I remember early in my career people telling me I needed to change my accent, that I needed to sound more professional, more BBC perhaps, but I think if I wasn’t from Middlesbrough I wouldn’t have done as well as I have. Steph McGovern Read Quote
Growing up in Middlesbrough I was taught to be resilient and competitive. My teachers made us believe that just because kids were at private school up the road, it didn’t mean they were better than us. Steph McGovern Read Quote
I have had people come up to me in the street – one woman actually told me she hated my accent, she can’t believe I’m on the telly and my accent is so annoying. I ended up laughing because I thought, ‘this person doesn’t know me but she felt she could come up and slate my accent.’ Steph McGovern Read Quote
I had people who said I was a brilliant producer but I wouldn’t get on the news because I was too northern. But there was no way I was changing my accent – it is the key to my identity. Steph McGovern Read Quote
Despite being a business journalist at the BBC for ten years, working behind the scenes on our high-profile news programmes, I was viewed by some in the organisation to be ‘too common for telly.’ Steph McGovern Read Quote
The most rewarding, insightful and challenging year of my life was my ‘Year in Industry’ working as a trainee engineer at Black & Decker, which involved studying part time at college. Steph McGovern Read Quote
I’ve had tweets questioning whether I really did go to university because surely I would have lost my accent if I did; a letter suggesting, very politely, that I get correction therapy; and an email saying I should get back to my council estate and leave the serious work to the clever folk. Steph McGovern Read Quote
With the ‘Watchdog Army’ we’re putting viewers at the heart of the programme. Steph McGovern Read Quote
