Laura Foster LCC alumni and BBC correspondent discusses how she broke through in this tough industry, her life as a journalist and the ways she has been reporting on the global pandemic.
“Firstly, I began my educational career studying at University of Nottingham where I completed a course in BSc (Hons) Psychology. This was a steppingstone for me as I very much enjoyed the course but knew this wasn’t the direction I wanted to take.
I decided to start working at a PR agency but was then made redundant from it. They had to let me go because they were not making enough money, so it was last one in, last one out. However, this was not something that particularly held my interest.
My decision was that I do not really like PR, but I like telling stories and reporting on things that matter, so I saw an opening for an apprenticeship at the BBC and thought that I would give it a go. I had no prior experience and they seemed to be reaching out for that. They were doing this apprenticeship as they wanted people who had no experience or any sort of training in the media.
This was the beginning of my journey in Journalism after they offered to give me a place. It was around the time of the London Olympics in 2012, which now sounds like a lifetime ago. It was all aimed at uncovering stories in London and the changes the city was going through, with game developments happening in Stratford. I grew up in the East end of London, so I have seen those changes my whole life.
The next stage for me was starting a post graduate diploma at London College of Communication. I did not know anyone at first, but I did manage to form a bond with my fellow course mates very quickly. This was due to being in a small class of 23 people. The computers and the radio studios were not of great standard when I was there however, the level of teaching was excellent, and they taught us very well.
Every single one of us who undertook work experience left a good impression with what we could do. I think the course directors were clever about who they took on the course, as you need to have people who are hungry and passionate about being a journalist. What they did was give you the skills and confidence you needed for the world of work.
“Any step is a step forward in being a journalist.”
Laura Foster
Looking at my class now, I would say at least half of them are now journalists and are working at the BBC or Sky. I am still in touch with them as we have an LCC WhatsApp group chat, so we get the chance to speak with one another.
I think that is very important because they have known me since the very beginning, and you help each other through this journey. It is not just for pointing out jobs but in terms of sounding boards and to discuss things you may not be able to talk to your colleagues about as there is a just strong friendships we have formed.
With work experience and attending university, it is like a full-time commitment. Whereas the idea with the an apprenticeship is that you can work there part-time and still study at the same as well. With my apprenticeship, it was one day a week over a period of a few months. After that, it gave me the confidence and skills to start applying for journalism jobs at ease.
Now, I work as a Health, Science and Environment correspondent with the BBC. Before the pandemic, I would balance across health, environment and in particular climate change as it is such a big topic. So, a lot of time is spent reporting on environmental stories.
The idea is that I am a specialist in my subject, and I am primarily digital, but I do appear on television and radio, as well as create content for it. Everyone on the health team is multi-skilled and appears on various platforms.
Since the pandemic came along, I remember the day just before lockdown where my colleagues and I looked at each other and said it to each other that it looks like we are reporting on the global pandemic full time. Since then, I have just been purely reporting on coronavirus.
Once a while. I have tried to carve out time to report on other stories that I am passionate about. I did a piece with a man in September who believes his ancestors were enslaved by Edward Colston. His surname is Colston, and he was trying to find out his family’s legacy and where he came from. All that stuff I do in my free time as work is very much about trying to help people through this pandemic now.
Seeing misinformation spreading around the world is very hard for me. I guess in my job we are there to be a trusted source to counteract that. People come to us because they know they can trust us, and that is what we are seeing in the figures and the reach in the different age groups who are sharing our material.
“What they did was give you the skills and confidence you needed for the world of work.”
Laura Foster
It is frustrating because the job would be much easier to give people the information they need to know in order to stay safe, if it was not for the people spreading lies and disinformation.
I think everything has changed because of coronavirus. It is hard to think about more than a few days in advance now let alone when the pandemic is over. I cannot say when the pandemic will be over, and even if it will be over in one country, say the UK, it will not be over everywhere.
We are all going to be feeling the effects of what we have gone through in the last year for a while to come and I do not think anything will ever be the same again. Technically, we have all embraced video calls a lot more so I do not think that will go away anytime soon. Looking ahead to the day to day journalism, I really can’t predict how it going to turn out.
The stories that I do report on go out to the BBC’s main social media pages first. I feel like my pages, which are my Facebook and my Instagram as well as TikTok, add a layer of content and context that you may not get from the main pages video. Such as explaining who was involved in the news story, the impact it has and just the ways it can help make the stories go further. But I will admit that sometimes I am just always so busy that I do not always do it in the way that I want to.
Platforms are a great tool, and they help to gage reactions. So, when I see the comments and the shares and if you hear people say “Oh, my mate’s just WhatsApped me your video” or comments are really appreciated. That means that the story is spreading, and people are connecting and engaging with it, therefore social media has a positive impact in that respect.
BBC news has done an excellent job in arming people with the information that they need. We are getting that in terms of the number of people who are tuning into the news outlet and just writing to us.
Teachers are now showing our work that we have produced in schools and the United Nations and the NHS are sharing the information we are making. People are turning to us in this moment of crisis and we are working as a health team flat out every single day, to get people through however long this pandemic lasts.
I think it is vital that as a journalist you do not have to be aware of what you want. A lot of people would know exactly what they want to do and pick apart to get there. It made me feel inadequate because I did not know what journalist I wanted to be.
For me, it was all about experiencing things and meeting lots of people and working in places that have a variety about them. That is one of the reasons why I have worked in the offices I have done as I have covered Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire.
As someone who grew up in East London it was very different, and I was not used to working by the seaside and dealing with all the stories that came with that.
I felt like it was essential because as a journalist, you cannot live your life in a bubble. For me, the best part of the job is talking to people who you might not normally get to speak to.
Therefore, you should never say no to an opportunity and even that if it does not look like the step which is going to get you where you want to be, it is still useful. Any step is a step forward in being a journalist.”
Featured image courtesy of the BBC
Edited by Vanessa Richter.