“Acton-Boxborough graduate takes to the airwaves” |
| Acton-Boxborough graduate takes to the airwaves Posted: 26 Nov 2010 08:19 AM PST Acton, Mass. — Matt Shearer lives where many young adults just out of college do: Back in his parents' basement. But unlike many recent graduates, Shearer knows what he wants to do with his life—he's already doing it on the radio every morning. Shearer, a 2005 Acton-Boxborough Regional High School graduate, works as a producer for morning talk radio on 96.9, "The Jim and Margery Show." Every day from 7 to 10 a.m., he develops discussion topics, chats live on the radio and manages the audio. Shearer spoke to The Beacon about a day in the life of a talk radio producer. Q How did you decide to go into radio as a career? A When we were freshmen at ABRHS, some friends and I joined the school's radio station, WHAB, thinking it would be funny to have a variety show hosted by a bunch of punks. It really didn't take too long to figure out that it was what I wanted to do with my life. I feel very lucky to have discovered that at 14 years old, otherwise I'd probably still be pursuing my childhood ambition of being Batman, which is a far more competitive job market. Q What does a typical day as a producer look like for you? A My alarm goes off at 2:30 a.m. so that I'll be out of bed by 3:30, out the door by 4, and at my desk in South Boston by 4:30 (you'd be amazed at how fast Route 2 moves at that hour). Show prep usually consists of editing audio, researching, and eating lunch (which often happens at 6:30 a.m., a terrible time to break out the Doritos). The show airs from 7 to 10 a.m., during which time I'm in the control room managing the live audio, making sure everything runs on time, and getting made fun of by Jim and Margery for living in my parents' basement. By 10:01 a.m., we're already preparing for the next day's show, and by 3 p.m. I'm home, napping in the aforementioned basement. Q How do you come up with story topics? A Every morning at 5 a.m., the whole show team meets (Jim Braude, Margery Eagan, Executive Producer Ann Wog and myself) to talk about what's going on in the news. From there, we pick topics that relate to the people of Massachusetts or might make the listeners laugh. Ann does a great job of finding talk topics, but ultimately it's up to Jim and Margery to pick topics that they actually care about, which could include anything from healthcare reform to Boston's best burritos. Q What's it like working with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan? A We have a blast. Sometimes I wish I could just carry a microphone to all of our meetings because some of their funniest interactions happen off-air. Between Jim's TV show on NECN and Margery's column in the Boston Herald, they are also two of the most connected (and busy) people I know, and I've learned so much about the news just from being around them. Q How do you deal with embarrassing moments on-air? A I've become immune to humiliating myself on-air, because it makes for good radio. However, I sincerely apologize to my family and my ex-girlfriends who get dragged into the conversation on a weekly basis. NAME Matt Shearer AGE 23 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION 96.9 Boston Talks, WTKK-FM TITLE Producer, "The Jim & Margery Show" CONTACT INFO 969BostonTalks.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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