Getting paid work in radio

[ColinB]

Hi Mark

I've been presenting a folk music show on community radio station Diversity FM in Lancaster for the last 3 years. We're all unpaid volunteers at the station as it's a project of the local YMCA but I wondered if you've any tips on how to find paid work in radio. Having read Bob Harris' biog recently I get the impression it's a dog-eat-dog world out there and you're only as good as your last show.

One of my fellow presenters did a radio production course in Manchester earlier in the year and came away with the impression that what counts is contacts and broadcasting experience rather than qualifications. Another friend got some work at BBC Radio Lancashire but that had a lot to do with her knowing the guy who presents the country music show so she covered for him when he was off on holiday. She was subsequently taken on as a production assistant or whatever the job title is for the people who answered the phones!

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Colin

[djmahone]

No easy answer to this I'm afraid.
I agree that qualifications in media/radio don;t really make that much of a difference.
A lot of people I work with have qualifications in other disciplines and we always like that because they bring some different thinking to the table - and we can always train them in the media stuff on the job in a couple of months or so.
My advice has never differed from when I started in 1979 - get in anywhere, doing anything and for no money if necessary. We have someone with a media degree doing some work with us right now who is putting badegs in envelopes. That is **** in  a way but we all started off doing things like that.
Don't go into this if you want to make money.
I hear you when you say 'it's who you know' ...but it's inevitable that people give jobs to people they know and trust - and that's why you have to do anything to make yourself known.

[hendo (Dave)]

No easy answer to this I'm afraid.
I agree that qualifications in media/radio don;t really make that much of a difference.
A lot of people I work with have qualifications in other disciplines and we always like that because they bring some different thinking to the table - and we can always train them in the media stuff on the job in a couple of months or so.
My advice has never differed from when I started in 1979 - get in anywhere, doing anything and for no money if necessary. We have someone with a media degree doing some work with us right now who is putting badegs in envelopes. That is **** in  a way but we all started off doing things like that.
Don't go into this if you want to make money.
I hear you when you say 'it's who you know' ...but it's inevitable that people give jobs to people they know and trust - and that's why you have to do anything to make yourself known.

I don't think the bad eggs promotion will pull in listeners. Have you ever thought of badges instead?

[ColinB]

Thanks Mark. As David Byrne put it, it sounds like it's "same as it ever was". Another presenter at Diversity got a job with Lakeland Radio and found they were very strict regarding what could or couldn't be said on air and I don't just mean bad language. He was doing a Saturday afternoon sports show which was scripted and on one of his first shows he ad-libed. He was promptly pulled up by his producer and told if he ever did that again he'd be sacked. Nice.

So I'm inclined to carry on where I am. I have complete control over what I can play on my show, so while it's mainly folk & acoustic music I can veer off in different directions. For example on my recent Dylan at 70 show I included Patti Smith's cover of Wicked Messenger. I'm also doing pretty with getting promo CD's. After the Chester Folk Festival I emailed Jez Lowe, Nancy Kerr & James Fagin and The Carrivick Sisters who have all sent me CD's. So the artists must feel that community radio is worth supporting, which is encouraging.

I've had a look at the BBC North web site and might apply for one of their Trainee programmes. I'd be happy to work at Salford Quays unlike those London types who moan about relocating!

[ColinB]

Another friend got some work at BBC Radio Lancashire but that had a lot to do with her knowing the guy who presents the country music show so she covered for him when he was off on holiday. She was subsequently taken on as a production assistant...

I didn't quite get my facts right here. This is what happened...

She initially did a two-week work placement at Radio Lancashire and got to know various people there. About a year later she ran into the boss of Radio Lanc who asked if she was still doing her country show on Diversity and if she would be interested in presenting theirs when their presenter went away. She went to Blackburn regularly for six months and received presenter training. She then met the country presenter Joe Fish and they put her on the air.

She's gone on to work for Radio Lancashire as a Broadcast Assistant and Broadcast Journalist and more recently for Radio 4 and 6 Music, and now she's got a permanent job on the BBC website.

She goes on to say, "I think Mark Radcliffe is right, it’s about getting in any way you can. It’s hard to get a work placement with the BBC but once you are known then opportunities can sometimes start to come your way. Also it’s worth thinking if you are happy to work behind the scenes. There are so many more jobs of all levels behind the scenes than in presenting."