By Tom Clayton
Senior journalist Alys Harte cited attitude as the most important factor in finding work at the BBC.
In a talk at Leeds Trinity’s Journalism and Media Week, the former RTÉ journalist also said it is not essential to be an academic to be a top reporter.
Harte said: “You don’t necessarily need a first class academic degree to be a journalist.
“My degree helped me get into the right mind-set to become successful.”
Alys started her career at RTÉ in Ireland before moving to the BBC, where she works on projects for Radio 4, World Service, Panorama and Radio 5 Live.
Harte used anecdotes about her past in the talk, as well as interesting guidance for getting in to the BBC’s work and work experience setup.
“It’s actually quite easy to get in. You have to be invested, interesting and, most of all, nice,” said Harte.
The talk ended with a Q&A session with Alys and fellow BBC journalist Isabelle Tudor taking questions about working in the corporation and how they reached this stage in their respective careers.
Journalism and Media Week 2018 will conclude on Thursday.
Notable speakers before the end of the week include Gogglebox star and Leeds Trinity alumna Rev Kate Bottley, creator of the Great British Bake Off Richard McKerrow and editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post Hannah Thaxter.