How to Become a Radio Reporter

So you want to become a radio reporter in Montreal? Here are a few tips that will help you accomplish that goal...not just in Montreal, but in any major city.

Steps

1. Make an audition tape. You can do this easily with a tape recorder and microphone. Produce a couple of short stories with "actualities" -- that means interviews with a newsmaker. Don't know any...then you're not cut out for this career. Dangerous playground in the neighborhood...interview some of the moms about why they don't let their kids play there. That's just one angle.
2. Edit your audio on your computer using Audacity or other sound editing programs. Just use a cable to connect the earphone jack of your recorder to the mike input on your computer (if you don't have line level connections on both machines). This way, you can use the volume level on the tape recorder to control the audio levels.
3. Prove that you can write for radio. Write several short headline stories of 15 to 20 seconds in length and read them into your computer using an external mike plugged into the mike jack.
4. Edit this into a package that sounds good, and burn it to CD. Make sure you use a labeling program to make your labels...do not just write on the CD with a Sharpie. You're looking for a professional job here, not making a mix tape for your friends.
5. Get the names of news directors at the radio stations in the city you want to work in, and send them a sincere letter, the CD, and a copy of your resume.

Tips

• Be prepared for rejection. Radio stations get dozens of audition tapes each week, and most wind up in the trash.
• Make the first 30 seconds of your tape the best material you have...often, that's all the time you'll get to make that first impression.
• You constantly need to keep up-to-date with current affairs both locally and worldwide, as well as knowing everything you can about the station you are hoping to work for (history, format, target audience, and what is happening at the station).
• Double-check your resume for any spelling or grammar errors...remember, this is a reporting job you want, and writing ability is critical.
• Make sure you have the skills the station needs. If you're applying to a French-language station in Montreal, you'd damn well better be fluent in French. Same thing if you're a native French speaker and you're applying to an English-language station.

Warnings

• Radio stations are not known for their high pay. If you're interested in this career, go into it with the expectation that you won't get rich.
• Radio is one of the most unstable careers on the planet. Stations change formats constantly, and news is one of the first things that goes when the format changes. You can be fired just because a new manager doesn't like the sound of your voice.

Things You'll Need

• Tape recorder (or mini-disc, digital audio recorder)
• Microphone
• Audio editing software, a CD burner, and blank CD's