From the looks of it Austin Stanley seems as though he should be an Abercombie and Fitch model, but after a few short minutes of discussion with him, it is obvious that there’s a lot more to him than his good looks.
Stanley, who’s 21, has just recently launched a new radio program on SF State’s popular radio station KSFS with another SFSU student Brad Hill, called “The Weekend Warm-Up.”
The show is a mixture of news-talk and a variety of music tracks, with the music introducing and ending the hour according to Stanley.
“I want to talk about local and school news, and things that I as a student care about and that are relevant to me,” Stanley said.
The BECA major, who has an emphasis in broadcast and news, cited a story from back in April when licorice was being recalled due to its unsafe amount of lead for children, noting that it’s stories “along those lines” that he is interested in talking about in the news segment.
The daily diversity of the news is what attracted Stanley to pursue his newstalk segment. After being a swim instructor for multiple years, Stanley realized the monotony of teaching the same basics a craft repetitively. He realized that as a reporter he could teach the public new things every day.
“I think the world would be a lot simpler of a place if we could break down and simplify current events so that people can understand them,” he said.
When asked if he had anyone in the journalism industry had inspired him, the first name that came to mind was Anthony Bourdain.
“A hundred percent that’s the biggest influence on me,” he said. “He does a good job using interesting adjectives and has a way with words that I want to have.”
Originally from Concord, Stanley has dreams of becoming a news anchor in the Bay Area, noting that staying local is important to him.
“The Bay Area is a place of extremes in politics and beliefs and it’s nice to see both sides,” he said.
“I think growing up around here has shaped me as a person. You can almost travel the world in an hour here,” he said referring to Japantown, Chinatown and all of the other culture hubs that exist around the city.
It seems as though the Bay Area has grown on him in other ways as seen when discussing what makes a good radio show.
“You have to be able to hear them smiling and they have to be relatable,” Stanley said referring to the popular Bay Area Sarah and No Name show as an example.
But he says the biggest part of a radio show is knowing and relating to the audience.
“In my opinion the audience is more important than we are.”
Stanley and Hill are working hard to produce their show, but as his first radio show he openly admits that, “We’re still getting the hang of things.”
Stanley and Hill’s radio show is every Saturday from 2:00-3:00 p.m. You can listen live on KSFS radio online and follow him on Twitter @austnly.