RTS Northern Ireland Chair Fiona Campbell discussed pivotal moments from her career, in conversation with Sheila Robinson, a leadership coach, at an RTS NI session, “Making your own luck”.
Campbell, who was promoted this year to Controller, Youth Audience, BBC iPlayer and BBC Three, recalled her move from researcher on the BBC Two business show The Money Programme, where she couldn’t see a way forward, to assistant producer on BBC One’s Watchdog.
“I was not passionate about consumer affairs journalism, but that job was an opportunity to move on and break out,” she said.
On Watchdog, she learned to self-shoot and edit, and gained experience of live studio production – skills that helped her build her career. “You’ve got to be willing to compromise and see the upside trade-off in moving to a completely separate universe,” she said.
Campbell later took up a contract with ITN at Channel 4 News. She was not “a news obsessive”, but stayed for five years. “I learned a lot working with Jon Snow and in live television. I learned things that I didn’t even know I needed to learn.”
Campbell returned to the corporation as Director, Digital BBC News, and then successfully applied for the job of Controller of BBC Three. “I hadn’t done any drama, but I had worked a load in digital content with Facebook, Apple News and Snapchat. A lot of people hadn’t done that,” she said.
Recalling the interview, Campbell added: “The core thing is being able to tell the story of what you are going to deliver in the job… I can’t underline that enough.”
The RTS session, in Belfast in late May, was part of the BBC Academy’s “Production Unlocked” series.
