Media Matters: Jessica Rouse, 2HD, NewFM

In our regular Peak Presenting blog our media training workshop facilitator Craig Eardley caught up with radio news director and print media journalist Jessica Rouse.

Jessica is the news director at Newcastle and Hunter radio stations 2HD and NewFM. She is also a contributor to @ The Coalface magazine.

Your media career to date?

I have loved every minute of my career to date. I started volunteering at the University of Newcastle community radio station 2NURFM while I was still completing my Bachelor of Communication. When I graduated at the end of 2016 I was offered a 12-month paid contract in the 2NURFM newsroom as second in charge.

As my contract was coming to an end I was offered a job as the local news journalist at PowerFM and 2NM in Muswellbrook. The job also involved hosting a morning program on 2NM called Hunter Valley Today.

In July 2021 I was offered the role of News Director at NewFM and 2HD in Newcastle. While I was working in Muswellbrook I'd started contributing news stories to a local magazine called @ The Coalface for which I still write several articles each month. 

Your most memorable story?

My most memorable story is one that will stay with me forever and still makes me cry to this day.

In 2019 NSW was battling the toughest and driest drought in more than 120 years. Living in Muswellbrook and driving through the Upper Hunter every day I could SEE the drought and hosting a radio show meant that I was starting to hear about it too.

One morning I had a phone call from a woman by the name of Jacqui. Jacqui and her husband lived on a property at Bunnan and they were doing it tough. After next to no rain their cattle were suffering and by extension so were they - stretched thin with barely any income. Jacqui invited me out to her home to see what they were going through first hand.

It was a huge eye opener. That’s when I decided that I needed to use the position I was in, with the privilege of having a voice on the airwaves, to share with everyone just how much their community was suffering. 

I ended up creating a video and interview series called Face of the Farmers with one of the announcers Archie. We went out to five farmers’ properties and Archie filmed me interviewing them about their farming lives and just how much they were struggling. The audio of the interview ran on air during my morning show on 2NM.

I remember standing in a dirt paddock with Jacqui and Jason balling my eyes out. I had never seen people so strong lose control of their emotions and feel like they couldn’t go on anymore. The video series was incredible and it ended up catching the attention of the highest rating Sydney jock at the time Allan Jones who interviewed me every week for a couple of months for an update on drought conditions in the Hunter. 

It was an incredible experience and the stories of the farmers I interviewed will stay with me forever. I feel like I really shone a light on their plight and was able to get their story out to people far and wide.

I think my next most memorable after that will be the Greta bus tragedy in June 2023. I have never experienced mass grief like it, I have never been so emotionally connected to a story either. It’s not something I’ll forget any time soon. 

What makes a good news story?

The human element, the person. 

What is one thing people should avoid doing when working with the media?

The thing I think people should avoid is pestering a journalist. If we don’t seem interested from the first conversation either by phone or email, chances are we aren’t going to cover it. The more you pester us the more likely we definitely won’t cover it!

Be smart when you’re pitching an idea - include that human element or tell me why someone listening would be interested. 

Also, if you ring me, always say hello, how are you? One of my biggest pet peeves is a PR person calling the newsroom and diving straight into the reason they’re calling without caring about how I’m doing!

Your top tip for people to gain media coverage?

Tell me why someone listening in the Hunter would care. If it doesn’t impact them or it doesn’t evoke some kind of emotion in them chances are they won’t listen. So if you can give me a story that does evoke something in the listener I’ll cover it. 

I enjoy that personal connection with a story and I think the listeners do as well. 

What is your top tip for presenting well?

My top tip is to be natural. While reading a news bulletin is a serious business, I do think there is always the opportunity to add some colour. It might be some sarcasm in a story, it might be laughing a word or even just the light and shade of your voice from story to story. 

The news is a serious job, but I think adding a touch of your personality into it makes it much more interesting for the listener and also more relatable. 

How do you relax outside of work?

Crossfit and cooking! I spent at least an hour every weekday exercising at Crossfit. I love it. It is a mental break where I don’t think about work or look at my phone. I just relax and empty my head. 

I love cooking too. I meal prep all of the time, cook my own snacks and love cooking for my loved ones too. 

You can connect with Jessica via LinkedIn. Send news tips to jess@newfm.com.au or news@2hd.com.au