Visit Ewan’s LinkedIn here
- Recommendation, Aug 2018: Jem Collins
- Recommendation, Sept 2018: Andy Keeble
- Recommendation, Aug 2016: Tess Atikinson
Current experience
Below is a more detailed overview of Ewan’s current work.
Feb 2019: Internship at The Independent
Ewan produced six stories in five days, which included: sensitively handling an exclusive on disclosed offensive group chat messages to ensure it was legally and ethically reported, speaking to a victim of the Warwick group chat scandal, speaking to parents fighting against Ofsted judgements on Steiner Schools, getting powerful quotes from food bank volunteers for an expose on an alleged government cover-up, and investigating accounts of 28 academies to reveal rising pay.
Dec 2018 – March 2019: BBC Radio Sheffield (voluntary) production shifts
Since the start of December 2018 Ewan has worked voluntary shifts at BBC Radio Sheffield, working with producers across three shows for a total of 9 hours each week. The main skills involved are:
- Editing in a high-pressure live broadcast environment
- Helping ‘dial up’ guests via phone and FaceTime, and external weather and travel inputs on the Saturday Breakfast and Mid-Morning shows
- Greeting and keeping on top of a regular inflow of guests during all three shows, ensuring they are comfortable and that the presenter is happy
- Training on the job with BBC software and programmes used across all BBC radio stations and networks
- Researching guests that reflect the local South Yorkshire/North Derbyshire community and finding interesting, appropriate and engaging topics for discussion.
Nov 2018: Internship with The i newspaper, London
In only five days, Ewan produced 13 national bylines for the i and iweekend national newspapers. During this internship he:
– attended daily editorial conferences with Olly Duff and the department heads, developing knowledge on the process of setting the agenda of the day and selecting the most interesting stories, relevant to the i’s audience
– pro-actively liaised with the News Editor, newdesk, the Foreign Editor and the Business Editor on a daily basis to find and write concise and engaging stories – attended daily editorial conferences with Olly Duff and the department heads, developing knowledge on the process of setting the agenda of the day and selecting the most interesting stories, relevant to the i’s audience
– pro-actively liaised with the News Editor, newdesk, the Foreign Editor and the Business Editor on a daily basis to find and write concise and engaging stories.
March 2018 to present: Freelance work for The Telegraph.
In March 2018, Ewan broke the exclusive story on campus at Sheffield that lecturers were blocking students from attending classes during the impassioned USS strike – a story that went on to be published in The Daily Telegraph online and in print. Ewan also reported the assault of a Sheffield SU officer online and in print. A work experience placement in Summer 2018 (below) saw me further develop my understanding of The Telegraph’s writing style, ways of looking for the best stories, and what its readers want to see. Ewan has had a total of seven stories and comment pieces published for The Telegraph.
Oct 2018 to present: Presenter at Forge Radio / producer for Student Radio Association Yorkshire Cultural Podcast
Ewan presents on Forge Radio regularly and has also presented two outside broadcasts (OBs) to thousands of people during the Freshers moving-in weekend and a large Sheffield SU societies fair. His interviews include Newsnight/Dragons Den/BBC Radio 4 presenter Evan Davis, ITV News political editor Robert Peston, two Sheffield SU officers about mental health and sustainability, and a large mental health awareness society on campus, ‘Mental Health Matters’ society. Through his extensive training and experience producing and presenting shows using Myriad, he also helps train new presenters how to drive the desk smoothly and effectively, and how to remain calm during any technical difficulties. Ewan’s radio work has been commended by senior University staff, the student body, industry figures and the Forge Radio Station Manager.
Student Radio Association production/presenting. Ewan works with the SRA to co-produce the SRA Yorkshire Cultural Podcast, a new initiative seeing teams from student radio stations in Sheffield, Leeds and York come together to celebrate the people, places and every little thing that make these three cities what they are. Ewan manages the Sheffield team. Ewan was also lucky enough to be selected to present the national Student Radio Chart show, networked to all student radio stations across the UK, in December.
Jan 2018 to present: Journalist at RightsInfo
Ewan writes human rights news and features for RightsInfo, an interactive digital publication and charity with an aim of making human rights rights more accessible, creative and engaging. His work thus far has covered the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympics, an exclusive interview feature with Erasmus students on their precarious position amid Brexit negotiations, a landmark review to the Mental Health Act, and explainers on Universal Credit and a new Education Secretary. Ewan also works freelance as a presenter for RightsInfo’s social media and online videos and documentaries.
Summer 2018: Work experience placement at BBC Radio Sheffield, working with the newsdesk including the BBC News online team, newsreaders, the political correspondent and the news editors. Ewan also worked with the mid-morning production team and went out on several stories with the live reporter for breakfast and mid-morning shows.
Summer 2018: Work experience placement at The Daily/Sunday Telegraph. Ewan worked with correspondents in education, social and religious affairs, defence/security and technology. Writing stories every day and interviewing people from the United States to France, Ewan worked closely with the day, evening and weekend news editors to produce multiple reports, which he will continue doing.
Feb 2018 to present: Online News Editor at Forge Press
I Manage a team of news reporters and work with several other news and copy editors
– Manage the news output on the Forge Press social media channels and develop strategies for growth so we reach a wider audience, in harmony with my role to ensure Forge Press reports news in innovative, creative and engaging ways online
– Edit print pieces for the online format and publish them, as well as sourcing unique online content from contributors and finding and finding and reporting on key online stories myself
– Responsible for important editorial decisions regarding online and breaking news.
October 2017 to present: Volunteer at The People’s Politics, a student-lead initiative which sees several politics students at The University of Sheffield go into local primary and secondary schools in the Sheffield area, running classroom sessions to engage, inspire and educate young people on politics. There is particular emphasis on strong interpersonal and communication skills here with the groups we teach being at very different levels.
September 2017 to present: Columnist at Forge Press, The University of Sheffield’s popular student newspaper.
August 2016 to present: Blogger at the Huffington Post, contributing to the blogging platform whenever I can with different slants on politics, society and mental health.
Visit Ewan’s LinkedIn here for more
Previous experience
June 2016 to September 2018: Freelance reporter at the North Devon Gazette, an award-winning local newspaper. This sees Ewan get to the heart of his local community, and he has had numerous bylines and a front page in this newspaper.
Summer 2018: Newsreader at The Voice FM, North Devon’s popular and growing commercial radio station. Ewan reads the local news bulletins following the Sky News national bulletin at the top of the hour on the breakfast show (8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm). This involves sourcing, researching, writing and reporting on all the stories he reads.
December 2017 to February 2018: Writer at The Tab, working in a small team of students at The University of Sheffield to produce popular, engaging and lively news and features to an audience of around 100,000 people a month.
Easter 2017: Work experience with CNN International in London, working alongside different elements of the operation including Newsdesk, Digital, Editing, Planning and the production team for Hala Gorani’s flagship show ‘The World Right Now’.
April 2016 to April 2017: Communications Officer for Petroc Student Union (PSU), a role in which Ewan was a leading part of a student executive committee representing thousands of students at a large sixth form college.
- Ewan was democratically elected by hundreds of students into this role and used this mandate to initiate powerful and far-reaching change within the college
- He did this through campaigning proactively for better social and study facilities, including organising many individual meetings with members of the senior management team of the college
- Ewan also worked with other members of the executive committee in developing new strategies to communicate with the students they represented, leading the way in publicising major events such as voter registration workshops for students.
- A key legacy of Ewan’s efforts was a PSU website established and developed by him to the point where it was reaching thousands of students
August 2016: Work experience at BBC Radio 4 World At One programme, shadowing presenter Shaun Ley and his production team as they create a 45 minute flagship current affairs programme from scratch, working alongside Shaun in writing scripts, and in the gallery with the Studio Director during the show. Shaun also gave Ewan a tour of the BBC’s news operation, where he met and chatted to News Channel presenters Jane Hill and Nicholas Owen.
August 2016: Work experience with CNN International PR team in London, exploring how they publicise CNN content and arrange for CNN journalists to appear in interviews, conferences etc.
Summer 2016: Work experience at Turner Broadcasting System, working across the operation from Technology & Operations, compliance, channel scheduling and presentation and dubbing guidelines with brands such as Cartoon Network (CN), Boomerang, Turner Classic Movies and TrueTV.
July 2016: Broadcast journalist role with popular and growing local radio station The Voice. Ewan produced a feature audio report about a local festival which was played on the hourly news bulletins across several days.
Feb, July 2016: Work experience at ITV Westcountry News, shadowing correspondents as they report in the field and then edit the rushes together into packages for broadcast.
October 2015 to March 2017: Head of News and Social Media at popular student radio station Fresh FM, which saw Ewan write and present news bulletins on a daily basis and make daily editorial and stylistic decisions on which local and national/international stories to include in bulletins. Ewan also ran all of Fresh FM’s social media coverage on Facebook and Twitter.
October 2015 to March 2017: Presenter at popular student radio station Fresh FM, initially presenting a Friday lunchtime show with engaging content including interviews, games and chart round-ups. He then moved to the Breakfast Show, listened to by thousands of students every day.
October 2015 to October 2016: Blogger at student website The Indiependent. Ewan produced numerous comment and analysis pieces focusing on political themes, including a detailed analysis feature during the challenge to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and an obituary to the late MP Jo Cox.
Feb 2014, July 2015, July 2016: Work experience at the North Devon Gazette, an award-winning local newspaper, an ongoing experience that saw Ewan investigating and writing reports for print and online, and developing a close relationship with the Editor to learn extensive about the editorial process. On his four placements with the Gazette, Ewan has learned about InDesign, sat in editorial meetings, experienced breaking news with a local earthquake, and has attended court sessions as a reporter.
March 2014: Intern at North Devon Moving Image, which involved Ewan planning, co-producing and co-directing a short film about a local radio station.
