About me

Hello, I’m Charlie Williams. I am currently studying for my Masters in Broadcast Journalism at City, University of London (due to finish in July 2025).  Before starting my MA I completed a BSc in Politics, also at City.  I am very interested in becoming a producer on a political programme.  I am a wheelchair user with Cerebral Palsy, which affects my speech, therefore I do not see myself in front of a camera or microphone… but never say never. 

How do news programmes find case studies? How do they decide where the news is broadcast from? Who decides who is presenting that news? Since an early age I have been very interested in the mechanics of how a news programme is made. 

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On my MA course I am working on a three-week rotation of Digital, TV, and Radio. We are lucky enough to be taught by the best in the business, many of whom are still working in the industry and some whom have long experience in teaching journalism. I am absolutely loving the course and I can't wait to get going in a real newsroom.

 

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I remember watching a programme on television, fronted by Nick Robinson, about how the 2010 Coalition Government was formed. I found it absolutely fascinating, and from that point I was hooked on politics. I was thirteen then, and although I was very interested in the goings on at Westminster, I did not for one second think about a career in that world. I don't know why this was, but it may be down to my disability.  I have Athetoid Cerebral Palsy (CP), this means that my body does not behave in a "normal" way. My brain may want my body to work normally but the connections between my brain and my limbs are not the best, to say the least. I am determined not to let my CP get in the way of my dreams, but neither do I want to pretend that it isn't there.

 

Prior to completing my undergraduate degree in politics, I was quite involved in sport and in particular disability youth sport. From wheelchair rugby to table cricket, I spent most of my teenage years participating in sport.  I was proud to sit on the Youth Board of the Youth Sport Trust (YST).  This board plays an advisory role to the main YST Board of Trustees.  My role was to focus on disability sport and the inclusion of everyone in physical activity.  In February 2020 I was honoured to be asked to give the opening address to the YST National Conference in Coventry with one of my fellow Youth Board members. In my address I spoke about the power of sport, and the confidence sport gives you.  This gave me a real appetite for public speaking.  I believe that sport is a great springboard to go on and conquer other avenues, and that is exactly what I'm doing.     

I love all kinds of music, especially live music.  I am as happy at a BBC Prom listening to Mozart or William Byrd as I am at a stadium listening to The Killers or Muse.