I uploaded the last of my radio shows from my time at Pure
FM a couple of weeks ago, and as I listened in briefly to their Breakfast Show,
live from The Freshers Fayre this morning, I realised that I had intended to
write something for my blog about my first few months with the station, but
never got round to it. I’ll try and put this oversight down to business rather
than forgetfulness, but I’m not sure if anyone is being fooled.
Pure FM is the student led radio station at the University
of Portsmouth, and my only regret about my experience is not joining sooner. In
the course of my third year I was able to present two shows, host quizzes,
compile stories and reviews for the news programme and report on sporting
fixtures as part of the large-scale coverage of the Portsmouth v Southampton
Varsity match. As well as the clichéd positive of allowing me to make (and in
some cases invent) new friends, I also walked away with experiences that have
helped shape career ambitions and a couple of awards.
My first attempt at broadcasting, The Pure Sport Show, saw
me combining with another keen sports fan, and existing presenter at Pure,
Curtis, and whilst at times we allowed strange tangents to develop during the
show, we quickly developed a format for a show that was repeatable and
increasingly professional. Even with limited and fluctuating listener numbers,
the opportunity for a platform to discuss and analyse sporting incident was an
enjoyable one, and along with guests, we enjoyed well-reasoned and often
humorous debates. As well as a huge enjoyment factor, we also attempted to
focus on the serious area of promoting and discussing minority sports at the
University, including Tchoukball, a handball sport, and Roller Hockey, whose
president joined us in the studio to promote and discuss the sport she loved.
This experience made us perfectly positioned to take part in
Pure’s coverage of Varsity later in the academic year. Here, through match
reporting, I was able to focus on more traditional journalistic skills in terms
of recording scores and key match details before creating a precise report,
that allowed me to be part of a very professional coverage, something that
everyone at the station was proud of.
In the second semester of the year, Pure’s broadcasting
schedule was restricted by events outside of the stations control, and this
meant finding a slot for The Pure Sports Show was not possible, so Curtis and I
moved into the world of breakfast radio to make sure we had the opportunity to
broadcast. Beginning as the second best scenario to continuing our sports show,
Wake Up With Richard & Curtis quickly became great fun, and the ideal
opportunity to mix great passion for radio, with the urge to be as random and
silly as possible. You can listen to all of these shows by following the link
to my MixCloud page below, and if you do you will note our extravagant range of
characters, features and the reoccurring organised chaos that were our
extensively prepared for shows.
I like to think that these shows highlight the full range of
opportunities available through student radio. It offers a platform to work
hard at presenting skills and to experiment with creating professional and
clever production. Through Pure, there was also the opportunity to broadcast on
local commercial radio, allowing experience in a different setting and in
broadcasting to a larger audience. The other thing student radio offers, is the
opportunity to have a lot of fun, and ultimately that was what myself and
Curtis were doing every time we planned another game or feature or sat in the
studio for hours at a time recording strange ‘adverts’ or songs. This chaos won our show the award for Best Branded Show at the Pure FM awards, so we were clearly doing something right.
The message is clear… Whether you see a serious career ahead
in broadcasting, or just want to do something fun and experimental I’d
wholeheartedly recommend student radio, and Portsmouth’s Pure FM.
Listen to my Pure FM and Express FM shows here: http://www.mixcloud.com/richardjude17/
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