Below is the narrative requested as part of the application materials for a glorified board-op job in public radio. One I'm more than qualified for, but I didn't have the also-"required" bachelor's degree to back up my experience and training, so I was cut from the prospective candidates early on. Still, I thought this quasi-memoir was worth sharing, even if I am dismally under-educated. Enjoy!
It was as if a lightbulb went on.
Reading through the list of responsibilities, I became excited at the prospect of filling a void with my unique expertise and enthusiasm. Public radio holds a place of honor on my list of dream jobs. I cut my teeth on public radio, I have over five years of radio experience with a focus on news, and I've never been anything less than a positive team-player.
My first radio internship was at WKSU in Kent, Ohio. I knew little about audio editing and even less about the software used to do it (CoolEdit, in those days), but I learned quickly. I was charged with assembling a four-hour playlist of folk music and adding fades to the front and back of each song, utilizing a library of CDs and a series of quasi-compatible PCs and the accompanying software. It was solitary work, and a good lesson on technological flexibility.
Flash forward to my second internship, with a title as an assistant producer and call screener for a prominent Cleveland-area talk radio program, The Mike Trivisonno Show. Under the tutelage of master-producer Marty Allen, I was introduced to the fine art of weaving together a compelling broadcast, from guests and callers to the subtler, deft timing of each audio element. Live radio can get messy, but he taught me to keep it moving.
When I finally went out on my own, news was my comfort zone. At KGRN in Grinnell, Iowa, I became the one-woman news team, mini-disc recorder and elderly computer included. It was a short-lived experiment, and I learned more from my mistakes (long-winded newscasts about street paving and echoey audio from public meetings) than I could have imagined. Still, without that stepping stone, I wouldn't have found myself in Minneapolis at the Minnesota News Network.
Once I became part of a “real” news room, I discovered how little I knew. The news director, Stan Turner, was an old school news man who expected his reporters to do their jobs without nagging, though his coaching on the pacing and tone of my newscasts was invaluable. The broadcast format was brief, so the writing and sound clips had to be compelling and concise. MNN had over 70 affiliate stations statewide, a statistic which demanded we keep an open mind about our coverage and not become metro-centric. Peer editing quickly honed my skills, and I was motivated to contribute my best work for the benefit of the team. The software workhorses were CoolEdit/Adobe Audition, WireReady and Audio Vault-- two new programs, but I had to catch on fast or be left in the dust. Working strictly by phone and email, I was expected to churn out ten stories a day while maintaining my afternoon schedule of newscasts. I got such a rush the first time I hit the mark at the end of a syndicated broadcast, and I never tired of the challenge. MNN was a great bootcamp for me as a radio journalist, and choosing to move back to Cleveland and start a family was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made.
Back in Cleveland, I served as a part-time news anchor for Metro Networks' local hub. With the birth of our first baby just weeks away, my husband took a chance on a radio news opportunity with a cluster of stations in Brunswick, Georgia, and off we went. I started working as a board op for remote broadcasts on the country station, later adding a regular air shift and work on the A/C and rock stations, live appearances and other responsibilities. There was more new software to learn (Scott Systems, TLC), promos and commercials to record, as well as weekend programming to upload. Somewhere in there, I had a baby, and she started coming to work with me. Our coworkers became like family. There was some social dysfunction, but they made the Yankees feel welcome.
My husband's quest for advancement took us to a news/talk station in Pensacola, where I filled in with traffic reports and weekend shifts on a country station. More new software (archaic automation systems on the country station, their names a long lost memory), but I wouldn't be intimidated. Before long, we were trekking across Florida to Orlando, where the big news/talk station provided a bump in market size and pay for our family's main provider. I was mostly at home with our daughter, but there was plenty of fill-in work, especially with my background in news.
Once my husband was established with his afternoon shift, I often jumped in as an early-morning reporter or late-morning anchor, thrilled to be part of a news team again. Stories for the morning were typically either built from audio recorded on the street/in live interviews the day before, provided from the ABC affiliate website, the AP newswire, or gathered by phone. Once the on-air versions were ready, reporters wrote a separate version and posted it to the website. I studied with the veteran reporters and anchors, determined to become an asset. I learned what was expected and I delivered, crafting balanced newscasts with a variety of voices. A story was not complete without opposing viewpoints. I began to understand that information can become closer to entertainment when thoughtfully and artfully presented, and I strived for compelling storytelling, ultimately earning an AP award for my efforts. Near the end of my time with WDBO, I settled into some regular hours, confident in the leadership role granted to the anchor, charged with steering the action in the newsroom for optimal coverage of the day's top stories.
When a news director position was offered to my husband, he leapt at the chance to lead a newsroom, and we came to Madison. And discovered I was pregnant. With morning sickness sapping my motivation to job-hunt, I accepted an offer from my stepdad to help out with his burgeoning Fair Trade import/wholesale business and worked from home in my spare time. What was initially a low-key endeavor became a great lesson in time management, and I've become rather adept at maintaining contact with our customers by phone, via email, and through various social networking sites.
Now, here I am, ready to get back to work in radio and primed for the position as [producer] of [talk radio program]. Please, allow me to be everything you're looking for.
Ta Da!
Maybe I can recycle this into cover-letter material for the next great gig that comes my way. Until then, I'm going to love up on the girls and hubs and enjoy my current job title: Mama.
