Mhairi MacKenzie

Current Employer/Organisation Name

BBC

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

Since leaving Exeter, I initially worked for a fund administrator (I graduated during Covid), and then worked in the Ministerial Support Unit at the States of Jersey (our equivalent of the Cabinet Office). After that, I applied and was accepted to News Associates to study for my NCTJ qualification, which I completed in five months. Working for the BBC was my first job after this – I joined as a Journalism Researcher at News Intake, and worked across the domestic and international television news. In the years since, I’ve worked on location at party conferences, and worked for 6 weeks in our Washington DC office in January 2024. I have also completed multiple placements in our Long Form Audio department (where I currently work), working across Radio 4 and World Service programmes like The Global Story, Profile, The Bottom Line, and More or Less.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

I chose this career because while I was studying history, I realised that journalists are a key part of how we understand and engage with historical events, both whilst they are unfolding and years later. I was drawn to a career that allows me to ask ‘Why?’ every day, and try and better understand our world. I most enjoy this element of my work, and the diversity it affords me – one day you might be working on an episode about a major global conflict, and the next looking at the dangers of noise pollution, or what an influencer’s cancellation tells us about our culture.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was an editor of the History Journal, and was a member of the Netball Society and Model Westminster.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

I most enjoyed my studies on American history and social history, specifically the course run in my first year by Miguel Hernandez on the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan in 1920s America and my Special Subject in final year: Street Protests and Social Movements in the Modern Era. Both courses were so engaging and included so many layers of analysis and depth of knowledge – they really hooked me in and I still use the theories and style of analysis I learned today, and often continue to read into both subjects in my own time.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

I most enjoyed the variety of subjects you could study whilst pursuing History at Exeter – many universities I looked at had a fairly top down approach to history, and some only offered history studies up to 1800, not beyond. I liked that I learned about why our world looks the way it does today – the trends and forces that have led us to this point – and could study events all the way up to the early 2000s as part of my degree.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Being able to digest, analyse and condense large amounts of information quickly and effectively; how to argue analytically, whether on paper or in a discussion; to always consider as many points of view as possible, and ask probing questions – who profits, why are they telling you this, what do they stand to gain, what would their opponents say, how did we get here?

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

To get work experience! I came to the realisation I wanted to do journalism quite late, and found that often having existing work experience helps a lot in applying for more formal internship roles or jobs. It helps you establish relationships and also gives you an idea of what the job actually entails- it’s always worth doing even if it’s just at your local radio station or paper, because if you like that then you’ll love a career in journalism!

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to continue to work at the BBC, and to secure a permanent move to Long Form Audio, working across podcasts and narrative series.