If I Knew Then: BBC journalist Catrin Nye reveals how she got to the top of her game
The BBC Journalist exclusively told City News that the way she looked at journalism interfered with the way she looked at the world and the way she "looked at everything really".
BBC news broadcaster Catrin Nye is quite the accomplished journalist. As well as producing groundbreaking documentaries for Panorama, Victoria Derbyshire and BBC World, her words have graced the pages of The Guardian and Prospect magazine.
But whilst Catrin has had many successes during her career, according to her, it didn’t come easy. She says it took a lot of unpaid work and freelancing before someone gave her a full-time gig.
“I started by studying journalism at Leeds. I did an undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism. Then got my self some work experience at BBC Leeds. It’s actually part of the course, and then everything went from there.”
Catrin believes freelancing is a very good way for budding journalists to get into the industry.
“I managed to bag some freelance shifts after a difficult few weeks trying to do everything. I took about ten hours to do a package that would now take me like half an hour. But I put all of the hours in and managed to get some extra shifts.”
Younger Catrin
When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, she said her only regret is that she didn’t set higher goals for herself,
“Over all, I’m quite pleased with how that younger Catrin did because I didn’t really come in with any expectations.
“I would probably say you can do better than you think, because everyone puts limits on themselves. I was so grateful to even have a job and be anywhere near journalism. I never in a million years thought I’d get to where I am now.
“I’d probably tell [younger Catrin] to aim a bit higher because if I’d known it was more possible at the start, maybe I could have even achieved more.”
Biggest achievement yet
The broadcaster has seen many awards in her time. Yet her biggest achievement yet wasn’t a title or a trophy that stole the show. Rather, Catrin expressed her happiness for being able to cover stories she truly believes in,
I love “the fact that I’ve been able to do stories that I really believe in all the time. That is not a given. Not at all.”
She details her painstaking journey on a convoy in an ambulance from Manchester to Syria to cover the infamous murder of Alan Henning. Mr Henning was a taxi driver turned humanitarian aid worker who was kidnapped and killed by the Islamic State group in 2013.
“I found myself in this situation that then took me somewhere completely different. For the next year, I was taken deep into the kidnap and murder of this amazing man whose friends and family I got to spend time with.”
“It’s the story and situation that has changed me the most because it was so personal and so impossible to not get personally involved in. It interfered with my personal life and interfered with the way that I look at the world, the way I look at journalism, and the way I look at everything really”.
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HeadlineIf I Knew Then: BBC journalist Catrin Nye reveals how she got to the top of her game
Short HeadlineCatrin Nye reveals how she got to the top
StandfirstThe BBC Journalist exclusively told City News that the way she looked at journalism interfered with the way she looked at the world and the way she "looked at everything really".
BBC news broadcaster Catrin Nye is quite the accomplished journalist. As well as producing groundbreaking documentaries for Panorama, Victoria Derbyshire and BBC World, her words have graced the pages of The Guardian and Prospect magazine.
But whilst Catrin has had many successes during her career, according to her, it didn’t come easy. She says it took a lot of unpaid work and freelancing before someone gave her a full-time gig.
“I started by studying journalism at Leeds. I did an undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism. Then got my self some work experience at BBC Leeds. It’s actually part of the course, and then everything went from there.”
Catrin believes freelancing is a very good way for budding journalists to get into the industry.
“I managed to bag some freelance shifts after a difficult few weeks trying to do everything. I took about ten hours to do a package that would now take me like half an hour. But I put all of the hours in and managed to get some extra shifts.”
Younger Catrin
When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, she said her only regret is that she didn’t set higher goals for herself,
“Over all, I’m quite pleased with how that younger Catrin did because I didn’t really come in with any expectations.
“I would probably say you can do better than you think, because everyone puts limits on themselves. I was so grateful to even have a job and be anywhere near journalism. I never in a million years thought I’d get to where I am now.
“I’d probably tell [younger Catrin] to aim a bit higher because if I’d known it was more possible at the start, maybe I could have even achieved more.”
Biggest achievement yet
The broadcaster has seen many awards in her time. Yet her biggest achievement yet wasn’t a title or a trophy that stole the show. Rather, Catrin expressed her happiness for being able to cover stories she truly believes in,
I love “the fact that I’ve been able to do stories that I really believe in all the time. That is not a given. Not at all.”
She details her painstaking journey on a convoy in an ambulance from Manchester to Syria to cover the infamous murder of Alan Henning. Mr Henning was a taxi driver turned humanitarian aid worker who was kidnapped and killed by the Islamic State group in 2013.
“I found myself in this situation that then took me somewhere completely different. For the next year, I was taken deep into the kidnap and murder of this amazing man whose friends and family I got to spend time with.”
“It’s the story and situation that has changed me the most because it was so personal and so impossible to not get personally involved in. It interfered with my personal life and interfered with the way that I look at the world, the way I look at journalism, and the way I look at everything really”.
