Rachel Harvey – Q&A

Name?
Rachel Harvey

Age?
41

Where are you from?
Cornwall

How did you get started in broadcasting?
Joined the BBC as a Studio Manager (radio sound engineer)

When was that?
1988

Why News broadcasting?
Because its fast moving, immediate and varied. I like being able to tell people what’s going on in a place they may never have heard of and trying to explain why they should give a damn.

Where else would have viewers seen or heard you before?
er…. BBC radio in all its many and various forms; BBC TV in all its many and various forms; BBC online. Most recently in Indonesia, but have also made cameo appearances in Israel, Gaza, Yemen, Cambodia, Thailand, Namibia, Gambia and Azerbaijan.

What is your Best on-air moment?
Hope it’s still to come! I guess the first reports I did out of Aceh after the Dec 2004 tsunami.

What is your Worst on-air moment?
hmmmm joint favourties: Throwing up as the presenter was cueing me for a live on World TV ( covering the bird flu story in Thailand and I managed to get food poisoning!). Telling viewers that I was sleeping with my cameraman when the March 2005 earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra. For the record, we were in separate sleeping bags on the floor of an Oxfam house in Aceh!

What would you like to do before your career ends?
Something I should know?? Spend some time as a correspondent in Africa; present Newshour on the BBC World Service; be Jonathan Agnew’s lunchtime guest at at a test match. (Not sure which of those is most unrealistic!)

What do you like to do in your spare time?
Scuba dive, watch sport (especially England cricket team and Liverpool FC), listen to music, have dinner with friends and family.

What advice would you give to anyone that would like to get into the broadcasting world?
Make sure you know why you want to do it then make the most of every opportunity you get. Listen to the engineers, the camera crews, the vid/sound editors — they usually give the best advice and the most honest feedback!

A big thanks to Rachel for taking part.

Posted by on Thursday 21 May 2009