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.