“We were comparing medieval families to Kris Jenner!”: Making it in the industry with BBC HistoryExtra digital section editor, Rachel Dinning.
- livwithersx5
- May 16, 2024
- 3 min read
Fighting to get into the industry? Rachel Dinning, digital section editor at BBC HistoryExtra tells us about her university placements, her first interviews and podcasts, from the likes of Boris Johnson to film director, Peter Jackson. She spills all on nerves, anxiety and her advice on making it as a journalist today.
Some say prints dead, but definitely not for us!
"I was shaking and very scared. It's so unpredictable, you never know how it's going to unfold!" she says, talking about her first podcast interview with historians and broadcasters, Peter Snow and Ann Macmillan. "I'm not like that now, but I remember being on the train to London and feeling like I was going to be sick." Rachel, 28, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been working at BBC HistoryExtra since 2017. Her first role was a Digital Editorial Assistant, claiming she "fell lucky" with her job; "I wasn't just making coffees, I was thrown in with actual writing and interviewing people."
After gaining work experience at the ‘Gloucestershire Gazette’, ‘PerfectWedding‘ magazine and experience at a Bristol radio station, a month later, she had her first job in the industry at the Gazette as a junior reporter. “I think that’s what got me both my jobs. They valued the experience I had and my portfolio of published work.” At 22, she interviewed Boris Johnson, who made it rather tricky to answer her questions and ended up watching him “slurping his milkshake and mooing like a cow!” She laughs, admitting it was a clever tactic to use, but now she would call him out for this. “It worked for him, but it was hard for me! Although, when he was elected prime minister, I was thinking, I can say I’ve interviewed him, that’ll be great for my CV!”
Having a degree in English, a master’s in Journalism and… nothing in history, it left Rachel thinking “am I qualified for this?”, but she realised she had something others didn’t, which were journalistic and interviewing skills, making her wanted on the team at HistoryExtra. “Most jobs in the industry like a varied personality. You need lots of different skills. My role is digital, but I also write for the print magazine and podcast on HistoryExtra” When creating content, Rachel explains it’s important to get a lot out of one piece; see if it can be optimised for print, online or socials like Instagram.
Podcast highlights involve talking to Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings. “I spoke to him about colourising second world war footage, it was intimidating, being early in my career and in a room with journalists way older than me! I had massive imposter syndrome!” Rachel giggles. “Another is when I ended up compared medieval families to Kris Kardashian and how women ‘mumaging’ their children into positions of power!” She explains she wasn’t too keen on medieval dynasties, but you have to be open-minded!
“Before covid, I was going to Saudi Arabia to do some interviews, but it got cancelled.” She sighs, explaining how the virus tore through her job, “half of us were furloughed, one magazine turned to bi-monthly frommonthly… It was really challenging. I remember doing podcast interviews whilst building work was happening next door! It was so noisy- I was alone in my tiny studio apartment- it was quite depressing!” After 6 months, everyone was back with their regular schedule, and from covid, found a new hobby of running!
Rachels’ final year project, ‘taboo bodies’, focusing on many feminist issues, won a BJTC award, she confesses “it was such a passion project, it was so cool it got recognised. It’s always something I’d like to go back to down the line.” She advises, “don’t expect where you want to end up straight away, I love what I’m doing now, but it’s certainly not where I thought I’d be when I was at university!”
“4 years later, I’ve had a crash course in a history degree!” she continues, “I love the Tudors, I wrote a fun article about Henry VI ‘sex coach’, who taught him how to have sex; weird stuff like that goes down well on social media and it’s enjoyable too! It’s a balancing act between online and print articles.”
“We have a loyal readership at BBC History compared to other magazines. Including myself, people aren’t buying them anymore, but history buffs love a physical copy, with juicy, niche, in-depth features. Online readers are hooked by shocking headlines, for TV show content, like Bridgerton or The Crown.” Although BBC HistoryExtra are pushing digital content, Rachel says proudly, “some say print’s dead, but definitely not for us!”
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