Katie Andrews, Radio Producer

Work and play

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"This job is the ultimate in the playful jobs in radio. The subject matter we're dealing with; popular culture, arts, entertainment, music, in itself can be so playful."

Where I work

I work for CBC Radio downtown in Winnipeg. CBC stands for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which is our public broadcaster here in Canada. There are CBC stations in almost every city across the country. Each local station broadcasts their own programming tailored to the people who live in that community, as well as programs that are produced in one location but broadcast nation-wide.

My official job title at CBC Radio is Associate Producer. I work in Arts and Entertainment for a program called "Definitely Not the Opera" or DNTO, and it's one of the nationally broadcast programs produced out of Winnipeg. I also do a couple of days researching information for the Promo Girl promos that air nationally on CBC Radio.

Researching guests

Reading and researching is very important to this job. Every time we have somebody on the radio, we need to do a lot of research beforehand.

We want to know who they are, where they grew up, what their body of work is and what they've said in other interviews that they have done. That information is then used to prepare the interview.

Communication skills

The other main part of my job is to track down the guests, find their publicist and put in an interview request for them. I spend a fair bit of time on the phone, leaving a lot of phone messages with a lot of publicists, asking for interviews and also with other co-workers in different cities setting up interviews.

Being able to put my message across is quite important with this job. I need to leave a short, succinct message with all the right information. I have to sound official and professional but also come across as very interested and excited to have this celebrity guest come on the show.

Prepping promo spots

CBC has a national promo campaign which is hosted by "Promo Girl". I chase down information for all the shows that happen across the country and give it to the Promo Girl writing team.

This means I always have a fair share of emails to go through in the morning. I probably go through about a hundred fifty emails a week, just for the Promo Girl spots.

Technology important

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"It's amazing how important the computer and internet have become to the work of journalists in the five years I've worked in this industry.

"I'm one of the first people who went through journalism school and never actually cut tape. I went to a very forward-thinking journalism program."

Parents are CBC fans

I think my parents always hoped I would work at CBC Radio just because they were such huge fans. On a Saturday morning growing up, every single radio in our household would be tuned to CBC and it would be blaring.

I suspect that somehow that influenced my career choice somewhere along the way.

Personal heroes

My grandparents are probably my personal heroes just because I've looked up to them for so long. They set an example of how to have a lot of joy in your life, how to work really hard and also to just keep learning, no matter what age you are.

They also taught me to have a sense of humour about everything, no matter what's going on.

Love singing

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I was always wanting to sing. Sucking it up and going to that first music lesson and learning how to sing, I think, was probably my biggest accomplishment to date.

"It had always been something that I just thought was insurmountable and then I did it and found out it was a lot easier than I thought."

Wedding bells

I'm engaged to be married and we're getting married this summer. I'm actually engaged to somebody who I knew growing up in Saskatoon.

We just kept crossing paths over and over again. He used to work at the theatre that was three blocks from where I grew up. When we were in high school we were in Model United Nations together and then in university, when I was working at the student newspaper, he was working at the student government. We knew each other for a long time and then when we were both ended up in Regina for our separate jobs. We ran into each other and then just started spending time together.

He currently works in the pharmaceutical industry; he's a specialist in the area of respiratory drugs.

Walk to work

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"My typical day would involve getting up seven thirty or eight o'clock, getting ready for work; walking, out the front door through my neighbourhood in a beautiful morning, most times.

"Even in the winter it's a beautiful walk to work, across a beautiful bridge by the legislature buildings into downtown Winnipeg".

Challenge to coordinate

We try to have a variety of interesting people on the program from week to week. Often they're famous musicians or actors or movie directors.

Guests are usually based somewhere else or on tour in places like Los Angeles or New York or Toronto, so I have to book a studio wherever they are for a studio to studio link-up with our host

Definitely a big challenge is you never have control of other peoples' schedules. You have to let go at some point and accept that you're never going to make everything line up exactly how you want. You have to be flexible, which can be a challenge at times.

Creativity in production

After the chase is done, the celebrity guest secured and we've recorded the interview with them, that's when the creative stuff starts to happen. I have to edit what they've said and will often add little sound clips and pieces of music that help the story.

I really love this post-production stage; when we've done the interview and have a chance to just sit down and listen to it and edit it, making it as smooth as possible. And then when that's done, add little flourishes of music in certain parts to spice it up. I just love that, it's a great part of this job.

The stressful part

I think a lot of the stress that I feel in my job has to do with other peoples' schedules and trying to work around conflicting engagements.

The other difficult part is waiting patiently while they decide whether or not to call you back. That can be somewhat stressful.

Problem solving

Problem solving is a part of the work I do as an Associate Producer. There's some lateral thinking as well.

You have to think ahead and figure out how to make the end product exactly what you want.

Job favourites

I love being able to create, being able to think about what or how good something could be and then have it come to fruition and see it in action.

I love being able to talk to people, that's one of the things I really love about this job, being able to connect with all sorts of people every week.

Intriguing job feature

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"This job is very creative and very interesting because in order to do it, you have to be curious about a certain topic and it changes all the time."

"You learn a little bit about a lot of things and it serves you well when you meet other people in social settings. You may have at one point done a story about that so you have a little bit of knowledge and something to talk about and even learn more in talking to them."

Always have a plan B

You have to have a "spidey sense" about things. If you have a tingly feeling that something's just not right, you should listen to it and have a backup plan just in case, because sometimes there's a reason why you're having that feeling.

You have to trust your gut a lot, because it can go wrong. Sometimes you've talked with someone; they're set up, they're ready to go, they say they'll be there when you call them to go on the radio for the live program but you have a feeling that something's not going to work, then they back out at the last minute.

Meaningful work

What is most meaningful about the work that I do is when I somehow facilitate an excellent interview that really illuminates an area that people might not have heard about; something completely new that is out there and I help share that with the listening world.

The best feeling for me is when I hear feedback from listeners about a story I worked on, and where I had a feeling at the time that the subject was important. Getting that kind of affirmation is great.

Interesting foundation

I went to French immersion school for one year but from there on, I went to a fine arts elementary school. I had quite a generalist arts education there.

I learned a little bit about dance, did art, did some acting and that sort of thing so that was a pretty interesting foundation to my education.

Read the sign

When I was done high school, I really was excited to go to university. After finishing my Psychology degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, I was accepted to the University of Western Ontario for the one year Master's program and thought, "This is a sign; I'm gonna go do this degree" and moved everything out to Ontario and did a one-year Masters in London.

Internship

We didn't have an internship included in our journalism school program, but we were encouraged to apply for internships.

I applied for a four month paid internship and I ended up doing an internship at the Edmonton Journal.

Personality for journalism

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE) 

"I've always been curious and now I have somewhere to channel it. It's really, really important to ask more questions in journalism and not always take things at face value and if it seems like you don't have all the information, you have to find the rest of the information somewhere.

"You need to be diligent about searching it out and finding it. If you're naturally curious, that job isn't hard; it's a lot of fun actually."

Volunteer for experience

My advice for entering my profession includes volunteering at your campus radio station. Go to your community radio station and ask if they need any help. Work in the library doing some kind of stock work.

If you're at university, work at the campus paper. I've heard from people who do recruit journalism grads that it's important for them to see that kind of interest early on.

High school students should call their local radio station or TV station and ask for a tour; try and make contact and tell them you're interested in doing any kind of work.

Ideal personality

You should be a generalist. You should be detail-oriented but also be able to speak with the people that you're interviewing and connect with them in a very human way. You have to be both outgoing and sensitive.

You also have to have strong intuition, make sure that you ask the right questions.

Being able to keep on top of things is also very important for this job, make sure that you always meet your deadlines.

Making a difference

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Whenever we've covered news about a tragedy that's happened overseas I think what would be really important is to go overseas and help people when they've been dealt a blow like that.

"Hopefully some day my work can take me in that direction or I can find a way to do that kind of work."

Outlook for producers

The job of radio associate producer is going to depend more and more on technology. It's going to be more and more virtual with the internet. There may come a day when I won't even be sitting in the same room or even the same city as my colleagues.

Since technology is the direction we're going in, flexibility and knowledge in that area would be most important.
It seems as though the young people that are coming up through the ranks and going to school even now are way more technologically advanced than I was, so I don't think that'll be a problem for young people.

Future of CBC programming

CBC Radio in Manitoba is facing a huge challenge right now because of satellite radio and the amount of choice out there. CBC TV has the same problem with the number of channels available on television; there's just so much to listen to, so much to look at.

Also programming is becoming more and more specialized now, so that a generalist like CBC may not get the audience numbers it used to. How we meet that challenge is going to be important for the future of public broadcasting in Canada.

Job market info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long range prospects for this career.

The official title for Katie's occupation is "Associate Producer" and its NOC* code is 5131.

Manitoba Job Futures

Who Hires? - Manitoba Labour Market Information

*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the 'National Occupation Classification' code or 'NOC'.

Education

High School 

Useful High School subjects*

- Art
- English (Composition & Communication)
- Drama
- Music

*Source: JobFutures.ca

For those out of school, Adult Learning Centres can help you get or upgrade your high school diploma, including adding subjects that are required for work or further education. All Manitobans are normally entitled to 4 free courses.

After high school 

Red River College

Creative Communications

Assiniboine Community College - Brandon

Media Production

Skills

Useful Experience/Skills*

- Entertainment
- Innovation
- Researching

*Source: Job Futures.ca

There is not yet an Essential Skills* profile for this occupation.

*Essential Skills provide the foundation for learning all other skills and enable people to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change.

Professional resources

Canadian Association of Journalists
Promotes excellence in journalism, encouraging investigative journalism

Winnipeg Press Club
Fosters social and professional relationships among journalists, allied professionals and the general public through fellowship, networking, learning and public service opportunities

CBC Jobs
Information on careers at the public broadcaster

The Canadian Radio-Television Commission
Regulates and supervises all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system and telecommunications

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