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

Today I had the opportunity to visit BBC Norfolk at the Forum in Norwich city center and spoke with BBC Norfolk Radio’s editor David Clayton. Mr. Clayton walked me around the BBC and showed me the broadcast booths, and introduced me to a few of the people planning the topics for upcoming programs. He also brought me into the television studio where Look East is filmed for the regional television station. After my tour Mr. Clayton and I sat down and discussed the radio station itself.

David Clayton has been the editor at BBC Norfolk for the past eleven years. As editor he manages everything surrounding the station from program topics, to what goes on the website, to finding out where BBC Norfolk falls in terms of listeners compared to other stations (in fact he was quite nervous because the results for the past three months are being delivered by RAJAR tomorrow). RAJAR is hired by BBC and other commercial radio station to take a poll over the course of three months by a cross-section of people living in the area and they are asked to note what radio they are listening to and for how long they are listening and then RAJAR tallies it all up and submits the data to the radio stations. Mr. Clayton told me that as a station they look at three major figures, the first is the reach, which figures out how many people are listening to BBC Norfolk for at least ten consecutive minutes, the second figure is to see how long cumulatively a person listens to BBC Norfolk over the course of three months, and the final is the share, which is what percentage of all people listening to all the radio stations are listening to BBC Norfolk, and typically BBC Norfolk falls in the 20-30% range, which is relatively high for this area.

BBC Norfolk is not considered a regional radio station as I thought it was, but rather it is a local radio station. Mr. Clayton has encouraged me to speak with commercial radio in the community as a comparison to see the role that they play on the local community. He suggested that I try and speak with someone at Future Radio and also UEA’s Livewire radio station. BBC Norfolk plays an extremely important role in providing information for Norwich’s 40-50 and older demographic, but perhaps Future Radio provides more for a different demographic and I hope that I am able to find someone as helpful as David Clayton at these other organizations and to hear their point of view on the importance of local/community radio.

Additionally Mr. Clayton has offered to allow me to spend a day at the station sitting in on the broadcasts and just taking it all in so that I can fully see what BBC Norfolk offers, and I am definitely planning on taking him up on that offer. At the end of our conversation regarding BBC David Clayton told me it was my turn to get questions asked and so we discussed my experience with radio in the United States, my career goals, what I’m studying..all the normal questions. However this conversation was different; for once it wasn’t my flatmates asking me what I call the trunk of a car (although we did briefly discuss the ‘language barrier’), or one of my professors asking me about my courses back at Dickinson, it was a conversation between two people both of whom have an interest in radio discussing just that. We compared US radio to UK radio, we talked about common trends in rankings, we discussed our personal opinions about the pros and cons of talk radio compared to all music stations…we talked about something we both cared about, and we were both able to provide our own insights both from an age perspective and from a national perspective. It was a surprisingly refreshing conversation, something I didn’t realize I had been missing until now, and a conversation I hope to continue as this process continues.

My conversation today has my wheels spinning about the role of radio in society as well as other media outlets in comparison. I went into my meeting with a general idea as to where I was hoping this project was going to lead me, but I now feel that I need to take some time to reconsider the direction I plan on going with this topic. Hopefully observing BBC Norfolk for a day as well as future conversations will concentrate my idea more solidly.

After experiencing the National Gallery and the British Museum, the Tate Modern was shocking in and of itself. Compared to the beautiful architecture and classical feel of the other two galleries, the vast emptiness and cold steel of the Tate created an almost uncomfortable feeling. Meant to emphasize the artwork displayed, the white walls and dead space made us feel small.

The entrance hall of the Tate Modern

The Tate was also much louder and more family-friendly than the other two museums. Children were sprawled out on the floor and benches, creating their own modern art. Graphic installations were clearly marked by both signs and museum employees. We were impressed by the museum’s effort to be open to all audiences.

Through a combination of choice and naivety, the three of us entered Paul McCarthy’s Projection Room. At first, we were simply disgusted and disturbed by the sexually explicit/grotesque imagery. The videos were so shocking that we can barely even remember what we saw. (For those brave at heart, just google image search “Paul McCarthy” for video examples similar in nature to the exhibit.) A brief peek at the Viennese Actionists exhibit didn’t help to settle our stomachs and minds, so we decided to leave.

Upon returning to the Arran House, we felt obliged to further research McCarthy in attempt to understand the meaning behind his “art.” We discovered he is mocking social rules and standards in addition to the media’s control (read: brainwashing) of our actions. Food and bodily fluid are his medium and his body is used as a paintbrush and a canvas. We found McCarthy views himself as separate from the Viennese Actionists. He states, “Vienna is not Los Angeles. My work came out of kids’ television in Los Angeles. I didn’ t go through Catholicism and World War II as a teenager, I didn’ t live in a European environment. People make references to Viennese art without really questioning the fact that there is a big difference between ketchup and blood. I never thought of my work as shamanistic. My work is more about being a clown than a shaman.”

We’ll leave you with this and let you interpret for yourselves McCarthy’s art and vision.