Lucy Madge

She came back to Lincoln in March to talk to LSM radio students and answer questions.

First she talked about the impressive list of jobs she has done, starting even before she graduated, in local radio in Shropshire, right up to the present. Along the way she has had production jobs and internships, notably on Six Mix (BBC 6 Music), Radio 5 Live, Radio 1, independent production companies and British Airways in-flight radio.

She has used this experience to train on the job, learning new techniques and systems across a wide range of productions and in-house broadcasting styles. She described what she does in a typical day:

Lucy went on to emphasise the need to be multi-skilled and be able to do several jobs at the same time, reflecting of the relative merits of working as an employee and as a freelance

Moving on to advice, Lucy’s three to tips were the importance of work experience and internships before graduation and after, keeping up with media developments through listening and reading trade journals, and attending radio professional events, such as those held by the Radio Academy.

Addressing the issue of “working for nothing” and allegations of exploitation by employers, Lucy gave a candid view, based on her own experience:

She also emphasised the need for hard work and perseverance instead of relying on luck, and described how working in radio now requires other skills these days, such as video production and web design.