Emma Clifford Bell

We have alumni all over the world who have gone on to achieve great things. From a New York Times bestselling author to a Scottish international rugby star, they inspire future generations every day.

Today, we spotlight Emma Clifford Bell, Cost-of-Living Producer at the BBC.

When Emma finished her Politics, Journalism and Creative Writing degree at Strathclyde University, she had her mind set on postgraduate education.

Emma studied an MA Multimedia Journalism degree with the National Council for the Training of Journalist’s Diversity Fund, which provides bursaries to get underrepresented groups in journalism into accredited courses.

She was no stranger to the newsroom, spending five years hosting the Current Affairs programme at the Sunny Govan radio station where she did monthly interviews with local MSP Nicola Sturgeon.

At GCU, she moved beyond the radio and learned to craft articles and news bulletins. The degree provided Emma with an “eye opening experience” and “welcome challenge” which prepared her for an exciting career at BBC Scotland.

“I worked as a community reporter for the Clydebank Post with a few shifts at BBC Radio Scotland. I moved into the news side of things and then I got a job on The Nine,” Emma said.

“I was the producer for the Chief News Correspondent James Cook and we went to America, Norway, France, Germany, Iceland and all over the UK covering a variety of topics.

“I’ve been lucky to see so many places, but my favourite project has to be Our Lives, a BBC special report where journalists visited their hometowns to report on how their communities had been affected by lockdown.

“I returned to Drumchapel and I got featured on the BBC News at 10. I’m proud of where I came from, I think we need to be reflecting Scotland back on itself more.”

Emma remains as ambitious to tell stories as the day she arrived at GCU, balancing her journalist role with being a mum and being a mentor for GCU students through our (MINT) Mentoring, Internships, Networking and Talks program.

“Now I work as a producer and journalist mostly focusing on the cost-of-living crisis,” she said.

“Sometimes I appear on air and other times I help reporters tell the story. I have a real passion for finding diverse voices and getting people on the telly that we don’t see enough.”