Week 1:

In our initial meeting, our roles were decided, and I put myself forward as Script Writer and Package Reporter. Script writing was something I wanted to try more, as I like writing for speech. I also enjoy audio editing and voiceover work, so thought I would enjoy producing packages.

As a group, we decided on the name of the station: Beeline.

I immediately started work brainstorming ideas for packages, which I thought may be appropriate for our 30-55 age group with a slight male bias. I also wanted the packages to be topical for our air date of 12^th April.

I found that The Grand National was the weekend of our air date, so decided to do a package based on that. I thought the topic of horse racing may appeal to a slightly more male audience.

It was my responsibility to source guests for the discussion, so I began research online.

Week 2:

On the second week I began assisting with writing scripts for the stories. I worked with our presenter, Joe Hockley, to ensure the scripts were written in a way which felt natural to him.

I fleshed-out the concept for the horseracing package, and decided for the angle to be the blurred lines between tradition and animal cruelty. I contacted a number of potential interviewees for the package, and eventually secured Sportswriter David Owen, world-renowned racehorse trainer Kim Bailey, and animal rights advocate Pat Quayle. I managed to find these contacts on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I posted a message on my social media platforms asking for two volunteers, for and against horseracing.

The Studio Producer, Pulama, created a draft version of the show imaging for me to improve upon in the next week.

Week 3 – pilot week:

Before the pilot programme, we met a number of times to do production work.

I created the final imaging for the programme, which was designed to have a traditional news sound but also be appropriate for a magazine-style show.

I wrote and recorded the voice pieces for my package and recorded the interviews. I was pleased that one interview was in studio quality as the interviewee works at a community radio station in Cornwall, and the other two were over the phone.

I received responses from my social media posts for the horseracing discussion – one of the willing volunteers owned an ex-racehorse. I briefed the two volunteers.

The presenter and I once again worked through the alterations which had been made to the script to ensure they suited his style.

It was decided by the Editor that a “presenter friend” may make the programme more conversational, so I was asked to step in for the pilot. After this pilot it was decided that the chemistry wasn’t quite right, and that Joe would present alone.

Week 4 – final show:

On the week of the final show I edited the content of my racehorse piece into a final package. I was happy with how this sounded. Sal commented that it sounded “well put together and balanced.”

I also assisted with importing audio elements into the system, and once again tidied up loose ends on the script.

We had a second pilot the day before the final show, and I kept note of anything to improve during the run-through.

Whilst the final programme was underway, I managed the in-studio guests for the discussion, making sure they entered and exited the studio at the right time.

I was very happy with the final show and my contributions to it. We worked well as a team, and kept calm during the programme.