Career Heroes - Ben Tinman

Tell us more about you

I enjoy all sports, and support Manchester United, and Ulster and Ireland rugby. In the past year, I’ve started learning French again, having not studied it since school. I’ve also recently taken up running and have done the past two Belfast Marathons. I’ve also signed up for the London Marathon in April 2023.

What kind of work do you do?

My role is Production Specialist working in UTV. It’s a multi-skilled role; one day I could be operating a camera and the next day working on the sound desk, or managing the ‘traffic’ desk, which means organising all incoming and outgoing information and pictures and recordings from the building. I also archive news and programmes for future use. I frequently direct the evening news live or direct pre-recorded programmes such as UTV Life or View From Stormont.

My working hours can vary. Some weeks I start at 5am working on the morning news and some days I work on the late news at 10.30pm. I also work one weekend every month.

Primarily I direct the news. Every day is different depending on the news agenda that day. I first look at the running order for the day to see what stories journalists are out working on and where we may be coming live from. I meet with news producers to confirm plans for the news. Due to the fast nature of breaking news we may meet several times during the day, as running orders can change frequently.

Once the news agenda is set I meet with reporters to find out what their stories are, and if there’s anything I need to know from a production point of view. I also think of studio requirements and how we can make the best news show possible.

Frequently mornings are spent training less experienced members of staff. I’m also constantly learning in the role as new technologies are introduced, and have very recently begun learning about the sound desk in UTV.

During programme days, we may film special programmes in the studio, on a wide range of topics including current affairs, politics, and entertainment shows.

I also get to create graphics for plasmas to add unique elements to the show, and I need to check all graphics for spelling and grammatical errors. Once rehearsals are done, then we go live on air!

How did you become a Production Specialist?

I studied at Wellington College Belfast and did Politics, Maths, and IT at A Level. I then went to Queen’s University and studied Business and Information Technology. After that, I gained a diploma in Media Techniques: Journalism and Radio at BBC Northern Ireland.

During my time at Queen’s University, I did a placement as an Archives Assistant at UTV. After graduating, I did a number of different jobs in IT and Project Management before completing the media course at BBC Northern Ireland. I then worked in the BBC on various contracts over a two-year period as an Archivist in the BBC Community Archive, and then in their Digital Knowledge and Learning Department. I then took two years out of media and worked for a charity, in both fundraising and managing their IT systems.

In February 2014, I re-joined UTV as an Archivist, becoming UTV’s first Production Specialist in January 2017, when ITV bought the company. Since then, I’ve developed my skills over a number of years in my current role.

If you could do-over, What would you do differently?

I would probably study a degree more related to my job. When I was at school and in the early stages of university, I never imagined I would want to work in media. I completely fell into the industry and haven’t looked back.

I would also be more confident in my own ability.  When I started working in UTV I was worried about operating the autocue – one of our easiest roles. I would never have imagined I would direct live TV.

There are all kinds of ways to get into TV production nowadays and the ITV Careers page has lots of options: www.itvjobs.com.