A Spotlight on Charlene White

ITV News Anchor Charlene White talks to us about her career, rising above harsh comments and talking about her passion for bringing in the next generation of broadcast journalists

She became the first black woman to host news on 10 in 2014, and was one of the youngest presenters ever when she joined the news station in 2008.

However, Charlene White is not satisfied with breaking new ground through her accomplishments. She rewards it forward. The South London-born broadcaster helped establish a “intrusion into the news” scheme, an eighth year competition to welcome recipients to ITV newsrooms across the country, regardless of age, financial status, education level or cultural background. Media Trust and ITV products are invading the news, part of White’s professional life since the first year, and she and ITV London’s Ria Chatterjee are working hard to secure a diverse and diverse pool of candidates in 2019.

We caught up with Charlene White at the ITN building in London. There she spoke to us about the impact of being a national broadcaster, the process of changing her hairstyle, and acknowledging the impact of the newsroom. need Expand their employment pool.

I first realized that I was doing something important a year before it started with ITV.

After first offering my shift on the afternoon news, a woman rang out to complain that I was on TV. Her words were: “Has the BBC ran out of white presenters? Why is this woman on my TV?” She said she thought it was “unfortunate” that the BBC was hiring “presenters where English wasn’t their primary language.” When I heard it, I felt it was absolutely hilarious! He said it was shocking that no one would think it would happen. It was unusual for viewers in that part of the UK to see me making the news at that point, so I was hoping for it. I think it was when I realized I was making an impact. In my mind, this is a new world order. They don’t particularly like my skin tone so no one is going to stop me from doing my job. It’s always good to ruffle some wings.

“They don’t particularly like my skin tone so no one is going to stop me from doing my job.”

It was really tough to adapt to the greater visibility that comes with working on national television.

The types of emails and messages you receive… I remember in my late 20s and receiving an email from a guy with the subject line: “Your weight.” “You can’t fail to recognize that it’s bigger than other news presenters. Don’t you think you should do something about it?” It’s an example of the message you sometimes receive from a small section of viewers who feel you’re entitled to say such things because you’re not human because you work on television. And it was really, really hurting and upsetting me. But you grow older. Once you reach your 30s, life doesn’t seem that bad. You are much more confident in yourself. I love my job, I’m good at what I do, and I can still work regardless of size, skin color, hair, etc.

When I was a child, there wasn’t much expression as much as I would have today.

But I came from the time of Moira [Stewart] and Trevor [McDonald]! I didn’t necessarily have the idea that just because there weren’t a lot of other people doing it on TV, I couldn’t do it. Because I was raised in a family that believed it had nothing to do with what your skin color was. My parents taught us to be pioneers. And I am an immigrant child. They worked hard to get to where they did. They had three children to school and worked for five or six people. There was no chance we wouldn’t succeed. Because you can’t do your parents work hard and invest so much in your kids.

Intruding into the news race is a great way to gain new talent at the door.

Many people are talking good about wanting to reflect the audience we serve in the industry, but they don’t do anything about it. But we are actively there for Media Trust and ITV to find new talent, develop their ideas and bring them to that incredible, creative space. Many of the young people we have worked with are currently working in ITV newsrooms across the country. I’ve still been in touch with my mentee since that first year and he’s been doing incredibly well. Every newsroom in this country is responsible for going out and finding and cultivating new talent. Because if we don’t, it’s a disadvantage to our industry.

When you want to change your hair, there’s no big debate about it.

If I want to be blonde, I want to be blonde. I went through the lady phase and it got so dark, I have bangs, but now it’s natural. Two years later I was able to decide to change it again – I was able to change it next week. I don’t know what other companies look like, but I work for ITV News. No one had a conversation about my hair. I know what it looks like when I go to TV. You need to look professional. It should look authority. And you need to be able to convey a really difficult message to people. That’s my daily job. So I know that I have to look at it in a certain way. My boss trusts my judgment.

I like about my job for the same reason that I decided to enter it at age 16. I love talking to people.

I love telling stories to people. When I first started there was no internet. The only way to know what else was going on in the world was to listen to the news on the radio, watch the news on TV, or pick up the newspaper. And I wanted to be a conduit between telling people about something in the world and what it was going on. Every story is important and I think I’m doing the best job in the world. I can draw those stories from people.

News intrusion is a competition run by a media trust. Keep an eye out for more information on how to participate in the Breaking Into News 2020 contest on ITV.com or for more information on how to search for “Breaking Into News.”

Like I told Nicole Vassel