producing documentaries.
Management including personnel, marketing and economics.

Whitby Community College (A Level Examinations: Summer 1998)

English Language (A) - Mathematics (B) - Geography (B) - General Studies (C)

Whitby Community College (GCSE Examinations: Summer 1996)

2 x Grade A* - 6 x Grade A - 1 x Grade B

Skills & Abilities

Technical skills:

I am an enthusiastic computer user and enjoy learning new computer systems. In my previous job I was responsible for setting up the newsroom software to ensure it helped the team operate as efficiently as possible. Some improvements which I suggested to the software developers were also built into the system. I have good experience of the following programs used in TV and radio newsrooms:

Final Cut Pro: Television news editing software.
ENPS: Electronic News Production System.
Adobe Premiere: Video editing.
Adobe Audition: Audio editing.
Burli: Dedicated newsroom software.
RCS Master Control: Radio playout.
Scoop: Dedicated newsroom software.
Dalet: Audio capture, playout and editing.
Dave News: News text and audio editing.
EncoDAD: Audio editing.

Languages:

I have a basic working knowledge of French and German.

Health and safety:

I have previously completed first aid and fire marshal training courses.

Driving:

I have held a full driving licence since 1998 with no endorsements.

Other Interests

Web design:

In my spare time I develop websites, most recently one for a freelance photographer. These are mostly designed using Macromedia Dreamweaver though I do have experience of editing raw HTML and CSS files. I have also got considerable experience updating websites using online content management systems.

Scouting:

My main hobby is running a charity as part of a small team to organise twice-yearly Scout competitions. Since 2002 hundreds of young people have taken part in our Apex Challenge events. As well maintaining the competition website I am the Charity Secretary.

Graphic design:

I am a keen graphic designer and my interest in this area has proved useful both at work when developing graphics for TV reports as well as for my out of work web design and Scouting projects.

Running:

I regularly enjoy visiting the gym and am a keen runner, regularly taking part in races to raise money for charity including the Great North Run and several 10K runs. Each one sets me a tougher target time to beat!