North Yorkshire based Broadcast Journalist with a passion for Radio and Storytelling.

First class, BA (hons) in Journalism. BJTC accredited course.

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CV

A creative thinker and an amazing listener. I love to tell people’s stories through a variety of mediums. And although radio has been my main focus, I am experienced and confident in print, TV and online.

Download my CV below or continue reading.

Skills

Experience:

IMP Media – Social Media Manager

Aug 2023 – present

The ever-changing landscape of social media marketing means I am constantly learning and adapting to new ways of managing a brand’s social media output. My role day-to-day varies from reputation management for clients, spotting new social trends that brands can jump on and assisting with our client’s social media strategy. Recently, we’ve been working with marketing magazine The Drum to inform their articles on the latest trends and social crazes happening online.

BBC Radio York & Leeds – Broadcast Journalist (reporter, producer, journalism coordinator)

Dec 2021 – Aug 2023

Freelancing at BBC local radio has pushed my skills as a journalist and ability to work under pressure. I work to strict deadlines for reporting, editing audio, producing and writing for bulletins. Having my creative ideas heard and developed has been an incredibly rewarding experience, of which I am very proud. I have developed my range of skills and am confident in lone working and working as part of a team. I have done live VERV broadcasts as well as package making and voice bulletins. I’m particularly proud of my reactive reporting, covering sensitive topics including from the scene of a car accident and a fatal stabbing.

Aesthetica magazine internship

8 weeks starting June 2021

During the summer of 2021, I undertook an internship with Aesthetica Magazine. This role was online-based and resulted in them asking me back to work their film festival later in the year as well as this current year (2022). I assisted with mailing list articles, social media and general admin to ensure smooth running of the film festival and other competitions. It has helped my understanding of digital output and audience engagement, as well as what it takes to organise a PR event.

Institute for Social Justice (ISJ) – Researcher

Sept 2020 – July 2021

Working as a student journalist in 2020 at university, I took on the role of Researcher for the Institute of Social Justice. This role involved many learnt skills from my course. I had to find and interview alumni from the university and write up articles about them and their careers after university. This role pushed me to be a better journalist and adapt to the ever-changing circumstances the global pandemic brought.

References

Available upon request

Ms. Katharine Wootton – News Editor, BBC Radio York: 

“Sarah worked as a freelance journalist for BBC Radio York from 14/12/2021 – 27/08/2023

Throughout her time at BBC Radio York, Sarah took on a number of different roles including journalism co-ordinator, producer and reporter.

As a producer, Sarah worked across a range of shows including drive, daytimes and weekends. In the case of drive, this would involve dealing with a really fast-faced news show where the running order can be ripped up in a second in the event of a breaking story. It also required a careful balancing of content to make for a punter-friendly yet informative tea-time show with lots of different stories. Sarah would decide on the agenda of the show – in consultation with the presenter and news editor, set up guests, edit audio and then output the show live. In this role, Sarah also worked with a selection of different presenters, both staff and freelance, and on every occasion, the presenters would tell me how calm, communicative and helpful Sarah had been as a producer. While producing weekends, Sarah was often looking after the whole weekend team, requiring strong editorial judgment to decide when to make key production decisions and when to refer to on-call managers.

As a reporter, Sarah worked on a variety of stories, originating ideas to then craft them into pieces to travel across radio programmes. Sarah always came with great ideas and good suggestions for contacts/guests. She’d then pull together the pieces diligently and creatively, making sure her final product was something to be really proud of.

And as a journalism coordinator (effectively an assistant producer) Sarah was a brilliant support to the production teams, answering phones, organising audio and making sure the programme ran smoothly. Sarah was always a great team player as well as a ray of positivity and enthusiasm.

Sarah has been much praised by the whole BBC Radio York team and has been a fantastic addition to our newsroom. She would be an asset to any team.

Should you require any further questions or have specific questions, please feel free to contact me.”