‘KEY TO MEDIA IS MAKING CONTACTS’
AS part of a new weekly podcast, local comedian Sean Hegarty will meet with well known local personalities to get the low down on their careers. This week he talks to Cool FM radio presenter Emma Fitzpatrick. Belfast born and bred Emma has worked across a number of media platforms throughout her career including print, TV and radio.
Emma said: “Fascinated by the referendum media coverage in Northern Ireland and across the globe, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in journalism. School wasn’t quite for me. In fact I, like many teens, hated it, and so I left at the end of fifth year to do a media course.
“My course gave me the opportunity to do work experience at CityBeat and resulted in me securing work on their promotional team. I did this for seven years, while I was studying — I must have been the oldest promo girl they had. In addition I worked many jobs in the hospitality sector.
“Following my studies I worked for both BBC and UTV. I was spotlight controller on the Kelly Show, and this gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people and make great contacts. My career highlight to date is a hard one, as I have interviewed some fantastic artists and bands over the years, but one stand-out was Bryan Adams.
“Media is not easy — you have to work very hard and be prepared to work in every element of media until you find the right role. I think the key to success as with any job is building relationships and making contacts all the time.”
Check out Emma’s podcast www.soundcloud.com/sean-hegartycomedy or tweet @ HTGRpodcast