untitled - much like my life

Today, on our 'audio lecture' Richard Fydler (ABC Radio) was talking about radio and how as a medium, it's completely different from television. He says that it's a much more intimate medium than television - and keeping people engaged is a constant challenge. 

'Conversations' is a program which is an hour-long interview with one person (or occasionally two), which focuses on open questions to keep the listener interested. On reflection, one of his favourite moments was when cricketer Adam Gilchrist reflected on his 'out of body experience'. What he said here was that when interviewees are reminiscing on a certain life event, knowing what to say can be a challenging and arduous task. 

His advice? "Never be afraid of silence, silence is really powerful in radio."

The second part of this audio was from Mornings, also part of the ABC Radio family. Journalist Steve austin says that being genuine is one of the most important things in radio. When you're fake, people can 'smell it a mile away' and nothing is more important than maintaining listener respect. 

In the words of Austin, "radio is the theatre of the mind," and it is a fantastic platform for story telling. 

I'm not a big radio fan. Actually no, I don't listen to radio at all. I love pop music, but cannot stand the talking and the constant advertisements on stations like B105 and NOVA. Alternatively, I cannot stand classic music and radio stations like the ABC and 4BC really don't appeal to my ignorant, fussy 17-year-old ears. Sorry. It's not that I don't respect it as a news platform, it's just not for me. 

To conclude for today, journalism can be completely uncertain. Where you're going, what you're going to end up doing and the geographic location that you'll be reporting from. 

When Carmel Rooney asked Richard Fidler a question, it summed up journalism perfectly.

Carmel asks, on air, "how did you get here?" to which Richard replies, completely unperplexed and confidently, "accidentally."