Placement Evaluation

Working at WHCR proved to be a huge confidence boosting exercise. It appears that WHCR hope to build volunteers and people on placement into someone who is confident enough to go out onto the street and interview the public on issues affecting the local community. As such they through you in at the deep end to help build your confidence. When I first went to WHCR I wouldn’t necessarily say I was shy but I was definitely more of the quiet type, this was further evidenced by results I gained from the Myers Briggs tests, which proved me to be an Introvert with some Extrovert tendencies. After doing so many voxpops and interviews I feel as though I am much more confident in my abilities and feel as though I could approach a complete stranger much easier than previous to the placement. Because WHCR encouraged me to jump straight in and provided me with a very hands on approach after week 1 the tasks set for me were something I could confidently do and achieve good results from. For example in week 1, I created 2 voxpops – visiting the Hull City ground for their promotional party I spoke to people there and compiled a voxpops based of off their responses. I was then trusted with editing the piece together and it was aired with their confidence in me that what I had created was safe to air.

I felt that WHCR would only do this if they thought you would be ok with doing so. As if you didn’t feel that you were ready they wouldn’t force you to do so, they only seemed to give you a slight push out of your comfort zone that would be for your own benefit, which worked I believe.

In week 1-6 I was constantly sent out to talk to the public, week 1-2 in particular I was sent out to ask various questions such as ‘Should we stay in the EU’ or as mentioned the Hull City promotion. I was also asked to travel to various surrounding cities/towns such as Beverley and Cottingham to ask people for their views on certain matters, for example I did a promotional piece for Beverley which required me to go to Beverley market on the Saturday and ask people what they thought about the market, this included customers and shop keepers. In week 2 before I even got into the station I was asked to go around the city centre asking people about Organ donation, I then got into the station by around 10am and the clip after I had edited was aired by around 11am which shows just how fast paced working at the station was.

Doing so many voxpops made me feel much more relaxed about doing them because I had done them so many times, it just felt more natural to me than before I had started the placement.

I believe that WHCR take this approach because if they believe that you can go out and talk to the public with no fear, you will be safe in front of a microphone, thinking on your feet is something that’s needed in particular in this part of the industry as a response to perhaps someone you are interviewing may not be what you expect and you must be able to work around that. An example of this is in week 6 of the placement, myself and Dave Fewster did an interview live on air and I was asked by Dave to jump in whenever I wanted to ask questions, this was nothing like I expected it to be because you could have a question lined up in your head then the person being interviewed could cover the point or move onto a different topic which is why you need to be quick and confident when you are interviewing someone. This isn’t only limited to being on air as going out and doing voxpops can mean that you have to be quick and work around what their response to your question was.

When doing the voxpops or interviews, I was trusted with writing up my own questions to ask them, for example Dave would give me a topic to discuss in the voxpop then I would go out write up questions and quiz people on them. For the interviews I was independent on writing up questions and even finding the interviews was an independent task, I was simply asked to find one and make sure it was a certain length. This approach again only boosted confidence and made me feel like I was responsible for the outcome, it also meant that when it was aired that all that work to get it on the air was mine, to hear a interview/voxpop created purely independently was a great feeling.

WHCR also trained me with all the equipment, such as the microphone, how to edit and placing finished audio clips into the ‘Cartwall’ which is essentially the presenters programme, were the user loads in items to the programme so that when the presenter is on air they can just set the items running one after another to certain times. As well as showing me this whilst on air Dave would show me how the console worked, what the dials did etc. and how we were connected to the airwaves. I think showing the more technical side of the job showed me just how much work went into working at the station and that if I wanted to be a presenter as well as being confident on and off air I would need to know how to operate the console and work the programmes.

I feel that the most I have gained from the placement was the confidence boost, I feel that I could easily approach someone to do another voxpop, as well as ringing people up to arrange an interview, the independence given to me when going off to do these meant that I was free to construct the interview myself and then be given feedback by Dave Fewster or any of the other presenters on what they thought about it. I would encourage anyone wanting to get into journalism or radio presenting to try WHCR as they offer a positive atmosphere and are willing to help you if you were struggling and encourage you to really just getting out there, providing you with a very hands on approach.

Job Study - Presenter

The job I decided to look closely at was the role of the presenter. I decided to go into more depth on this aspect of the job as it was something I was knowledable in and it interested me the most. When I began the placement I wasn’t aware of how much work went into this role and how vital it is to the station.

As a programme presenter the main task is to present the programmes and to make sure these programmes are safe to be aired, interesting and depending on what kind of station you operate on, relevant. When a station starts up they must agree to a certain scheme in which the station will operate, such material must be aired in honor to the license – this is something else a presenter must be aware of and enforce.

In order to be a presenter you must have gone through the proper training and gained the qualifications needed for the job, however a Community radio, you can volunteer and they can teach you how to operate the equipment and provide you with some basic training. This differs from a Commercial station such as the BBC, which will be looking for any number of years worth of experience and talent.

An example of this is who I worked with Dave Fewster who has been broadcasting since the 70s, Dave began in Hospital radio, which is essentially what the community radio has become now, the first stop of getting yourself into the industry. He has then worked his way up the ladder, into Viking FM in Hull, working on larger scale radio stations with Noel Edmonds on the BBC.

The main quality a presenter needs is confidence – a presenter needs to keep a cool head when both in the station broadcasting as well as going out on the street to do various voxpops and interviews. If something goes wrong the presenter must be able to work around it and not panic. ‘If there is ‘dead air’ don’t panic about it, figure out how to solve it and sort it out’. Thinking on your feet is also a nessecity within the job, you cannot express your own views on political matters or the deaths of certain people, the station must remain neutral within events as to not express a biased oppinion. ‘Pass on the information with respect and dignity’. Another useful talent to have is to have knowledge of the music industry, this doesn’t nessecarily mean you should know all the chart music, but have a broad understanding of music in general from various decades.

Communication skills is perhaps one of the most vital skills needed, many people often are put infront of a microphone and freeze, which is why the confidence is needed to be able to deal with the pressure and the communication is needed in order to be engaged with your listeners.

Because of Dave Fewsters experience in 2010, he approached WHCR to offer his services as he was an already established presenter who could help the station out. Creating a name for yourself is a great advantage when it comes to applying for work at various stations especially when you ran a show for such a lengthy period of time, such as Dave at Viking FM – he has become a recognisable name and a distinct voice amongst the airwaves.

Organizational Analysis

At WHCR the structure of the organization works as such. Numerous Directors which are supported by 2 panels, one being a Voluntary Panel. This panel is made up of people from various backgrounds, the police, the local community or perhaps the local church, a penl essentially built up by the community. Then there is the Listener Panel, who listen to the output of the station and provide feedback and ways to improve what the station is broadcasting.

Day to day broadcasting of the show is often ran by the Programme Controller who will ensure all the programmes are appropriate to air, these Controllers will often work with Volunteer Presenters which is the role I fell under, essentially the bottom of the chart.

As working on a Community Radio rarely means you generate income, ads must be solt, this is a job for the Sales Manager and the Advertising Sales Reps. These people will go out to perhaps local businesses and sell them an advertising package which will mean that the company will get so many ads a day/week at various times, and this generates the income for the station.

Branching of from the Volunteer Panel there will often be Trainers, who will be responsible for the Volunteers that come to work at the station, someone who will train them up to a sufficient level so that they can go out and make shows or interviews at a proffesional level, which are able to be aired due to their sufficient quality.

A member of the station can also fit into numerous roles mentioned above. Dave Fewster who I worked closely with over the 6 weeks, worked as a Sales Manager – selling ads to businesses as well as writing them up himself which would fit under the Advertising Sales Reps aswell. He also worked as a Trainer – as he was responsible for myself whilst I was on the placement and then a Presenter/Programme Controller, whilst he didn’t nessecarily control what the station was outputting it was his reponsibility to make sure the show was all together and would mix correctly.

Even myself, during my time there fitted into numerous roles, as I began as a volunteer however also fitted into the role of the Trainer, after showing various other volunteers or people on work placement how to create voxpops and edit.

Diary of Placement

For my 6 week placement I worked at WHCR FM, a community radio based in Hull, unlike Commercial radio such as Radio 1, a community station is much more locally based that looks at problems or news that directly effects the community the station is based in, i.e Hull. On the show I worked closely with Dave Fewster, an experienced presenter who has worked on numerous stations such as Viking FM – another station based within Hull.

In Week 1 I was thrown in at the deep end, this was both nerve racking and exciting, this meant that throughout the course of the 6 weeks I was prepared for tasks set for me and would be able to confidently complete them. Within the first week of the placement was Hull Citys promotion to the premier league party, because the event was being held locally and for free I was trusted with some recording equipment and sent to the party to ask the general public what they thought of the promotion, a VoxPop. I was instructed to come up with my own questions, create the piece as long as I saw fit aswell as edit the piece together, this VoxPop then went onto air several times over the coming weeks and after It was uploaded to the WHCR Facebook page it received a notable amount of hits. In this week I was also entrusted with phoning various people up to arrange an interview to be had on the show. Other duties I had included finding news storys that myself and Dave Fewster could talk about on air and show our own oppinions on the matters we discussed, I was also given the opportunity to daily present the weather on air and on occasion pick some songs to be aired.

Whilst the show would go on Dave Fewster would show me how the system worked, what on console controlled what, how music and items were added to the ‘cartwall’ – this is a programme that the user adds items to and they appear in the selected order ready for the show. I was shown the timings for the station and how to work them out, finding music which would fit into the show at the exact right timings to make sure there was no silence at any point whilst we were on air.

In Week 2 I was trusted with showing 2 students how to create a VoxPop and edit the clips together to a standard were it could be played on air. So I went out with the two and asked the public if they believe we should be in the EU, after we had gathered maybe 20-30 responses we headed back to the studio and I showed them how to edit the piece together, the next mid morning show the clip aired for the first time, after this occasion it was passed onto other presenters to be played on their shows aswell as slotted into ‘Automation’ a period on the WHCR programme 12-1 were there are no DJs and the system plays various songs,advertisements and interviews/voxpops. I also resumed normal responsibilites of reading and talking on air. The same week I also had to go to Beverley on the Saturday to visit the weekly market and create a promotional piece for Beverley, this was again all edited and aired.

Week 3 I had to find my own story, which resulted in me ringing up a local charity ‘Recycling Unlimited’ and arranging an interview with the owner. I had to again write my own questions, get myself to the place and interview the owner. After being edited this too was aired several times aswell as being given to other presenters to air.

In Week 4, I used my initiative and went out and found my own Interview, ringing up a local band, arranging the interview myself and going to meet them, again as previously done I wrote up all the questions to the interview and edited all the questions together. I also took some music from the band which was then played on air after the interview, this was both good for the station and the band, as the station is very much community based, it further promote the idea that WHCR was trying to help the community and in this way supporting local bands. It helped the band as it allowed them some free airtime to talk about themselves aswell as having some music played live on air – the interview and music was then placed into the system to be played numerous times after its original broadcast.

Week 5, this week was again another interview, this time in Beverley to be used as another promotional piece for the town. The piece was promoting the tourist hotspot in the town – the Minister. There I met up with a Neil Pickford a tour guide at the Minister who had allowed me to be interviewed, aswell as providing me with an Interview, he also allowed me to take a tour, this meant that I could further discuss what he had talked about in the interview to provide more information. Again I was also trusted with teaching a new volunteer how to edit to a higher standard, in which I showed him how to edit the interview together, this was then aired the next day.

In my final week, week 6, I did a live interview on air with Dave Fewster, interviewing a Sharon Dahli about events going on at the Goodwin Centre, interviewing live on air meant that questions had to be thought up and asked depending on what the person being interviewed was saying which means you had to be quick when doing so. In the final week myself and Dave began writing advertisements for people interested in advertising on the show, this is something that I will be doing more often as I have continued to work on the show as a volunteer after my placement ends.

Commercial vs Community Radio

Commercial Radio vs. Community Radio: The Differences.

In this piece I am going to talk about the differences between Community Radio and Commerical Radio, the information I gathered on the subject was all found whilst working on my placement, working closley with proffesional radio presenter Dave Fewster.

Commercial Radio is a radiostation that produces programmes for the masses. An example of a commercial radiostation would be BBC1 Radio, whilst the BBC does have various substations which are much more community based such as BBC Humberside or BBC Lincoln, BBC1 is a national radiostation whose signal reaches across the country. A Commercial station is much more likely to have a stronger signal because the stations programmes are designed to appeal to the masses, rather than just a small area or region. This is why Radio 1 (Based in London) will have a strong enough signal to reach much more nothern cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow, because the station doesnt advertise solely local news, rather news which appeals to the masses. The music played aswell will often be chart music, again to use Radio 1 as an example, has programmes dedicated the the chart music with its ‘Big Top 40’ – a show which counts up through the 40 songs in the charts, this is something a smaller Community based station is unlikely to do.

Commercial Radio doesn’t nessecarily have to be part of a huge organization, such as Radio 1 to the BBC, Hulls ‘Viking FM’ is an independent station which began in 1984, the station is Independent however whilst it remains a Commercial Station it is much more Regional, operating within East Yorkshire. The station will still have programmes such as ‘Big Top 40’ and will also talk about events happening in the world however the news it tells will be much more national than local. Viking FM however also does promote events happening locally, mainly within the East Yorkshire region, in the Hull,Beverly,Cottingham regions. Such as small concerts within the vicinity of its broadcasting range.

Community Radios largest difference with Commercial is that all the work done on the station is volunteer work. None of the presenters on the station are paid for their time on air, which means that a lot of the Community stations have numerous presenters which maybe do 2 hours a day, 2-3 days a week, the money these presenters make is often work they do outside of the station, a second job for instance, or selling advertisements  for the Community station. An example of this being WHCR FM, based within Hull, this station is owned by Goodwin, a much larger organization which has sectors based within over areas. To get into Commercial radio, many presenters will have to work freely in Community Radio for a significant amount of time and maybe scouted by listeners or after sending demos of their work into the bigger Commercial stations. As mentioned some presenters make money selling advertisements, for a Community station to run it needs the advertisements to run aswell as the donations from the public and events held by the station to make money. The money cannot solely come from advertisements and is set at a limit of 50% which means, for example if a station were to cost £5000 a year to run, the station could make £2500 off of advertising and then must make the other half from donations to the station and events/fundraisers the station does.

When talking about Commercial radio I spoke about how the news told on the station would be much more national, well on a Community radio the news told will be about local news, this could include roadworks in the area of small events going on, often found by reading the local paper or looking at local news on the internet and reporting it to the public. Commercial radio are very interested to hear about problems within the area and the peoples views on certain matters effecting the country, an example of this would be, using reporters to go out and do VoxPops or ‘Voice of the People’ which is essentially a gathering of small interviews spliced together all answering the same question. In this way its much easier to see how a national story is effecting a local community, such as peoples views on leaving the EU, jobs could be much more scarce in a certain area which is why a city like Hull could get a much different response than maybe somewhere like London.

The music played on such stations would include a small amount of popular chart music, however it wouldn’t appear on the station nearly as much as it would on a Commercial one, an example of such being Daft Punk’s – Get Lucky, a song like this (number 1 in the charts) may only be aired once or twice a day on a Community Station whilst airing 3-4 times a day on a Commercial station. Community stations like to promote a lot of local bands aswell providing them an opportunity to have their music aired on the radio free of charge. Other types of music may also include much older songs which would range from the 50s to the present, providing a vaster more diverse selection.

Commercial radio as previously stated is a place for aspiring presenters to start off, this means that the stations willingly train up amateurs and volunteers to a more proffesional standard often for free so that they can go onto working in a more proffesional enviroment. In the past an aspiring presenter would work in ‘Hospital Radio’, a type of station that is designed for the patients of a Hospital, again another form of the Commercial station. However when these types of stations were around, a station like WHCR would have been much more unlikely to exist and the presenter on the Hospitals station would have to be scouted and provided with experience from there.

Interviews

Here are 2 of the interviews I have done whilst on my placement.

The first one, a local band 'La Bete Blooms' :

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/k5m3dahk7lgsp8i/La_Bete_Blooms_Edit.wav

The second at a charity called 'Recycling Unlimited' :

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/5161mmliyl3e0qm/Recycling_Unlimited_Edit.wav

Voxpops

Below are 2 examples of Voxpops I have created.

One for the promotion of the Hull City Promotion :

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/58280o0063qbgq9/HullCityPromotionVoxPop.mp3

And one for 'Should Britain stay in the EU' :

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/eju74bym4gdwhdm/Should_Britian_Stay_in_the_EU.wav