People who dream of working in radio and television are told, as soon as they begin studying the intricacies of broadcasting, that they’ll need to complete an internship if they truly want to work in the business. Most station coordinators want people to have solid, real-life experience in the biz before they’ll consider taking a chance on hiring new employees.
WNCW staff members have been providing internship opportunities for students for nearly three decades. This summer, our listener supported station accepted two new candidates… Steve Bohn and Benjamin Teague.
Bohn is a Broadcast Production Technology student at Isothermal Community College in Spindale, NC and Teague attends Cleveland Community College in Shelby, NC studying BPT at CCC.
At WNCW, the interns are given many different tasks to gain the 160 hours required by educational institutions to fulfill requirements for completing their degrees. They work hard, are valued members of the station, and they get an extreme close up of what goes down, on a daily basis, at a real radio station.
“Steve Bohn and Benjamin Teague have been busy taking on all of our video projects at WNCW this summer,” said Program Director Joe Kendrick. “These range from videos of live performances in Studio B, to working in the field on our Night Owl shoot - a collaboration with National Public Radio. They’ve also been diving into the operations of the radio station by learning how to operate the digital library, adding songs into our database from our physical library, which they have also helped maintain. Add to that things like helping staff the WNCW booth at a festival and transcribing our podcasts into written form, and you get an idea of the many things they have learned and what contributions they have made.”
Teague admitted he didn’t realize how widespread the fan base is, worldwide.
“I must admit that I had a huge misconception regarding the size and scope of WNCW,” said Teague. “My expectation was that it was a small, local public radio station… quite the contrary. During my time at the station, I have come to realize how powerful WNCW’s reach and impact really is – and interning at the station was more than just assisting with programming. I was also exposed to the importance of the underwriting department, the membership department and its donors.”
Teague learned the many different ways WNCW generates revenue through listener and business support. This summer, he quickly became acquainted with the processes through methodically maintaining some of the information that is generated by these departments.
ICC intern Bohn has had a few “aha” moments as well while keeping up with a very busy Studio B - Live Summer Session, schedule. Bohn has been tirelessly shooting, editing and uploading videos of the sessions to the WNCW You Tube Channel.
“The biggest benefit that I’ve found in doing the internship at WNCW has also been the biggest challenge,” said Bohn. “Taking classroom skills and applying them to real world projects has taught me to meet these challenges with flexibility, and to seek helpful criticism when I’m unsure of my own knowledge. Interning with the great folks at WNCW has provided me with invaluable experiences,” added Bohn. “It’s a real pleasure and privilege to be involved with the talented musicians that WNCW showcases in Studio B.”
“It’s really rewarding when we can apply what ICC’s broadcast students have learned towards tasks we need done here, like video production,” said Music Director Martin Anderson. “It’s a relief to know we can get everything done that we want to do, to keep the station dynamic.”
“It is great to have Benjamin and Steve bring new energy to the radio station, and to witness them learning new skills, said Kendrick. “They both have been bitten by the radio bug it seems, and fortunately, we have no cure.”