One of our radio journalists has gone back to school to give a talk on her experiences working in the media to students looking to follow in her footsteps.
Liberty Lester, who provides news reports for Jersey’s Channel 103, spoke to 30 students at her former school, Ripley St Thomas Sixth Form in Lancaster, to outline her career progress to date.
Speaking via a video call, Liberty briefed pupils eager to learn more about the world of media with her presentation entitled ‘Not the Original Script: Breaking into Media’.
Liberty explained how she chose to progress from Ripley St Thomas Sixth Form to do a BA Broadcast Journalism degree at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston, Lancashire, on her A-Level results day.
Working to pursue her dream career, she explained to the students that with hard work and perseverance, they can be more than their grades.
Throughout university, Liberty secured journalism placements at two newspapers in Preston before gaining work experience as a press officer at the Co-Operative Headquarters in Manchester in 2022.
Content creation
Liberty said: “In giving my talk I hoped that, as an alumnus, sharing my story will help some of the young people on their paths to their dream careers.
“In my talk I explained how outside of my studies, I became a social media manager for KimJi Korean Restaurant and a content creator for UCLan.
“After achieving a 2:1 degree with honours, I pursued content creation as a graduate before landing my role with Channel 103 in 2022.
“An area of interest for the students and my former tutor was how I came across the Channel Islands as an ideal place to live and work.
“I explained how Channel 103 is Jersey’s favourite radio station and has the largest reach by population in the British Isles, as well as the recent big stories from the newsdesk, such as the Royal visit last year.”