Bradley Jones was a student on the BA (Hons) Broadcast Journalism course at Nottingham Trent University. He graduated in 2019 and is now an Output Researcher at ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

What made you want to become a journalist?

I was always a performer. I did musical theatre and wanted to get into TV and Radio, but I first went to university to do event management – which had me falling asleep in lectures! I was visiting a friend in Nottingham and was looking at studying advertising there, when I saw something about broadcast journalism, and I realised THAT was what I wanted to do! I’ve always been interested in the English language – so I should have put two and two together before that.

How did you decide which university to go to?

I had decided I wanted to be far away from home and I liked Nottingham so I looked around Nottingham Trent and some other universities in other places as well. But the facilities at Nottingham Trent were absolutely unbelievable. And I liked that all the teaching staff had all worked at places like BBC and ITV, and some of them still worked in the industry, and I just loved everything about it.

Tell me a bit about your time at university – what was it like for you in terms of preparing you for your future career?

The course was really eye-opening. It was everything I had been looking for and more. I thought it was going to be a doddle, but it’s actually not that easy to be a journalist! The course taught me every skill I needed going into industry. I felt completely prepared to go into a national newsroom and say ‘I can do that’. The lecturers really helped and inspired me to be a better journalist. Their advice and their techniques and their journalistic prowess made me so driven. It’s an amazing group of staff there.

What were the things you found the most helpful, now that you have been in the industry for a little while?

The newsdays. They are the most useful thing you do on the course. They are the same as what I do day to day in my job now. I loved them at the time; getting to go out in the field, talking to the people of Nottingham – it gives you that first taste of being ‘on air’. Behind all that, the media law, which we learned from early on. When you are going out in the field every week, you never know when you’ll need that media law. I use media law, and the discipline you learn on newsdays, every day. And then there are the technical skills. We learned how to use newsroom computer systems and editing programmes, and if I hadn’t learned those before my first job, I would have struggled. 

While at university I worked on the student TV station Trent TV, which helped me so much to learn about how TV works. I got to do extra packages and VTs and produce studio shows. I learned to have someone talk in my ear, even before we did it on our course. I’d highly recommend people do something like this and be as involved as they can. It was so worth it. Look where I am now!

Tell me about the placements you did...

I did a lot! I did a week at Talk Radio in London, and then a week at Channel 5. That was the most amazing thing I’d ever done. They just trusted me. I had only just finished my first year at uni and the minute I got there I was sent to do an interview with a politician. They sent me on stories, I went to Westminster, I went to my first press screening, had to put in Freedom of Information requests…I got to do everything. Then I had a week on BBC Look North, where I was able to shadow reporters there. Also amazing! I had a few days on ITV Calendar and was also on the street team and did some stage presenting for Heart Yorkshire. I’m sure that doing all these placements is what got me my job. 

So how DID you tackle finding work?

I applied for everything. I applied for both the BBC and ITV traineeships and didn’t get an interview for either. I was absolutely gutted. I remember taking a photo of the day I got rejected from the second one and thinking, “What am I going to do now?” I thought the world was ending, because those traineeships are what you want as a student, they are the ultimate goal – well, they were for me.

I was applying for jobs while working at Heart, after uni. I applied for a few research jobs in telly, including Good Morning Britain and didn’t get anything. I actually forgot I’d applied for GMB when they called and invited me to do an interview in London. I was really nervous, and it was really tough, but it went well. Then they said it might be two weeks before I’d know, and I just didn’t think I’d be able to cope waiting for that long because I was so down and out about not yet getting a job. The next day, I was in a restaurant in Central London when I got a call. I went outside to take it, and it was them telling me I had the job. So, there I was, sobbing in central London when I got the news! 

How prepared did you feel for it?

You can never be 100 per cent prepared for a first day at work, you just don’t know what they are going to throw at you. But I knew how to conduct myself properly in a national newsroom – I knew exactly what to do; how to be courteous, how to network. So I think I was as prepared as I could be. I cannot imagine doing it without having done my degree first. I think it was vital in getting me a job. 

So what do you actually do in your current role?

I am an output researcher. I work with a team of producers doing three or four 12 hour shifts a week. We look at the briefs for the interviews and what they are going to talk about. We write the script for the presenters to work from, put together related pictures and video and write the straps. We commission graphics, edit the video inserts and then brief the guests when they arrive. It’s possibly the most ‘news producery’ type role I could have gone into straight out of university – just like doing newsdays!

What would you say to new graduates, who might be worried that getting work in the industry is going to be a huge challenge?

Only apply for those jobs you are qualified for and are interested in. You should only go for a job you are passionate about, otherwise they can spot that a mile off! You want to make a good impression and that’s much easier when you are passionate.

Take time with your application. Don’t rush it. I rushed so many of them, including the traineeships. Ask your tutors to look over your applications. And just be driven and make sure you sell yourself as exactly what you are.

The most important thing to do is to have had that work experience. Always try to get work experience. Eventually you will get paid for it – either freelance or full time. 

Networking is drilled into me. You never know who is going to be on the interview panel. You never know who is going to be your editor for the day, so be a nice person. You are not going to get anywhere if you are not a hardworker, or a nice person. 

And just keep on trying. There ARE people taking on graduates, I’m living proof of that. They are looking for people who are fresh out of university and driven.

So, where do you feel you are at now with your career?

I love everything. It’s exactly what I thought it would be and more. Working on a huge programme like GMB is tough. It’s not easy work. There are tough days where I think I’m not good enough. But being in the industry is the best thing. I wouldn’t go into anything else. Everyone I work with is nothing but helpful. So many seasoned reporters who you see on your TV that I work with day to day have helped me, even though they don’t have to. If you are keen and new to it, no-one is out to see you fail. It’s fun, exciting, exhilarating, always different. It’s not a walk in the park, but it’s definitely the most exciting industry to be in right now.

What are your next challenges?

I’m only six months into my role so I’m hoping to stay here for as long as they’ll have me! Later I aim to be on the screen. At uni I was part of Trent TV which helped me massively and I won a national award for my presenting with my showreel. So the aim is to be a presenter/producer. I like the balance of producing my own stuff. I have a keen interest in entertainment journalism, so I love all of that as well as the news stuff.

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This article was written in May 2020. To keep up to date with what Bradley is up to, follow him on social media.
Twitter: @bradleyconnorj | LinkedIn: Bradley Jones
And if you’d like to take a look at Bradley’s showreel where you can see lots of what he got up to at university, you’ll find it here.

We regularly catch up with our BJTC alumni to find out how they are going with their careers and what advice they might have to offer students embarking on their own broadcast journalism journeys. If you’d like to be considered for the Alumni Spotlight, contact us and let us know, we’d love to hear from you. And you can see a lot more #bjtcalumni in action on our Twitter feed…