Heather McCloskey knows radio. She is currently a senior at San Francisco State University and is the News Director for the campus radio station KSFS. I recently sat down with McCloskey in the KSFS studio to talk about Breaking BECA, a news segment that plays on KSFS. McCloskey also works at KGO Radio and is an expert thrift shopper.
Why did you decide to study broadcasting?
Well, I started off as a journalism major and I was torn because I wanted to do something more active, and in journalism, I was kind of stuck. It’s hard for me to sit in front of a computer and type up a story. I just wanted to broaden everything and do everything because I have a lot of interests. I felt like I really had to pick as a journalism major and with BECA I can do journalism but I can also do other things as well.
What are classes like as a BECA student?
In the past, there’s definitely been note heavy classes but now, a lot of my classes are very hands on, which is awesome but it’s also very time consuming. There are a lot of all-nighters that I pull. For example, for my class that I have today, we’re going down to the studio and we’re recording PSA’s (Public Service Announcement) that we wrote. You go down there and you stand in front of the camera and you read your script off the teleprompter. That’s one of my classes.
This semester I’m a T.A. for BECA 305, which is an intro to radio, and all the students get shows at KSFS. I like teaching people and sharing what I know and watching them develop over the semester and hearing their shows. It’s really cool because people start of as complete strangers and they get in a group and they develop this show. Seeing this chemistry and lasting friendships develop is really cool too.
What is Breaking BECA?
Breaking BECA is KSFS’s news segment. Last semester, Shannon Weprin started a news segment and it was two ten-minute shows a week. She was the last news director but she graduated this semester so I was like, “Well, I’ll be the news director when you leave.” So, they let me be the news director. I was kind of like, “You know what? I have big shoes to fill. She started this so I have to make it bigger.” I wanted to do an hour-long of news, once a week on Wednesdays. We’re also working on getting two to three minute updates of news at the beginning of every show. I think that it really resonates because a lot of students are too busy listen or read the news, so this kind of is a quick, condensed version of the news.
Do you ever get nervous or shy about broadcasting?
I’m really shy. I try my best to be outgoing but deep down I’m really shy and super socially awkward. But when I’m in there it’s different because at first it’s like, “Okay. Oh god, I’m hearing my voice and it sounds awful.” You critique it so hard because you’re hearing what you’re saying in your headphones as you’re saying it. But after that, you just need to be confident and say, “If you mess up, it’s over in two seconds.” So that’s one of the benefits.
How did you start working at KGO?
I started at KGO in May as an intern. I was looking at KGO Radio, getting ready to apply for this internship. And I was like, “Oh my gosh. Contact Gina Baleria? Wait. That’s my professor for my radio class.” I kind of networked and I was like, “Let me know if you’re still looking for business and tech interns, because I will apply.” And she said, “Send your resume.” So, I went in and got to meet everyone and then they hired me as an intern. I did that over the summer and I worked around 30 hours a week.
First of all, it was just research but then I was like, “No, I can do more than this.” So, I went out and did a couple interviews in the field, which was cool. Then I started researching, writing and creating a segment called “That Costs What?!” I look at different things and I see how much they cost and talk to people about them. Then I create a minute long piece and I have one of the people voice it. That’s a reoccurring segment and that’s on everyday.
Gina approached me one day, and she was like “Hey, what’s your schedule like next semester?” And I told her I was really glad that she was talking to me about it because I was thinking about reapplying for an internship there. Then she told me that they wanted to hire me. I was like, “What? I got a job? I’m not even graduated and I got a job?” It was the greatest feeling. I felt really achieved and I felt like all my hard work paid off.
Tell me about your small business.
When I moved up here, I was obsessed with thrifting. I would go thrifting but I would buy all this stuff that I would never wear. Then I was like, wait a second, this is designer stuff that I got for really cheap and I wondered if people would buy it from me. I started selling stuff on EBay and I realized I got a really good profit. I kept doing that here and there but it wasn’t a full-time thing. I dabbled in it, if you will.
I moved to Berkeley and downstairs, in the apartment building I was in, there was an empty storefront. It was all dirty and gross and messed up. But then I was like, let’s make a deal here. I’m going to open a store. I arraigned that and I tried to open a store with as little capital as possible. It was a boutique called Rock’n’Roll.
Sales were good; they weren’t great. But then we started focusing online and realized that or margins were still much bigger online. We saw that we could sell stuff quicker and it was a little bit less stressful. So, we started focusing on online sales and did the store as an appointment only thing.
Between work and school, I have no time to… I’m barely keeping my head above water. I don’t have time for it. I’m kind of liquidating my merchandize right now. While Rock n Roll is slowly but surely becoming no longer a business, I think I will always be doing something business-y. I feel like once you have the bug, the bug to open a business or find business opportunities, you have it for life.
What are your plans for the future?
After I graduate I can hopefully keep my job at KGO and go full time there. I would really like to move more into the reporting side of it and doing on-air stuff. But it’s whatever opportunity comes to me, I’m happy to take it. That’s what’s kind of cool about being young. You can go for it.