Students from Ealing’s University of West London were given a behind-the-scenes look at the BBC’s News at Six during a visit to the broadcaster’s newsroom and studios.
The group, from UWL’s London School of Film, Media and Design, were hosted by BBC News creative director Chris Cook. They toured the newsroom, studio and production gallery, sat in the presenter’s chair and watched editorial decisions being made in real time.
In the studio, they met presenter Sophie Raworth, who spoke about her career in television and rehearsed the programme’s opening moments before going live. Students then observed from the gallery as the director and production team made live adjustments to the evening bulletin, before attending the post-broadcast debrief led by editor Jess Benton.
Mr Cook said: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome such enthusiastic and keen students to BBC News to see how the machine operates.”
Dr John Hillman, head of Film, Media and English at UWL, added: “Visits like this are made possible because all our staff bring significant industry experience and their professional networks to our courses.”
Second-year Media and Communications student Georgina Kerford said: “It was an amazing experience – intense, thrilling, and genuinely exhilarating.”
