Becoming a Radio/ TV Presenter

libra33

Hi All,

I am a 17 year old Leaving Certificate student. I have a huge interest in broadcasting and aspire to be a presenter in the future. Some might say that is unusual for someone of my age to have a strong interest in politics at my age but I am fascinated by it. I am also an active sportsman playing GAA at county minor level as well as soccer and golf at a relatively high level. I believe that my interests will help me in a career in this business.

If there is anyone out there with experience in this area I would appreciate if you could help. What should I study in college? What should I do to enhance my CV? How can I prepare for such a career?

Thanks!

Atlantic Dawn

I'm a realist, in Ireland the amount of presenters needed is tiny, I would look for another career. There's probably 50 TV presenters at most that make enough money from their job to solely sustain themselves.If you have no family or political connections you have zero chance.

FloatingVoter

A degree in political science never hurts for current affairs. Journalism is an option but can be a very competitive field with a closed shop feel to it. Get a job on the student union newspaper whatever you do.

libra33

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I'm a realist, in Ireland the amount of presenters needed is tiny, I would look for another career. There's probably 50 TV presenters at most that make enough money from their job to solely sustain themselves.If you have no family or political connections you have zero chance.

I have political connections hope that will help!
Is it an industry that it's who you know not what you know?
If I know my stuff are chances increased

endacl

libra33 wrote: »

If I know my stuff are chances increased

:eek:

FloatingVoter

endacl wrote: »

:eek:

:eek::eek:

Is that you, Ryan T. ?

touts

libra33 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am a 17 year old Leaving Certificate student. I have a huge interest in broadcasting and aspire to be a presenter in the future. Some might say that is unusual for someone of my age to have a strong interest in politics at my age but I am fascinated by it. I am also an active sportsman playing GAA at county minor level as well as soccer and golf at a relatively high level. I believe that my interests will help me in a career in this business.

If there is anyone out there with experience in this area I would appreciate if you could help. What should I study in college? What should I do to enhance my CV? How can I prepare for such a career?

Thanks!

Not to burst your bubble but you are looking to get into a career where as someone has already said there are maybe 50 high profile presenting jobs in the country and maybe another 100 in small local radio stations around the country. And within that group there is very little turnover. Just look at the likes of Pat Kenny (66), George Hook (73), Vincent Browne (70), Tom McGurk (68) etc all well over the age of retirement yet still holding on to their jobs. I'd say the age profile in local stations is probably even worse.

Having an interest in politics is OK but the youth wings of all the political parties will have hundreds of youngsters who are also interested in politics and would fancy their chances as a presenter so it's not actually that unusual. Also playing GAA to minor level isn't really enough. Come back when you have won four or five Senior All-Irelands (ideally some as a manager) or get 80 or 90 Irish caps to get a gig on a panel.

College is probably a must but only because it will be something they look for on your CV. It will be a screening thing to weed out the numbers of applicants. Even then a fair few jobs will go to someone who used to be in a boy/girl band or who won Mr/Ms World. It doesn't matter that they don't know anything about the area the show covers. They have 1M+ twitter followers so lets give them a gig.

But that shows you a way in. If you are serious about presenting then start presenting. Start blogging and podcasting and youtubing. You think you're good at this sort of stuff then prove it to your prospective employers. Find a niche and become the online go-to expert on it. Look at the likes of Stampylongnose for Minecraft. Or the GCN guys for cycling. That's the level of work you'll have to put in to gain a following and be noticed. It'll be hard work and you'll get dogs abuse from Trolls but that will prepare you for work in Media (Chris O'Donoghue presents a radio show at 7am and a TV show at 7pm and is lambasted on the Newstalk section of this site. Claire Byrne came back to work less than 3 months after giving birth and works weekdays and weekends and she had to stop using Twitter partly because of the abuse she was getting on it). If you can handle the **** and the hard work and if you are good you will build up a following and gain a reputation for yourself. That will be an avenue onto a more traditional presenting.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Just marry one of Gerry Ryans children and you'll be set for life.

stillalive88

Best way might actually be find a way to create your own show or radio.
10 years, the panorama is bound to change, massively. Will TV even be still there? Will anybody care about it anymore?
And what about radio?
The web has thousands of webradios but they're very under exploited at the moment, but who knows things might change there too.

I'd say keep in mind the bigger picture and remember you are of our generation, the "what the **** is going on will this crisis ever end" generation. Anything can happen in the blink of an eye now.

The Princess Bride

How disheartening to tell a young person that their dream is not achievable.
OP, if you really want to do it, start off thinking positive and keep believing.
Do your research (I haven't a clue where you should look).

Your post is well written, which is a start, so many Irish radio presenters have poor English and frequently make embarrassing mistakes.
Perhaps record yourself talking. Do you speak well, have you an accent that needs altering/fine tuning?
These little things can make a huge difference.
Perhaps get yourself audience tickets for some of the RTÉ political programmes, see how the atmosphere grabs you.

Go for it, if it's what you want.Think outside the box, don't just limit yourself to staying in Ireland.
Best of luck.

libra33

touts wrote: »

Not to burst your bubble but you are looking to get into a career where as someone has already said there are maybe 50 high profile presenting jobs in the country and maybe another 100 in small local radio stations around the country. And within that group there is very little turnover. Just look at the likes of Pat Kenny (66), George Hook (73), Vincent Browne (70), Tom McGurk (68) etc all well over the age of retirement yet still holding on to their jobs. I'd say the age profile in local stations is probably even worse.

Having an interest in politics is OK but the youth wings of all the political parties will have hundreds of youngsters who are also interested in politics and would fancy their chances as a presenter so it's not actually that unusual. Also playing GAA to minor level isn't really enough. Come back when you have won four or five Senior All-Irelands (ideally some as a manager) or get 80 or 90 Irish caps to get a gig on a panel.

College is probably a must but only because it will be something they look for on your CV. It will be a screening thing to weed out the numbers of applicants. Even then a fair few jobs will go to someone who used to be in a boy/girl band or who won Mr/Ms World. It doesn't matter that they don't know anything about the area the show covers. They have 1M+ twitter followers so lets give them a gig.

But that shows you a way in. If you are serious about presenting then start presenting. Start blogging and podcasting and youtubing. You think you're good at this sort of stuff then prove it to your prospective employers. Find a niche and become the online go-to expert on it. Look at the likes of Stampylongnose for Minecraft. Or the GCN guys for cycling. That's the level of work you'll have to put in to gain a following and be noticed. It'll be hard work and you'll get dogs abuse from Trolls but that will prepare you for work in Media (Chris O'Donoghue presents a radio show at 7am and a TV show at 7pm and is lambasted on the Newstalk section of this site. Claire Byrne came back to work less than 3 months after giving birth and works weekdays and weekends and she had to stop using Twitter partly because of the abuse she was getting on it). If you can handle the **** and the hard work and if you are good you will build up a following and gain a reputation for yourself. That will be an avenue onto a more traditional presenting.

Great advice I appreciate that. I have no problem taking **** tbh and I am prepared to work very hard. I am looking at journalism anyway so I'll go in that direction and why not aim for the top? Thanks again

libra33

The Princess Bride wrote: »

How disheartening to tell a young person that their dream is not achievable.
OP, if you really want to do it, start off thinking positive and keep believing.
Do your research (I haven't a clue where you should look).

Your post is well written, which is a start, so many Irish radio presenters have poor English and frequently make embarrassing mistakes.
Perhaps record yourself talking. Do you speak well, have you an accent that needs altering/fine tuning?
These little things can make a huge difference.
Perhaps get yourself audience tickets for some of the RTÉ political programmes, see how the atmosphere grabs you.

Go for it, if it's what you want.Think outside the box, don't just limit yourself to staying in Ireland.
Best of luck.

Criticism won't phase me I am used to it at this stage from family and friends. I think a this stage they are also fed up debating with me! All a bit of banter though no harm at all! I am extremely determined so it won't alter my perception of the industry. I KNOW that it is difficult that is why I am looking for advice on how to get ahead!

Appreciate your praise and I wouldn't worry about the 'disheartening' posts! If everyone gave up there would be no presenters at the end of the day!

Thank you!

evolving_doors

work in local community radio with current affairs slots. Offer to do research or record interviews. If you get to interview politicians watch how they are 'handled' by their PR team, new politicians are 'trained up' on minor stations first.
Build up your 'black book' of contact numbers for important people. Find out contacts in govt. depts. or the councils or gvt. bodies like the EPA etc. They are increasingly deferring to PR companies so are reluctant to comment publicly, but if its for a minor issue (say a simple burst mains pipe), then they will be more amenable. If they like you they might be more amenable to discussing trickier issues down the line.
Dont ignore charities either as they all play the media game too.
Read the news daily, watch vincent brown as he usually cuts through the pleasantries. Everybody pretends to hate Pat Kenny but listen how he's done his homework before interviewing, interviewees like this as it can push the topic on from the same surface questions other lazy jocks ask.
Join college radio.

Above all, prepare to be poor for a decade or 2.

libra33

Armelodie wrote: »

work in local community radio with current affairs slots. Offer to do research or record interviews. If you get to interview politicians watch how they are 'handled' by their PR team, new politicians are 'trained up' on minor stations first.
Build up your 'black book' of contact numbers for important people. Find out contacts in govt. depts. or the councils or gvt. bodies like the EPA etc. They are increasingly deferring to PR companies so are reluctant to comment publicly, but if its for a minor issue (say a simple burst mains pipe), then they will be more amenable. If they like you they might be more amenable to discussing trickier issues down the line.
Dont ignore charities either as they all play the media game too.
Read the news daily, watch vincent brown as he usually cuts through the pleasantries. Everybody pretends to hate Pat Kenny but listen how he's done his homework before interviewing, interviewees like this as it can push the topic on from the same surface questions other lazy jocks ask.
Join college radio.

Above all, prepare to be poor for a decade or 2.

I thank you for you help.
I am currently working on and off voluntarily in Dáil Eireann building a contacts list and have a plan to stream some sort of online broadcast within the next year or so once my Leaving Cert is out of the way.

Regarding the poor bit f I manage to complete a degree in Law and Economics at UCD I hope I can find employment quickly. With the current economic situation slowly trickling towards recovery I am optimistic that by the time I graduate we will have reached a high level of economic prosperity and opportunities will be plentiful in different industries.

Thank you for aid, it is great to hear the views of others on the topic!

AnonoBoy

If you want it, go for it. Somebody has to do it in the future - why not you?

Do journalism at college. Work really hard. Radio and TV pick up the brightest talents.

Be prepared to do the graveyard shift on radio and work your way up.

Good luck.

TerrorFirmer

It's not as difficult as people are making out - certainly statements like you won't get anywhere without family or political connections is nonsense.

If you're confident that you're good at what you do, it's very achievable. You do need to be good though, it is a very small and tough to break market.

Radio is a lot easier to get into naturally enough, and a masters in journalism can provide excellent access to national and local radio stations and allow you to build contacts. An MA will include a work placement which, chosen wisely, should be your way in to the industry.

I've no interest in TV but people I did do a Masters with were shortlisted for RTE presenting jobs on new kids shows.

Also, make sure to volunteer in community radio/college radio prior to looking at proper work as well.

Nobody just walks into a current affairs presenting job off the street. Start from the bottom up and see where it takes you. If you're decent, it wouldn't take too long to find yourself in a newsroom reading bulletins and take it from there.

capefear

OP have a look at charity radio.ie as they looking for voluntaries to do different roles. You could get some experience presenting.

Hth
CF