Excitement and anticipation fill the air as the 10 school pupils invade the Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) studios to prepare for another installment of their weekly show. The digital clock reads one minute to go. Showtime!
Excitement and anticipation fill the air as the 10 school pupils invade the Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) studios to prepare for another installment of their weekly show. The digital clock reads one minute to go. Showtime!
The upbeat jingle blasts out the in-studio speakers, and regular Yung Amplified anchor Sisipho Nyamela, a matric pupil from Victoria Girls’ High School, enthusiastically introduces the line-up for the show. The show flies by. Interviews are played. Poems are recited. Songs are sung.
Nadia Moore, a fourth-year Journalism and Media Studies student and the show's producer frantically waves her arms and scribbles down messages for the anchor, and then ushers the next pair of pupils toward the studio microphones.
Diligently and professionally, the Upstart pupils co-operate, accustomed to the urgency and orderliness of live broadcasting. Upstart is a youth project based in Grahamstown that empowers youngsters from 10 local high schools with limited access to resources to participate in various media-based activities and programmes.
Since 2010, Rhodes University's senior radio journalism students have trained small groups of Upstart members in the basics of radio production and programming as part of their fourth-year curriculum. This partnership resulted in the making of radio show Yung Amplified – a production run entirely by the youth and for the youth – which is broadcast on RMR every Saturday at 10am.
Every Wednesday, Rhodes journalism students hold workshops for the Upstart members, helping them refine their skills using equipment such as recorders and microphones. The learners are given recorders to conduct interviews with other youths in the area, which are then edited and aired on the show.
The theme for the show changes every week. Last week’s theme was “Creative”, so local poets, singers and dancers were interviewed and included in the show. Mike Moodie, one of the fourth-year radio mentors, revealed how he was tentative to work with the school kids at first, fearing a big workload.
However, this soon diminished when he saw the efforts put in by the learners, and how eager and involved they became. “Working with the kids is really worth it, and they work really hard. Now they basically take over the show!” Moodie said.
The array of opportunities available to the pupils, combined with their enthusiasm, has resulted in a thriving programme, according to Moodie. It is hoped that the show will be extended to three hours by the end of the year, instead of the one hour slot it currently holds.
Moodie described how increased funding and better transport services for the Upstarters have already improved the programme since previous years, with future prospects looking even more promising. Upstart project manager Shireen Badat felt that the sustainability of the programme lies in its uniqueness.
“Unlike other youth radio shows, where teenagers only add their voices to the shows, Upstarters are trained by fourth year radio journalism students in all aspects of producing a radio show. From identifying topics, how to do interviews to the final editing, production and broadcasting of the show,” Badat said.
She said that the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies is partnering with Upstart in another project called 'Youth Speaking to Power' which will reinforce their relationships and ensure the sustainability of the project.
One of the Upstarters in studio, Thobani Moneli of Mary Waters High School, described how the programme has given him invaluable experience, and inspired him to want to study journalism at Rhodes.
“We share ideas. I know how to use the equipment and can communicate better with people. I want to be a journalist,” Thobani said. The 10 pupils excitedly bundle out of the studio, nudging each other and laughing, proudly discussing their production. Future journalists perhaps?
