The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan explains how to get your foot in the door of political television news and climb to the top…

The industry’s perception of these courses, whether fair or unfair, is that you spend a lot of time on what's loosely termed as ‘media studies’, covering topics such as bias in the media and attitudes - none of which are at all useful if you're going to be a reporter.

Media studies is not regarded as being intellectually up there with the more challenging subjects, so people in the industry may perceive it as being a cop out.

You may also come out of university with rather preconceived notions about how the media business is structured, and that’s not going to help you.

Subjects like English or History will serve you well in most media areas and language degrees are brilliant if you want to be a foreign correspondent.

I began by studying English at Bristol University, but found myself reading newspapers more than my set text.

I realised I was more interested in events unfolding in the world at that time, so I moved over to Politics, wrote for a local magazine on the side and finished with a first class degree.

I then applied to Cardiff to do a post-graduate journalism course, which gave me a practical leg-up.

You learn everything from shorthand to Law to how to report a council meeting on these courses and they provide practical work experience placements, so you get everything you need to become a journalist.

What’s more, organisations like the BBC look favourably on graduates who have completed them.

Working for your student paper or local radio station is sure to impress them even more.

You’ll need to badger people for experience like that and not give up when you get rejected. Attitude gets you an immensely long way.

Never be too proud to make a cup of tea, always turn up everywhere 10 minutes early and also never to be the first to leave.

My first proper journalism job was working for a local paper after I finished at Cardiff, which was a fantastic experience.

You do your police calls and go and see coppers who give you the most wonderful stories. You cover the whole breadth of human experience and learn the art of story-telling, which is what journalism is all about.

A great story I covered back then was about a poll tax rebel who was spared going to prison because his mother paid his taxes for him.

I then flogged the story to the Evening Standard for a vast amount of money because the son and mother agreed to pose for pictures together.

Moving to television, I got a researcher position on A Week in Politics on Channel 4 before answering an advertisement for a researcher position on BBC Breakfast News. It was pretty much the lowest form of life, but it was a great place to be because I learnt how to make TV.

You have three hours of television that needs to be filled every day and the researcher's job is to plan for the next day and come up with ideas for things to do.

I told my producer I wanted to be a reporter and by a stroke of luck they let me loose on air. The first piece I did wasn't even broadcastable, according to my editor, but I was lucky because I got given a break. I said I wanted to do it, I pushed for it and it worked.

I went on to join the BBC1 political programme On the Record where I stayed for four years and had a great experience there.

After that I worked on the Today programme where I reported from Ireland at the time of the Good Friday agreement, which intellectually was very challenging.

I went to Washington to report on the impeachment of President Clinton for them and I was on the Prime Minister's plane on his trip to the Far East when we learnt Dr David Kelly had died.

On these occasions you really feel “journalism is the first draft of history” - as the former Washington Post publisher Philip Graham, once said. It is a great privilege to watch events like those unfold.

As a reporter, you are in a uniquely privileged position and that's what makes the job so attractive, I think.

In broadcasting you have to keep learning, the game is always changing. If journalism is about simplifying and then exaggerating, broadcasting is about that too to the factor of 100.

You have to get your story but then you have to perform it as ITN's former Political Editor Michael Brunson once said, and you can never forget that.

You must also appreciate human interest.

You have to be able to get on with people, be interested in them and talk to them as if you were a friend because then they will tell you things. It might sound exploitative, but that is the essence of your relationship with them as a reporter… you must be approachable.

The human side to politics: envy, ambition, falling-out, backstabbing and friendships - is the meat and drink of my genre, as well as part of the wider culture of reporting.

Traditionally, the political sector has been a very male, stuffy environment, but being a woman reporter in politics now doesn't hinder you in your job. If anything, it probably helps because you stand out.

In Northern Ireland, the scene was extremely male, and it was useful to be female there because of that standing out aspect. It's the same thing here as you're in a minority so people are more likely to remember you.

I would also say political correspondence in Westminster is now meritocratic.

If you look at political reporters both in press and broadcasting, George Pascoe-Watson and Trevor Kavanagh - who are the top team on The Sun - are far from being old Etonians. It’s the same with the Guardian team.

At the BBC, we have 12 political correspondents with only one old Etonian among us.

It is meritocratic and increasingly so because newspapers and TV programmes are trying to compete for all of the audience and not just the ABC1s. Everyone is aware of trying to look and sound like the nation we are reporting to.

I had a couple of BBC tutors who taught me how to look in front of the camera and communicate with the audience; a hair and make-up coach and a performance coach who, bizarrely, said audiences like you to look like you own a cat!

Most importantly I was taught about mastering what is called the ‘girlfriend delivery’.

You have to report as if you were chatting to one of your friends, but not be too casual. You still have to sound authoritative, but avoid sounding like someone from Pathé news!

Note: This article was given to greatreporter.com in 2003.