This is the sixteenth in a series of interviews exploring the career and life journey of women in the media industry. The aim of the series is to reflect on the wisdom they have gained during their journey.
So far we have had a cross section of women in different roles and career stages, from the first feature with Lauren Joyce to the most recent articles on Justine Kelly, Lizzie Young, Archana Kapoor and Millie Starling. All the past features are listed below.
This week we profile, Emma Lawson who began her career in radio, reading the news, moved to Northern Ireland for a BBC internship and later learnt the video editing skills which she leveraged in her next positions. She now works in the national broadcaster’s Screen Social and Digital Team.
Describe your current professional life and your stage of life.
I’m a Platform Specialist in the ABC’s Screen Social and Digital team, where I get to work with teams like Media Watch, Gardening Australia and Indigenous.
I love helping these teams shape their social strategies, reach new audiences, and experiment with new formats like memes and vertical video to see what really connects. I love using data to really nail what audiences want and making sure that’s what the ABC keeps making.
2. How did you come to be in this industry?
I always assumed my career was going to be in radio (my first two jobs were reading the news for local radio stations), but through a series of accidents/moves/travels it has ended up largely in digital video and social media.
I’ve never had one direct vision or plan for where I wanted to end up. I’ve always followed where the job takes me, which incidentally has now taken me to hours of TikTok creation and of course watching.
3. What are your core beliefs? How are your values evident in the work you do or the life you lead?
Work/content making should be exciting for you and your team! If you’re not inspired by what you’re creating how will your audience be inspired?
4. How did your education, formal and informal, enrich your career/ life journey?
The very overused and truthful statement ‘you learn the most on the job’ is sadly (because of HECS debt) very true. While my journalism degree gave me great skills and the basics in journalism, the technical skills of editing and data analysis have all been learnt from great managers and peers. That’s why I really believe in giving back to younger and emerging staff, we’re all part of the same learning loop.
I have been so lucky to have fantastic managers my entire career who have really nurtured my creativity and encouraged me to take on projects that truly inspire me.
5. What are some of your key decision change points and how did they shape your career/ life journey?
After working a couple of years in regional radio I made the decision to move to the UK for an internship with the BBC in Northern Ireland. While my wild 24-year-old ego thought it would launch a lucrative career in radio, it in fact did not. Instead, I spent eight months living on my friend’s couch in London, working in a bar earning six pounds an hour, and living on spaghetti with olive oil and salt.
While sending off countless journalism applications, I leaped at the chance of a street flyer job for a local radio station in Leeds, thinking it was an opportunity to get me closer to my goal of being back in radio. The risk paid off, and I met a great friend who helped me land internships that turned into TV jobs, where I learned to edit on Premiere Pro. Those experiences shaped the foundation for my work.
Then I returned to Australia and joined SBS, marking the start of my digital video career.
It taught me that career paths are rarely linear and that sometimes the best turns are the unexpected ones.
6. What makes you happy? What makes you get up in the morning?
Collaborating with fantastic people to create content that makes us laugh — and hopefully our audience too.
7. Share your words of wisdom for others in the industry or those wishing to work in the industry?
Like I said, career paths rarely follow a straight line. You don’t have to have one fixed vision, take the opportunities that come your way. You never know who you’ll meet or what lessons each experience will bring.
8. Describe your vision for the audio media industry in the near future.
The digital world is where visual and audio content are coming together, and it’s an exciting space for content makers. When you know the platform, whether that’s YouTube or TikTok, and understand your audience, you’ll be able to give them the best content they deserve.
9. What role would you like to play in shaping the audio industry of the future?
I hope to inspire audio content creators to embrace video and its platforms, empowering them to deliver content that audiences want, in formats that resonate, particularly for younger audiences.
Series compiled by Serena Ahern for radioinfo.
If you have a suggestion for someone to be considered for this series, please send a note to [email protected]
Previous articles in this series:
Wisdom of Women in Media: Millie Starling, Content Director & EP, SAFM
Wisdom of Women in Media: Archana Kapoor founder Radio Mewat
Wisdom of Women in Media: Justine Kelly, Manager Audio Output & Strategy, ABC International
Wisdom of Women in Media: Manpreet Kaur Singh, SBS Audio Program Manager
Wisdom of Women in Media: Cheryl Lee Co Founder and Manager Rebel Radio Network
Wisdom of Women in Media: Rebecca Ackland Chief People & Culture Officer SCA
Wisdom of Women in Media: Helen Tzarimas News Reader and Journalist Gold 101.7
Wisdom of Women in Media: Amanda Lee, Head of HIT Metro Content/Fox FM Content Director
Wisdom of Women in Media: Kim Napier, Breakfast Presenter ABC Northern Tasmania
Wisdom of Women in Media: Megan Smith, Senior Producer Gold 101.7
Wisdom of Women in Media: Laura Bouchet, Content Director Triple M
Wisdom of Women in Media: Lauren Joyce, Chief Audience & Content Officer ARN