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Thread about journalism... yesterday marked 10 years since I started working at the UGC Hub in the BBC Newsroom. Last night was a typical night on one hand as it involved verifying fast breaking events; on the other hand surreal story....
But just realised that's a decade focusing on the lives of real people, doing thousands of interviews on every subject you can think of, immersing myself in the social beat, becoming a verificationista challenging disinformation and misinformation...
... the work has involved being exposed to the nasty side of life such as covering beheadings, and the unreal killings of people, focusing on war, terrorism, elections and natural disaster. It's involved being sworn at, abused, exposed to trolls, racism and xenophobia...
But it's also about finding the positive stories of people changing the world around them and also seeing the stories we cover make a difference to people's lives. When you deal directly with the audience, you see how highlighting injustices and successes can change lives
Journalism is a very strange career path to pursue. I don't even know how I'd explain this all to the eight-year-old me who just wanted to tell stories. But thought I'd flag up some of my favourite stories from the last decade
These are just while I've been working for the UGC team... (so a social expert but a general news focus) but in that time I've also somehow become a business and social specialist, worked on huge partnership projects and written a book (as journalism is a versatile career)...
I started at the hub as the Arab Spring kicked off. Here we would speak to people in the different countries and build relationships with them. Our concern was always about the welfare of those who were telling us their stories... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12850157
As UGC Hub journalists we'd be delivering case studies to every output going - radio, TV, online. We still do. It was a real learning curve for me back then. This Arab Spring round up piece has ended up being referenced in lots of academic journals https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-16275176
Often you are delving into history - this piece about Kenya's Mau Mau uprising was fascinating as it was a subject I knew nothing about when first tasked with interviewing those affected https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14233738
I was seconded several times. This was one of the highlights. We asked the world to visualise freedom. The world delivered https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26614481
I created a role as a storytelling development producer at one point and co-ordinated huge BBC projects. It also involved coming up with ideas like this. I love when people draw the news. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-30489249
How do we make stories resonate with global audiences - this was one way of getting the world to understand Syria wasn't somewhere far away https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-32824052
This was a valuable lesson in not dismissing social platforms - about watching for trends and spotting emerging stars and how they were tapping into diverse audiences. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-34602257
Having realised how much people loved cats on social media and seeing an opportunity to make a dry business story more relatable, the success of this - it's unsurprising I ended up writing a book about animal metaphors. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-35233517
Went to BBC Business for a couple of years on attachment but kept up the UGC skills. I ran the BBC News LinkedIn account for a while and made it a success and learned that all networks can come up with good stories. You just have to ask the right questions https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39818120
Sometimes you'll see a great visualisation turn up somewhere but make sure you find the actual creator. Brilliant stories like this can emerge. Remember, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean the person who posted is the one who owns the copyright https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48146166
And sometimes you have to write old-fashioned letters and spend months on a story even if it appears on Facebook originally. It's all about adding value https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49304162
A lot of my effort in the last decade has involved debunking things and not amplifying them. Was fascinating to interview others involved in the verification field, especially those who have been there since the beginning: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48867870
Went to Washington DC to be a specialist writer there - there's a whole different Masterclass thread on the lessons I learned: https://twitter.com/dhrutishah/status/1205155833920868353
And the last year of course has mainly involved pandemic storytelling - being a trauma specialist has helped a lot when it comes to interviewing people about how coronavirus has affected their lives - and sadly that does include those grieving for lost loved ones.
But who knows what will happen in the next 10 years. I've learned though that it's important to keep track of articles and cuttings. Used to have a cuttings scrapbook when I worked in local papers! Now the digital world is a lot more temporary http://www.dhrutishah.com
