Nicole Young

My name is Nicole Young, I live in New York City and am now a producer at 60 Minutes, on CBS. I studied MA International Journalism at City, graduating in 2003. I applied to City because I was in a job at the time in New York I did not really like. One day I literally googled, ‘the best journalism programme in the UK,’ and City University came up…

What are your stand out memories of studying at City?

The course was fulfilling because I was genuinely getting the most wonderfully international perspective of journalism I could get. There were so many diverse students from so many different places and countries. I was having conversations with people in ways I never had and I really think that changed how I thought about journalism, particularly covering international stories.

I learnt the art of journalism, directly after 9/11, in a multicultural and nurturing environment. I felt like I was embarking on the most important move in my life… and I was!

Where has the knowledge you gained at City taken you in your life and career?

I have used what I learned at City University and turned it into my dream career, reporting on stories and topics of substance that influence change and force people to take notice. It’s a great privilege to be a producer at 60 Minutes.

The most rewarding experience is when you know your story has affected change or has affected people in a certain way. We do not do stories for fundraising. That is not our goal, but we try to tell as fair and as balanced a story as we can. We let the audience decide if they want to react to it. When the audience reacts in the right way, it is humbling. That is the whole point of why you go out there and risk your life.

I have now won 11 Emmys among other awards. I used to say, ‘I was really lucky’ a lot, but I’m actually not allowed to say that anymore… I got lucky once, when I was first offered a position as an assistant to an up and coming correspondent named Scott Pelley, everything after that, I made for myself.

Do you have any memories of City that you would like to share?

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