OMT BBC Journalist Returns To MTS

Rayyan Taha, Divisions writes

On Tuesday 12th December we had a talk on journalism and media by James Tillotson OMT who left MTS in 2020. He is the founder of PalTV, an award-winning student television station at Durham University. He currently works as a freelancer for the BBC and CNBC and he came to tell us more about what he has been doing since leaving school.

James talked about how he had started PalTV as a way of people getting news from what happened around Durham. He started to recruit more people and soonhis company grew from filming on mobile phones to winning an award and catching the attention of national news. James also told us about how it can be difficult to get a job in journalism if you do not go further than an undergraduate degree, as companies tend to prefer those with more experience.

The talk gave us an insight into the world of media and journalism, and how fast-changing that world can be. James currently works in the BBC Political Freelance Pool on Sunday with the Laura Kuenssberg Programme as a researcher, briefing the team about the top stories of the day and supporting guests on the show. He gave us an insight into what it was like to brief prominent politicians.

We also understood the importance of getting experience as soon as possible, in order to stand out from others. James’ talk explained what kind of things to expect when doing a job in journalism – like independence when planning shows, to meeting important people, as well as gathering stories from around the world.

Overall, I found the talk to be a great way to understand what journalism looks like in the real world, and the plethora of sectors it interacts with. Many thanks to James for sharing his insights with us.

Editor’s note. James won a travel Scholarship with fellow OMT Bert Edwards. A film of their video to Senja in Norway can be seen here.