Not only is Jessica Bland studying hard for her Broadcast Journalism degree, she is also filling in her application to send off to The University of Wisconsin-Madison where she has been offered a place to study abroad for a year in August and on top of this she is Head of News for Leeds Student Radio. Her Campus Leeds caught up with her to find out more about Leeds Student Radio and how she got involved.
How did you become Head of News for Leeds Student Radio (LSR)?
Last year I was a fresher and throughout the year I was involved in the news team for LSR. This meant I read the morning news bulletins and was also on the Newslink team which I really enjoyed. When it came round to the radio’s Annual General Meeting the current Heads of News were looking for people to carry on the role and said that any of us would be suitable for it. I decided it was something that I really wanted to do so I went to the meeting and gave a two minute speech saying why I’d like to be Head of News and what kind of things I would do in the role. I was voted in by the members of LSR and am now Co-Head of News alongside Helen Hoddinott.
Jessica with her co-Head of News, Helen Hoddinott
What does the role of being Head of News involve?
There are two strands of the news team of the radio; first we have news bulletin readers and also a weekly hour long show. As Head of News I have to organise when people are reading the bulletins and fill out the schedule making sure that people are doing it right and also stepping in when people can’t make it for whatever reason. For the weekly show I’ll present it every other week, bring my own news report to read out and also lead the discussion part of the show. We have a really great team so it’s just about making sure people are doing what they should be and organising them so the show runs smoothly!
We also do live events throughout the year which are news related such as covering the Leeds University Executive nominations and Leadership race which I have to head up and organise.
What have you got planned for this semester?
One of the most exciting things we’ll be doing is covering the ‘Exec Elections’ where the six roles of the executive are up for renewal and all students cast their votes for who they want to represent them. We at LSR have got priority over broadcasting the election live when the results are announced so I’m going to be exec producing that. It’s a really exciting time as during the weeks building up to the results we’ll be bringing the students of Leeds information about the candidates and what they’re promising if they get elected. We’re trying to cover it in a way that when it comes to voting the students will be making an informed choice because we’ve brought them all the details they need to know.
For the news in general we’re taking more of a student angle on all the stories that we’re producing. Obviously we are a student radio station and it’s very easy to fall into the trap of doing news like we see and hear around us, but as we are a university station we’re going to try and embrace that to bring news to the students that affects and interests them. We’re hoping to do some more investigative pieces on big issues that affect students such as problems with taxis and landlords.
Why should people get involved with Leeds Student Radio?
There are so many ways you can get involved so even though I’m part of the news area if there’s something you have an interest in they’ll be a way you can show that. If you’re thinking about a career in radio or broadcasting it’s a great way of gaining experience and it looks great on your CV. It’s a really social society and you always come away from LSR feeling a part of it because everyone’s so welcoming. I would definitely recommend being involved and especially as part of the news team!
Leeds Student Radio website – http://www.lsrfm.com/
Join the Society – http://www.leedsuniversityunio…
Image Sources:
1. and 2. Jessica Bland
3. http://www.lsrfm.com/