Broadcaster and journalist Jeanette Kwakye MBE at JournoFest 2026
Broadcaster and journalist Jeanette Kwakye MBE spoke at our 11th annual JournoFest conference at The Exchange in Twickenham.
Every year we host a journalism conference packed with notable journalists from national newspapers and broadcasters and emerging digital platforms. JournoFest brings together trainees and alumni from all our courses including our BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism degree and prospective members of #TeamNA.
Here part-time trainee Esther Bamigboye shares what she learnt.
Jeanette Kwakye MBE spent her early years as a competitive athlete on the world stage. She is a five-time British champion, and in Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman in 24 years to compete in an Olympic 100m final.
After an injury, Kwakye trained for NCTJ qualification at News Associates and worked to successfully switch careers to become a broadcast journalist.
Since competing in the 100m race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she has covered spectacular sporting events, including the World Athletics Championships, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics for the BBC, Sky Sports and Channel 5. She has also presented on shows including The One Show, Radio 5 Live and The Martin Lewis Money Show.
When she studied on a part-time course at News Associates in 2014, she had officially retired from sprinting aged 30.
In her own words, sports journalism was an obvious choice for her as it combined her passion for sport with a sustainable and stable career, unlike being a professional athlete.
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Kwakye said: “I’m here to definitely do things in a different way. It’s always going to be different, and I embrace it.”
In 2021, she was awarded an MBE for for services to sport and sports broadcasting.
Reflecting on her experience as a Black woman in sport, she said she is aware of how crucial her role is in making minorities visible in the industry.
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Kwakye has a unique advantage in the industry interviewing people she has shared lived experiences with.
She also mentioned how critical it is to make sure she is asking questions that allow the best answers.
Kwakye described the NCTJ as a robust and integral qualification, training journalists to understand the ecosystem of British media from a local to national level.
Resilience, discipline, and the ability to take criticism, Kwakye highlighted, are vital to keeping on top of it all.
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Kwakye recounted her shock at making it to the Olympic final, having trained in Walthamstow, to competing against the best in the world.
She has also expressed the challenges of immersing herself in sports journalism, describing it as something she worked hard to earn.
“Making that Olympic final – the 100m is the stuff of dreams. You don’t get that where I’m from,” she said.
See our highlights from previous JournoFest events here.