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Home / Industry Loop - Radio presenters are people too

Industry Loop - Radio presenters are people too

2022-05-27  NSK

Industry Loop - Radio presenters are people too

The generally accepted definition of a radio presenter is one who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. 

In layman’s terms, it is someone who hosts a radio show.  The job generally demands that you share a piece of yourself every single time you switch on that microphone. 

I need you to take a few minutes and understand how deep this is.  The general perception of the job till this day is that radio presenters are eternally happy and never have issues.  The perception is that radio presenters are perfect and always have their sh*t together. 

Generally, show business requires of you to project this pristine and immaculate version of yourself every time you show up.  I’ve been on radio for 12 years (and some change), and I can positively tell you that this perception is damaging mentally and financially. 

Don’t get me wrong; it’s the best job in the whole wide world. 

However, in the natural laws of life, positives and negatives exist.  The negative of this job is rarely talked about; no one dares highlight the negative of this line of work. 

Radio presenters are people too.  Radio presenters are human; humans have feelings.  A whole array of feelings erupts as a result of one’s social construct.  Show me a human being that is happy every single day, and I will reveal the cure for cancer. 

The expectation that a radio presenter should be fantastic and happy every single time they switch on that microphone is unbelievably strenuous.  Perhaps that was the expectation for old school radio.

 For this to still be the expectation in this modern age of 2022 honestly defies logic. 

Imagine a radio presenter that hosts a prime time show weekdays. 

That’s three to four hours on air – Monday to Friday – right throughout the whole year. 

Radio presenters miss important days like birthdays, funerals, Christmas and new year’s parties, etc. for that microphone. 

This then has a chain reaction that ends up complicating family, friend and intimate relations. 

Yet, somehow, the expectation is that radio presenters are to be happy every single time that microphone is switched on. 

Again, take a few minutes and understand how deep this is. 

What is the solution? How do we move forward, knowing what we now know? For a while, I’ve been calling for some sort of counselling service at radio stations.  Some sort of counselling service to which radio presenters can turn to during mentally-trying times.  And no...HR is not the answer because HR is an administrative function in a Namibian context.

 If we are to be honest, HR does not have the time or patience to be counselling jacksh*t!  It’s high time radio bosses understand that a radio presenter is the face (voice) of the station. 

Sales teams may be putting in the work behind the scenes to get in the money, but it really is the radio presenter who sells that station. 

The radio presenter is the product. The radio presenter is the hook.

 Namibian radio wants to make you believe that it is not – and that is some serious manure!

 The sooner radio bosses understand that a radio presenter is the talent and that the talent needs to be taken care of, the sooner the content (and money) will improve on Namibian radio.  Set up a counselling service for radio presenters at work because radio presenters are people too.

    Until the next Loop, we say #GMTM                                                      

* Need an MC? I do not post naked pictures or have a 100k followers but after 10 years of MCeeing, I think i can do the job. Contact me for a quote at naobebsekind@gmail.com


2022-05-27  NSK

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