Each week we'll be asking people from all parts of the media industry - from channel controllers to catering staff, directors to digital technicians - to tell us about their careers.

This week we spoke to this year's winner of Sky News' Fiona McDiarmid Journalism Bursary, Kate Leaman, about her University of Westminster postgraduate broadcast journalism course and her experience as a freelance voiceover announcer and television presenter to date.

Name
Kate Leaman

Job Title
Broadcast journalist

Age
28

Lives
North London

Best thing about working in broadcast journalism
Work is always incredibly varied and I never find myself stuck in the office for too long.

Worst thing about working in broadcast journalism
You never really know how you’re getting on in the media industry, whether an actor, presenter or voice-over artist. Employers rarely give critical feedback.

First thing you do in the morning?
Have a very strong coffee and panic a little over the time.

First media job
Continuity announcer for UKTV and The Biography Channel.

Biggest achievement to date
Creating a presenting and voice over career from scratch, with no previous knowledge and no training, it took incredible amounts of motivation and ambition.

Anything you wish you'd done differently?
I wish I’d done a broadcast diploma earlier in my career. I have learnt so much, so quickly.

Dream job/company/lifestyle
Newsroom anchor or correspondent for Sky News.

Best media jolly you've ever attended
I love events like Cartier Polo and Wimbledon, lots of champagne and very good fun.

In what way has winning the bursary changed things?
I was over the moon when I heard the news. For me winning the bursary meant the difference between furthering my ultimate destiny as a broadcast journalist or sadly, going into sales for purely financial reasons. The bursary is an amazing prize which nurtures the broadcast journalists of the future.

Sky is doing a lot to help raise awareness of climate change and reducing carbon emissions this year - what do you do to help reduce your carbon footprint?
When you go to your local supermarket and fill a basket with food, on average the contents have travelled the same distance as to the moon. A kiwi fruit for instance travels around 12 000 miles to your fridge. I’m careful to buy only local products where possible.


The Fiona McDiarmid Journalism Bursary lends financial support to a student enrolled on the one-year postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at the University of Westminster.

The award is given in honour of Fiona McDiarmid, the Sky News Sunrise presenter, who lost her battle against breast cancer in August 2002.