In episode 160 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Christian Hewgill.
Christian is currently freelance and working for outlets including LBC and TalkSport.
Prior to going freelance, Christian worked at BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat where he worked as a Reporter and Presenter for five years.
Before he got his big break at Radio 1, Christian cut his teeth working for a variety of outlets including BBC Radio Leicester in his hometown, Notts TV and Orion Media.
In this episode we discuss how and why Christian got into broadcast journalism, the mental health difficulty he experienced when he was made redundant from his Newsbeat role and why that role was more than a job for him.
When it comes to issues in the industry, we discuss class, specifically Christian’s working-class background and the all-consuming nature of the UK news cycle.
For Christian’s mental health, he is someone who has lived with anxiety and depression from an early age and often had panic attacks as a child.
Christian comes from a loving and supportive, working-class Leicestershire family but felt huge confusion over his sexuality in his teenage years before coming out as gay.
Before he could do that, Christian was bullied in school for expressing signs of male gender stereotype non-conformity that led his peers to suspect he was gay before he did and he was also bullied for his weight.
Between the ages of 14-20 was the most difficult period of Christian’s mental health and we discuss the impact that this period of poor mental health had on him and why he’s found the positive tools he needed through therapy to deal with it and any other challenge life throws at him.
As always, #itsokaytovent
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