With over 20 years of journalism under her belt, RTÉ’s Eastern Correspondent Samantha Libreri has certainly earned her stripes. The Dublin native talks to Janice Butler about why now is a good time personally and professionally for this new job, and the challenges facing news reporters now.
"I’m literally in the door. I was off doing a story on rollercoasters at Emerald Park: at least this job is varied," laughs news journalist Samantha Libreri when we catch up to talk about her new role as the Eastern Correspondent for RTÉ News. Born and bred on the northside of Dublin, it’s a role Samantha has taken on with great pride.
"It’s a dream job for me because of where it’s based. I’m from Dublin, I grew up in Finglas and I’m still on the northside now. I’ve reported here for 20 odd years so it’s the place I know the best, but also the fact that they’ve expanded the role to Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, which makes a lot of sense because a lot of things that happen in Dublin affect them as well," she says. "Sorry, I’m not used to giving interviews as much as doing them, so be kind to me and if I’m waffling, let me know," she laughs.
"There’s such variety with this job. This week alone, I was doing a Dublin traffic story, then the rollercoaster, the Europa League final and later in the week, the local elections. So, it just has that complete variety, which I love. I love waking up in the morning and not knowing what I’m doing or what way the day will turn. It’s exciting."
Libreri's surname is Maltese. "My great grandfather was from Malta," she explains. She had an interest in news from a young age, growing up in Finglas. Her childhood memories are of going to Shamrock Rovers games with her dad and doing a newspaper route when she was 11. This part-time job sparked a passion for storytelling; that and the fact that she was "incredibly nosey", she laughs.
"I used to deliver the Evening Herald in Finglas. I would read the paper as I was delivering them. The Six O’Clock News would have been a big thing in our house as well. I think I got drawn into the news around then. So, I started writing a story for the local newspaper, the Finglas Forum, and did stuff over the years for RTÉ Young People’s, like Echo Island. I would write in with ideas for reports," she explains.
After school, she just missed out on a journalism course, but that didn’t quell her ambitions. She went on to study English and sociology in UCD and kept her foot in the door with RTÉ as a runner and freelance journalist, while also working as editor of Ireland’s largest student newspaper, UCD’s The University Observer.
In 2005, she was appointed as a full-time journalist for RTÉ News. "I’ve always been on this path and I think it’s because when I was in school, the only thing I was really good at was English, so I would put all my focus on that. I used to write stories and books, but I quickly realised that wasn’t an easy way to make a living," she says.
"I started as a runner when I was 18 and have been in the newsroom for 20 years, so I felt I was ready for change and to do something new," she says of her new role as Eastern Correspondent. "This job came up years ago, but I was a relatively young journalist at the time, I applied for it, but I didn’t get interviewed because I had little experience, so I was hopeful the next time it came up."
Life outside the newsroom in the last 20 years has been busy too. Samantha got married and she and her and husband Niall have two young children, ten and seven. She also wrote her first book, Finglas: A People's Portrait in 2012, which featured photographs by Darren Kinsella. She says that, like her parents, she took a step back workwise when she had her children but now that they’re a bit older, she took the opportunity to look at new challenges in the newsroom.
"This was something I was looking for professionally and personally," she says. "I’ve two young kids who are ten and seven and for the past ten years, I’ve spent a good chunk of that time at home, looking after them because of my shift work. But they’re that bit bigger now and I felt I wanted and could do a bit more.
"It’s a change here at home for us all, having me being that bit busier, so it’s a routine change for us but they are more independent and it’s manageable. I get great help from my parents and even friends and neighbours. But for me, it was about being able to dig my teeth into something that I’m interested in and in an area I’m so interested in."
She remarks that as a young journalist she saw her colleagues managing the balance between homelife and work and it gave her great support. "There’s lots of women doing very busy jobs in RTÉ and it’s been great to talk to them. Even when I was younger, in my 20s, I’d look at other women in the newsroom with kids and very busy jobs and I’d ask them, how do you do it? They’d say, you’ll figure it out and everyone makes it work in their own way. You can’t have it all, but you can try and have some of it and keep the show on the road with family life."
Other mentors Samantha has had along the way include Charlie Bird and Bryan Dobson, stalwarts of the RTÉ newsroom. "I got to work in the newsroom as a runner in what I would say was the golden age of television journalism, when everyone tuned into the Six One News because there was no push notifications or early breaking news. It was such a different time."
She recalls her early days working with Charlie and the impact he made on her. "To watch Charlie Bird working was a masterclass in journalism," she recalls. "I started working with Charlie in 2005, the year I started. They appointed me to what was called the original Investigations Unit, where Charlie and George Lee were working. I went down to the area that he worked in, and I told him I was his new researcher and he said, 'I don’t need a researcher’ and he didn’t. But he did include me and let me get involved. Just to watch him in action was extraordinary. He just had such a presence and he brought out the best in people. He taught me a lot."
In 2007, she won a Justice Media Award for her work on a year-long series on road safety with Charlie Bird and in 2011 and 2012, she was named Transport Journalist of the Year for her reporting on Ireland’s transport infrastructure. "Some of the stories in that were extremely sensitive because you’re dealing with people who’d lost a loved one and Charlie really taught me how to approach people in their grief. He’d say ‘You’ll know if you ever cross the line’ and those words have always stayed with me," she adds.
"And with Bryan [Dobson], I worked with him on the Six One News for a couple of years and I went to Rome with him to work on the papal elections and he’s just the most incredible professional, so diligent and dedicated. If anything, I’ve had an apprenticeship in the newsroom, learning from the greats. When younger people come in the door now, I try to do the same and help them because people did that for me."
Libreri acknowledges that there’s been a significant shift in the media landscape in recent years, in how news is created, consumed and the challenges facing news reporters when they’re on the ground.
"The reassuring thing is that despite all the ups and downs that RTÉ has had, people still turn to us when it’s important and big stories and they trust us. Certainly, in recent times there’s been a little bit more abuse and a bit more of a hard time than we would have experienced before but you also have people coming up to us because they want to share their story and they want you to know the truth," she says.
"I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I am more concerned when I’m out and about as a reporter. There is more hostility and danger there. I’m lucky that I haven’t had any serious confrontations with anyone, but I have been in scenarios where you have to move on to be able to do your job. If you’re trying to record interviews and you’re getting hassle, it just makes it hard to get the job done. It’s the world that we’re in now and it’s not ideal. I do have to think more about what I’m doing and where I’m doing it more than before. The vast majority of people are still welcoming of an RTÉ reporter and we’re grateful for that," she adds.
When she wants to escape the heaviness of news, her beloved Shamrock Rovers, a love affair which began when she was 11, is where she turns. A tradition that continues with her dad and she’s trying to pass on to her own children, the Dublin football team has a big place in Samantha’s life. "People always ask how you can be a Rovers’ fan when you’re from the Northside, but my dad always supported them during their glory days many moons ago. When I was 11, he started taking me to football games and it just became our thing. I loved the madness of it and the atmosphere," she smiles.
"It’s something me and my dad do together and that’s lovely. It’s a thing that gets me away from news and I can switch off."
