Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

On Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to ensure that I would beat all of the rush hour traffic because I needed to be at the BBC station in the Forum by 9am. Departing the UEA campus a little before 8am I made it to Norwich City Centre in record time, I was getting off the bus around 8:15 (shocker there wasn’t any traffic in Norwich on a typical workday morning..) So I sat in Starbucks reading and enjoying a chai tea latte before my “workday” started.

I arrived at BBC and waited for David Webster, the producer of the afternoon radio programme who I would be shadowing, to arrive. Eventually Stephen Bumfrey, the presenter of the programme came down and got me settled in at the desk and introduced me to some of the other BBC staff members. Dave arrived a few minutes later and brought me on another brief tour of the staion, this time to show me two of the most important rooms (the kitchen and the toilets).

After talking with Dave and Stephen about my research, my interest in radio, and what the program they work on entails, Dave decided that it would be valuable for me to sit in on some of Nick Conrad’s programme because it deals directly with community/station interaction. Nick presents a topic and the public calls in to discuss it. For the majority of the show I sat in with the producers of the show who take the calls and decided which callers will be allowed to talk on air with Nick. It was interesting to hear some of the calls, and to hear both on and off air reactions to them. One thing that I noticed was that even when Nick was disagreeing with a caller his responses were not that out of place. Speaking with the assistant producer he informed me that unlike in the US, UK disc jockeys never fall into the shock-jock category. The Brits uphold their typically mild-mannered behavior even when producing radio intended to get a rise out of people.

While I was sitting with the producers Nick invited me into the studio to show me how all the ‘button pushing’ worked. The topics of discussion while I was sitting in on the show were: jurors in the UK, overweight pets, and pension changes; a variety of topics, but all were clearly of interest to the general public because the phone was off the hook the entire time I was there. There were also two guests in the studio to discuss some of the topics with Nick from a more professional level rather than the opinion based level that the majority of the program was on.

As the programme was coming to an end, I met back up with Dave and Stephen to discuss what was on schedule for their afternoon programme, before heading to the daily 11am meeting. At the meeting Dave and Stephen filled everyone else in on the schedule of the show and then left to get back to finalizing song playlists, etc. They left me with the news editors who talked about the important issues of the day locally/regionally that should be included in the afternoon broadcasts as well as for the following morning’s Breakfast Show. When the meeting was over I sat with Rita, one of the News Editors and talked about all aspects of radio, both in the US and in the UK, comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences to commercial radio, and the advantages and disadvantages to the different formats. Rita was also immensely helpful in suggesting other people whom I may be intrerested in talking with/interviewing.

After a brief break for lunch I moved into the stdio with Dave for Stephen’s show. The first hour of the show revolved around a contest called War of the Workforce, followed by interviews and other topics of entertainment. I spent the three hours of the programme answering calls from listeners, talking on-air about Reader’s Digest (and blimps..), and speaking with the guest on Wednesday’s show, 14-year-old Josh Worley. Josh started his own radio station South Norfolk Youth Action (SYNA Radio) about a year and a half ago and just recently won a local youth achievement award.

Overall another productive and informative day at BBC Radio Norfolk. All of the staffers are so friendly and helpful and told me I was welcome back for a shadow-day anytime, or for anything else I may need for my research. I still need to connect with someone at Future Radio, and I’m hoping I will be as lucky with talking with them as I have been working with BBC Radio Norfolk.

Hours: 7 hours

Total: 8 hours