Column: Reflection with Canon Hilary Barber - Being in the shoes of someone else

​In church speak we call this incarnational theology! I’ve had the chance to shadow some interesting people and organisations: West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Fire Service, the Manager of the Halifax Bank, Lord David Shutt and Holly Lynch MP, Smartmove the Homeless charity, the Chief Constable, to name but a few. This year I’ve focused on media and communications. I spent my first week shadowing Ian White, the senior presenter of ITV’s Caldendar News. The day began at 9.15am as the whole team met to discuss the news that had come in overnight and what had already been planned. Reporters were sent out to interview key people and situations, whilst editors and producers worked on the programmes for transmission throughout the day. Caldendar covers both North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They can’t provide two live programmes side by side, so one of these is pre-recorded just before the live programme goes out. I had a go at reading the news with an autocue, and telling the weather – that was the most challenging aspect of the day, which is timed to the very last second and not being scripted, and having an ear piece with someone counting down the seconds to the end of your slot! In the quieter moment of the day Ian was able to take me into the archives and around the Emmerdale Studios! The day ended after the six o’clock news with an appraisal of the day. The big news story was Grimsby Town beating Southampton in the FA cup, with Chris Dawkes, the sports reporter in Southampton for the game interviewing fans and players, to then spend much of the night editing the footage to then drive back to Leeds and present it on the evening show.

The second week was spent with the communications team of the Anglican Diocese of Leeds. They support over 600 churches across the area, and the bishops and the cathedrals. The Diocesan website provides essential resources for all churches, with more and more social and digital media alongside the website. The Diocesan Bishop of Leeds sits in the Lords and the team provide him with much support and advice. The day was spent preparing for the announcement of the new bishop of Huddersfield which was going to take place the following day from 10 Downing Street. The plan was for the new bishop to come to Huddersfield University as the announcement was made, and then a tight schedule to Halifax Minster, the Piece Hall, and a school visit in Dewsbury.

The third week I spent time with Andrew Edwards at BBC Radio Leeds. Andrew presents the breakfast show on a Saturday and Sunday morning, I attended the preparation session on Friday afternoon as plans for the weekend were being finalised. News stories and information is shared nationally across the whole network, often as fillers in a potential gap, but also sometimes if it’s a national or international story being told within the regions. We all see the BBC in television and radio, and now the push is to connect up with the digital network, and to blend all three into one – sounds very trinitarian! My final day will be with communications team at NHS HQ for the north in Leeds.