Newspaper killed the radio star
Moving from radio broadcasting to print media has its challenges and also great new opportunities. Join me on my journey of discovering this whole new world.
I am privileged to have worked in community radio as a presenter and now have the amazing opportunity to work in print as a journalist.
Although I have not been in print for a long time at all, I can already see similarities but more differences. Radio prickled my urge to know what is going on in my community.
It gave me a type of satisfaction, almost an adrenaline rush, when I did a small insert flawlessly, and then a few minutes later a listener would correct me on a surname pronounced wrong. It keeps you on the ground. You are never on top of it.
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My urge for more information grew from a small fluffy monster to a big beast. I knew I needed more and recently started working in print.
In such a small period of time, a whole new world has opened up for me.
So much to take in. All the information I had such a craving for, almost too much to grasp in such a small period of time: photography, writing stories, getting information to complete a story… And the list goes on.
This is where I belong, always something else, fast-paced and no time to get lazy.
Joining a new team
Julia Burger. marketing manager at Lowveld Media (a new colleague) worked in radio before print. She said that a newspaper is a visual, sensorial, lifestyle medium. Most people read to relax and zone out for a while.
Others want all the facts of a story, from one corner to the other, and some like to page through the leaflets from their favourite retail stores in their area.
Radio, on the other hand, satisfies the listener with humour, entertainment, music and a limited amount of news.
Reading of a local newspaper or listening to a community radio station is not mutually exclusive. You can do both. You can even do both at the same time.
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The upside with print is that you can refer back to a story that you would like to reread, or you can swiftly move on to the section that interests you. A newspaper has a shelf life.
With radio, you can look forward to your favourite programme and listen for the surprising element of the day or your favourite insert.
Dear print readers
I would like to introduce myself officially as your new community journalist. I don’t bite, so come and say hi to me at your local events.
