Highly experienced broadcast journalist Martin Davies launched a series of guest lectures for our Department about working professionally in media and related fields. In his presentation on 21 November, Martin gave time to year 3 BA (Hons) Media Studies undergraduate Sara Poloni to talk about her recent work experience with his media production and broadcast consultancy company, Between the Posts Productions. The opportunity to work together arose by chance and has been hugely beneficial for both.

Martin worked for BBC radio for many years, becoming Editor of African Productions at the BBC World Service. His talk, 'Working professionally in global and digital radio', drew on his BBC career and outlined his current radio, web and video work with Between the Posts Productions. The Cambridge-based company was set up 18 months ago and has already carried out high profile projects such as 'Slum Radio' for Amnesty International, using mainstream radio stations in the capitals of Kenya and Ghana to highlight human rights' abuses of slum dwellers.

Martin explains: "In June, I was asked by Anglia Ruskin Media Studies lecturer, Clare Neal, to review and give feedback on a short radio documentary Sara Poloni had recently completed for part of her degree course. I hadn't anticipated it would lead to the creation of a very effective working relationship."

When the two met, Martin found out that Sara, who is from Northern Italy, was about to go home for the summer. By chance, he was heading to the same location in August. There seemed to be an opportunity: a student looking for work experience and to develop her CV, and a journalist looking to create stories.

Martin is interested in creating radio stories about Africa and Africans, and wondered how migrant African workers were faring as Italy's economic downturn worsened. Sara lives outside Milan - the country's economic heartland. She agreed to research the potential for creating radio packages and other media material on this theme. As a result Martin and Sara met in Italy for two days of location interviews, setting off with audio recorders and cameras to talk to people from a variety of African countries, with contrasting stories to tell. They spoke to factory workers, shop owners and accountants, as well as an illegal immigrant and a door-to-door salesman. The pair also interviewed Sara's uncle, who employs Egyptians on his farm.

Sara translated the interviews from Italian to English and also took pictures for online items she and Martin later produced. Back in Cambridge, Sara's voice was used in radio packages over interview clips with African women, providing English translations of their Italian. The stories included the experiences of a woman who, instead of sending money home, now receives financial help from her parents in Senegal as she tries to eke out an existence in rural Italy which has been hit badly by the economic recession.

Before going to Italy, Martin had already gained interest from the BBC in commissioning the project. But he and Sara also turned around the content for a number of different media outlets, including Al Jazeera, National Public Radio in the USA, as well as a new on-line radio service, Monocle 24. Overall, Sara gained considerable professional radio production experience through this working relationship. Her voice was heard on the BBC and she was also credited by Al Jazeera for the pictures she took.

For Martin, Sara's involvement "was also good for my company as this content creation and production opened up new opportunities and connections with media outlets whom I've been able to return to subsequently with other stories and content."

Media Studies lecturer Clare Neal, who is also Employability Champion for the Department of English, Communication, Film and Media, commented that "Martin and Sara's talk demonstrated to students that contemporary radio production work demands use of a range of media skills flexibly and in a variety of contexts and platforms. The skills our students gain in practice modules such as radio production have direct relevance and value to professional employers."


Clare Neal
Lecturer, Communication and Media

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