At our June meeting, we were lucky enough to receive a visit from Radio 5 Live’s award-winning Anna Foster. With a stellar track record in news journalism, which started at Newsbeat, and with roles that have since taken her from Cumbria to Iraq – Anna is definitely well placed to share some media insight, which she kindly did for our Journalism themed meeting last month.
Following the recent atrocities in Manchester and London, Anna guided us through the emotional coverage carried out for Radio 5 Live. Involving the public in voxpops and longer-form interviews, Anna said: “Journalism can be the hardest when it’s on your own doorstep, and sometimes the words we feel don't easily come to hand.”
However, highlighting the importance of the press in situations such as these, Anna believes it’s the media’s duty to give a voice to the victims and to get answers to the public’s questions.
In this way, she acknowledged that although there will always be uncomfortable moments as a journalist, as long as things are being done for the greater good there will forever be a role for the media to fulfil.
As a trained journalist, I personally found Anna’s talk inspiring. And it seemed, as did everyone else – the Q&A that followed attracted a record number of questions from the group!
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