Newsround marked its 50th anniversary today… and Aberdeen broadcaster Jenny Lawrence was at the heart of the celebrations, presenting the milestone morning bulletin for the BBC’s children’s news programme.
“It will take me a while to come back down to Earth after doing that because, to be completely honest, I never once imagined I would present this show when I was at home in Aberdeen,” said Jenny, who has been with Newsround for 10 years.
“I always watched Newsround – the presenters I watched were Ellie and Lizo – and I never thought I would be a presenter on TV. So I’m still processing this morning, but it was such an honour to be there and be part of this incredible legacy.”
Newsround was first presented by John Craven on April 4 1972 as a six-week experiment on BBC One and is the world’s longest-running children’s news programme, now on CBBC.
It has reported on some of the biggest stories of the past half-century and launched the careers of some of the UK’s most illustrious journalists, including Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Jenny Lawrence proud to fly the flag for Aberdeen in Newsround
Jenny, who describes herself as a proud Aberdonian through and through, said she was delighted to fly the flag for the north-east in this morning’s 50th anniversary Newsround bulletin, which she presented with colleague Ricky Boleto.
She started with Newsround after finishing university a decade ago. Her first job was a runner – “scrolling the autocue basically” – before becoming a researcher, then assistant producer, then presenting the show for the past eight years.
“It has taken me all around the world,” said Jenny, who went to St Margaret’s School For Girls in the Granite City.
“I covered stories about elephants and the ivory trade in South Africa and broadcast live from Johannesburg. I covered the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 at the Bataclan and also the Manchester Arena attack.
“I was the first journalist to interview Tim Peake when he returned from space, with a group of children who asked all sorts of brilliant questions, like how do you use the toilet in space and are aliens real?”
Jenny has also reported on the house with the most Christmas decorations in the UK, been gunged as part of a world-record attempt, played bubble football and followed the home nations in the Euros – in the year Scotland didn’t qualify.
“I thought it was some kind of cruel joke to send a Scottish reporter in the year everyone made it except Scotland,” she joked.
Jenny’s first news job was delivering the P&J and Evening Express
It’s all a far cry from her first brush with journalism – as a paper girl.
“That was my first job in Midstocket, I used to deliver the P&J, the Evening Express and the People’s Friend… so my first job was in news in Aberdeen,” said Jenny, laughing, adding she even appeared in the P&J when she was a young girl for winning a poetry recital contest.
However, Jenny says many of the skills she needs for her job reporting the news for children were honed at Aberdeen Arts Centre and with Aberdeen Youth Music Theatre
“I was an assistant to Annie Ingles at the arts centre and used to run drama workshops for children,” she said, adding this fostered her love of working with kids.
“A big part of my presentation skills come from Aberdeen Youth Music Theatre, I was very much a big part of the amateur dramatic scene, which was brilliant in terms of building up confidence and being part of what was going on in Aberdeen.
“I remember being part of a protest to keep the Tivoli Theatre open – dressed as the Ghost Of Christmas Past in an AYMTY production of Scrooge. I saw AYMT just put on 9 To 5 there, so I’m glad my initial interest in keeping The Tivoli alive has worked out well.”
She is still close friends with fellow AYMT graduate Amy Lennox, who recently landed the role of Sally Bowles in the acclaimed West End production of Cabaret.
“She lived a few streets away from me. It was Amy who told me about the paper round and I used to borrow her bike to do it.”
Newsround more important than ever before for children
Jenny loves her work with Newsround and says the programme is more important for children now than ever before.
“In the current climate that we are in, with so much fake news, with so much that is on social media that isn’t verified, with TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, children need to have a source they can go to that they can trust, that tells them what is happening in the world in a way that is measured,” she said.
Just two weeks ago Jenny was in Poland reporting on the plight of child Ukrainian refugees, with a return trip planned in the next couple of weeks as part of Newsround’s mission to report on vital issues in a way that is appropriate for its young audience.
“One of the ways we can do that is by speaking to other children who are going through those stories,” said Jenny.
“In Poland, we spoke to children about everyday things like the fact that a week before they had been doing their homework, then all of a sudden they had to pack up all their belongings and travel across Europe to different countries and spend days doing that.
“It’s things like that we can do as a specialist news service to tell children in the UK what’s going on in a way that’s reassuring and appropriate and, where possible, reflects their own lives or relate to it in some way.
Vital children have a safe, reliable source of truth in news
“That’s so important and there’s no one else who does it quite like Newsround. Especially just now with the global pandemic, the climate crisis and the war in Europe, children need a source like this and I’m so proud of what Newsround is doing.”
Jenny – the proud mum of two wee girls – has no doubt her own daughters will watch Newsround and the service will be around for another 50 years.
“And then some… it’s such an important service and such a brilliant place to work,” said Jenny.
“I’m so glad – for my own children – that there is something like this, somewhere they can go for safe, reliable truth in the news.”