Reminiscences...(4)

(15/08/10) "Week 4"
This week covered two interviews, from Richard Fidler (ABC Radio's "Conversations" hour) and  Steve Austin (ABC Radio's "Evenings"). Fidler's description of radio was that it is a much more personal medium than TV. Whilst TV tends to be a  more visual, sensational spectacle, radio's reliance on audio alone makes it cater much more to creating empathetic bonds with the audience. As radio is something that is often consumed in the middle of some other activity (driving, working, etc), more attention must be given to include the listener. "Conversations" therefore, attempts to bring the listener on a "journey", an anecdotal exercise that contains more than just the mere facts. This cannot be done without connecting with your interviewee. Fidler stressed the importance of this, to make the program more "intimate". He adopts a non-adversarial style so as to put the speaker at ease and foster open-ness.
Don't be "above" your listeners, rather attempt to create a forum which will draw out conversation. He advised that this might be done by having a concrete image in your mind as to who it is that is receiving your message. His example was his pregnant wife, post first child, at home, needing a break and some humorous enlightenment.

Austin's "Evenings" illuminated that there is hope for aspiring journalists in the ABC. He mentioned that after many years of applications and round-about kerfuffle-ing, anyone can get in with the right amount of determination. His advice for interview techniques were similar to Fidlers. Austin worked for 4ZZZ( my favourite radio station, awesome music, free from commercial pressure), and said changing radio stations necessitated changing his interviewing style, so as to think more on the audience's perception of issues without airing your own prejudices. Doing so closes discourse and negates the crucial element of intimacy. He also also advised against "gotcha!" style interviews where the interviewee is fearing a kind of verbal trap. Much work needs to be done to encapsulate the "human" element of the story, to encourage listeners to relate. Austin also stated that as time moves on society is becoming more "time poor"(working later hours), therefore peripheral media outlets such as radio capitalise on this.

Swift flowing, natural sounding radio interviews necessitate a lot of background research. Fidler's "conversation" hour must therefore require exhaustive work. I have listened to his program once or twice (admittedly, always as i was doing something else, just as he predicted) and really enjoyed its content. I had ambitions of working for the ABC, or at least did before the recent events described unfolded...