HAVING A BABY WAS A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
Virgin Media’s new News at 7 anchor is Caroline Twohig, but as a mother, her world has changed, she tells
AFTER 17 years of working the newsroom and quietly manoeuvring her way in front of the camera, newshound Caroline Twohig is positioned to take up her role front and centre as Virgin Media’s News at 7 anchor.
Dubliner Caroline saw her future in the news from the moment she took her first tentative steps into the bustling newsroom in what was then TV3. Now, 17 years after starting her career as a runner, Caroline’s slow jog to becoming a news presenter has paid dividends as she prepares to step into the role of prime time newsreader.
‘I’m here [in TV3, now Virgin Media] 17 years. I can’t believe it myself. I started just after college. When I started here I took a position as a runner. This was after getting a degree and thinking “I’m going to go into media and do great things.” So I took a job as a runner because that’s what you had to do. So I walked into the newsroom 17 years ago and I just loved it instantly. There was such a buzz, the phones were going constantly, it was really loud and noisy, people were shouting over each other, it was just alight with energy and activity and I just loved it,’ 38-year-old Caroline recalls.
‘I worked my way up into a couple of different positions. Nearly every two years I’ve had a new position within here.
‘I was seriously anxious about coming back to work’
‘I’m a bit of a slow burner. I’ve been working my way up and I’ve been on air for about ten years and people wouldn’t be quick to recognise me. But I really love what I’m doing, so that’s OK.’
The main news slot on Virgin Media One is moving to a new, earlier time of 7pm because of schedule changes to the soaps, Emmerdale and EastEnders.
But the revamp has given Caroline an opportunity she scarcely dreamed of. Yet this modest face of television news says she is all too aware that her role is to deliver the news, not be the story herself. ‘I wanted to be in news but I never set out to be on TV. ‘ she says. ‘I’m on screen ten years now and it took at least five to get comfortable.’
Caroline began her life in news behind the scenes, starting as a researcher for Ireland AM.
‘I kept going for the newsy items, where other people would be going for fashion or lifestyle, I was just drawn towards the news items. Then after about two years I did a documentary for TV3 in the women’s prison called The Joy. Through various contacts I had made over the years I managed to get a camera crew in there for a week and I did a documentary on what it was like actually inside the prison. That’s when the news department started to notice me.’
It brought her into the news department, where she has been for the last 10 years, working her way up the ranks.
‘I went for a gig called FYI as the main anchor, I was 25 at the time and I didn’t think I’d get the job as the main anchor, but I got it. I did that for years and I absolutely loved it. It was geared towards a younger audience. It was a lighter take on news and great experience for me.’
After that, she joined the rota of reporters, covering the news of the day.
‘Since then I’ve gone off and got married and had a baby and I’m only back now,’ says Caroline. ‘I want to work in this industry for the rest of my working days. That doesn’t mean I want to be a big star. I would rather longevity over being a bright burning star. I want to keep telling the stories and doing what I’m doing. At the moment it’s really bloody important just to tell people the news,’ she said.
Caroline, who grew up in north Dublin, had some news of her own recently, having become a first time mum with husband Eoin to baby Seán 15 months ago. Like new mums the world over, Caroline was apprehensive about returning to work. She admits that her nervousness was somewhat compounded by the fact that it coincided with a return to live television, and is very honest about the reality of life for a new mother.
‘The News at 7 is a new gig. I have to say I was seriously anxious about coming back, especially coming back to live telly. I think my confidence was knocked, everything changes when you have a baby.
‘I just wasn’t sure I was able to do the job I used to do. I came back and there was no
pressure put on me. I slowly grasped that “OK I can do this job and be a mammy.” So that gave me a confidence boost. After a few months I went knocking on the boss’s door and said “OK, I’m ready now for something bigger. What have you got?’. So, he said “well... actually”. So, I start next week,’ she says of her new job fronting the main news bulletin.
Caroline is refreshingly candid about her postnatal worries and how having a baby turns a woman’s life upside down.
‘I think I put too much pressure on myself, having the same figure or trying to fit into the same dresses. I was very anxious about that. But then I realised that isn’t the main thing; Covid and the war in Ukraine are the main thing. But I do try and look my best on screen. If you look at yourself and you’re not happy on screen, it does get to you. So I do try to look my best. If you’re in this gig you do have to be confident in your ability to do the job. I am more self-conscious after having Seán. He is just gone one now. He’s brilliant now, he’s a toddler and full of craic. The start was a shock to the system but he’s brilliant now. I had this Instagram perfect vision of what having a baby would be like, going with my little baby to have coffee with my friends. Yet there were some days I didn’t leave the house. It’s just you and this little baby.
‘There were times I didn’t think I could go back out into the world again. I was reading baby books to my little boy, I didn’t think I’d be able to read an autocue again. It was just such a shock to the system.’
With heartrending footage emerging from Ukraine, Caroline says it’s important for her to stay neutral and focused while working. She did become emotional on air once, in 2012 when she reported on the Sandy Hook school shooting.
‘I almost cried on air and I had to take a second. It was the Sandy Hook massacre and my producer said in my ear there was ten seconds to air — then he said there were 27 children killed and I just had that moment where I felt that lump.’
For Caroline, her priority is to be a trusted source of news. Those who rely on social
‘I had an Instagram perfect vision of what having a baby would be like’
media for their current affairs can become victims of ‘fake’ news and propaganda.
But as the headlines move from the pandemic to war, more people of all demographics are tuning into daily and nightly news reports. Caroline is conscious that what she reads must be honest and accurate. ‘I know we are going from one disaster to another, so it’s really important now that you keep people up to date, that’s what it feels like anyway. It’s crazy, we’re watching with our mouths open as well as everyone else, we are just floored.
‘With TV news you know it’s 100 per cent verified. We saw with the pandemic there was a lot of misinformation and confusion. We make sure that everything is checked and verified by multiple sources before we report it on our broadcast news. In the past three years Virgin has become one of the most trusted news brands. It’s huge to be one of the most trusted news brands, to be in people’s living rooms and trusted. We may not always be first with the news but you can be damn sure it’s going to be 100 per cent verified when we report it.’