Currently one of the Radio Academy’s 30 under 30, Layla stayed in her home town to study due to working for Liverpool’s local radio station Radio City. She says this was a great decision, especially when she got to cover the 2017 General Election. “Studying Politics at a time when we had two Prime Ministers, an EU referendum and Donald Trump becoming President couldn’t have been better and I was so lucky to have the most brilliant lecturers who helped make sense of it all.”
She made the move to Radio 4 and focused on investigating issues such as knife crime, which meant some weeks she would spend time with gang members, or walking amongst protesters or visiting community centres across the north.
Her focus then turned to presenting and making TV and radio documentaries. In 2020 her BBC Three documentary and Radio 4 podcast series False Hope? Alternative Cancer Cures, a yearlong investigation into the death of a young musician who tried to cure his cancer alternatively, was released. “It made a big impact and within weeks, the government had promised to do more to tackle alternative cancer treatments.”
Layla is helping the next generation of young journalists through the University’s own student radio show The Politics Hour and sits on the advisory board of the John Schofield Trust, a charity which aims to increase diversity in UK newsrooms. She said: “I’m really passionate about supporting the next generation of journalists and inspiring young people who haven’t even considered a career in journalism, to enter the industry.”
False Hope? Alternative Cancer Cures was inspired by her time at the University and is available on iPlayer and BBC Sounds