Karen Kay – Q&A

Name?
Karen Kay

Age?
33

Where are you from?
Not Planet Television, that’s for sure. I’m Bucks born and bred.

How did you get started in broadcasting?
I was Fashion Editor on the Daily Mirror ten years ago, and was invited in to This Morning on Granada and the Sky News studios to comment on the catwalk shows and discuss other fashion stories. I was so nervous, I gripped the newsdesk till me knuckles turned white. Broadcast work developed from there, though I’m still not sure how I ended up in front of a camera on a regular basis.

Why News broadcasting?
As a specialist reporter, I love the thrill of knowing a subject inside out and being able to talk off-pat with some authority about almost anything in my field.

Where else would have viewers seen or heard you before?
I work regularly for BBC TV, Newsnight, Radio 5 Live and LBC. I also work as Contributing Editor for YOU magazine (Mail on Sunday), and write for a number of national newspapers and magazines.

What is your Best on-air moment?
The ones where I’m smiling.

What is your Worst on-air moment?
A Live link on Live at Five at the Paris shows a few years back. We’d been working our guts out all week, and I’d had about ten hours sleep over seven days. I had been editing at the Reuters bureau in Paris and had ten minutes to get across town in the rush hour. My only option was to hitch a lift on the back of a motorbike. I was petrified, and the driver knew it, and played on it. I’m claustrophobic in crash helmets and came off a bike riding pillion as a teenager. The journey triggered an asthma attack and I went on air barely able to breathe, let alone talk. I have no idea what I said, but the link seemed to last forever.

What would you like to do before your career ends?
Finish my kitchen. Edit Vogue magazine. Publish a book. Have children. Win the lottery. All the usual stuff.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
What is spare time?!? Er… I love playing golf, knitting, needlework, DIY, films, reading, sleeping, sorting out my shoes, doing my VAT return…..

What advice would you give to anyone that would like to get into the broadcasting world?
Drop the ego. Pick up knowledge. Be passionate about whatever you do. It’s not a job, it’s a way of life.

A big thanks to Karen for taking part.

Posted by on Thursday 21 May 2009
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