by Darren Hann

What happens when you take a handful of budding media students from the University of South Wales and ask them to produce a radio show discussing topics close to them? The result is an episode of BBC Radio Wales’ The Phone In show hosted from the University itself!

There was this nervous energy in me, standing amongst a mix of colleagues from the university and staff from the BBC. We had been invited into the morning briefing, where the Radio Wales team would review the schedule for the show. I tried to play it cool, listening to the itinerary we had planned.

It wasn’t simple. It took months of preparation that started at BBC where we were given our task: to devise a two-hour programme complete with topics and guests – it was daunting to say the least! We had initial thoughts about the Senedd election, student housing, film locations and dating. The BBC loved the ideas and sent us away to refine them over the next few weeks.

Finally the big day arrived and our both our planning and studio equipment was about to the put to the test. The BBC used our radio studio to broadcast the show to the nation. Would the show stay on air? Would we have any callers willing to discuss the topics we chose?

The BBC technical team arrived first to complete the set-up and ensure it was all working and load up the music that would play between segments. Then came the editorial staff and the presenter: Jason Mohammad. I was surprised at how willing he was to engage with us as students. He introduced himself to us with his unmistakable booming voice – one that we worried would be too overpowering for our microphones!

Jess, Carla, Alex and I formed a “student panel” to represent young-people’s voices in the Senedd election. Jess and I chose this topic to explore how AI is being used on social media to persuade voters, as an increasing number of people our age get their news primarily from social media.

“Out of curiosity, who here watches the news?” Jason asked the group during the pre-show meeting. The room was silent and only Alex’s hand went up. It revealed the striking reality that fewer and fewer young people switch on the TV and radio. “It’s worrying for my colleagues in the TV news room who are thinking how do we connect?” he joked later during the show.

But that is why we were called in! The BBC is constantly looking for ways to improve engagement with young people. We are a generation that has grown up with scrolling driven by algorithms and industry executives like those at Radio Wales are trying to find ways to re-connect with us. Personally, I think we need public service broadcasters like the BBC to exist as a reliable source of news.

When the clock approached quarter-past twelve, we funnelled into the studio and took our pre-arranged seats for the opening political discussion. We had done the introduction and broken the ice with our host but now was crunch time. The last few moments of Live Today by The Alarm played out, we all exchanged reassuring looks and then our mics were switched on.

Jess afterwards described the intensity of the situation:  “It was quite nerve-wracking really. Jason would be talking to someone one minute and suddenly slip your name into a question, like, ‘In many ways my listeners, Jess, then have to think who do I believe?’ and you’re quickly trying to work out what you’re going to say!”

After the panel, the show switched gears to talk about housing affordability, with an inspiring story from MA Film student Hannah who chatted about how she has avoided paying rent for three years by living in other people’s houses and looking after their cats and dogs.

“We do it fully in exchange [for accommodation]. When you’re going away for three months you don’t want to pay to put your dog in a kennel or your cat in a cattery and for us we can’t afford rent so it was a perfect exchange for us,” Hannah told Jason.

The final guest we fixed was Lucia who came to university from Spain to study Theatre and Drama. She spoke to Jason about the trauma of her failed whirlwind romance which drove her back to online dating, but ended up revealing her true love for Wales and the Manic Street Preachers.

“I just fell in love with them [the Manics], and if they’re from Wales and I’m really sad right now and they make me happy, then that means that Wales must be the happiest place in the world!” said Lucia.

USW’s own Dr Martin Graff, senior lecturer in Psychology, was there to give an expert overview on dating trends.

Two o’clock, and the end of the programme came around very quickly. Despite our worries the show not only stayed on air and the BBC were still smiling! The broadcast had been a resounding success.

The BBC do this every day but what have we learned? For Alex, this opportunity came at the right time: “I’m coming to the end of my degree and it’ll be fantastic to add to my CV. It has given me a great insight into how the programme is put together, and to meet the production team at Radio Wales.”

I have another year left studying Media Production at USW and this has been one of the great experiences I have been given to work in a real-world situation. Most of my work has been film-focused and it was brilliant introduction for me to the world of live radio.

So to come back with the question I posed at the start – what does happen when you take a handful of budding media students from the University of South Wales and ask them to produce a radio show?

Let’s leave the final word to Jason: “It’s been an absolutely fantastic day here at USW, the students put together the show from booking the guests and picking the topics for the first time ever and I can absolutely say they smashed it!”