Between September 2019 and August 2020, I produced and presented a multi-award-winning radio show titled, 'Melissa's Morning Review.' 

 

To gain prime airtime, I pitched the premise of the show to the station's management team.

 

The show aired every Wednesday from 11.00 to 12.00 or 13.00 on Insanity Radio 103.2FM to parts of Surrey, Berkshire, and Greater London—and internationally online via the Insanity Radio app or website. 

 

'Melissa's Morning Review' was a topical news, current affairs, and political news programme. Primarily, I discussed the week's top local, national and international news stories in a conversational manner—and I was in full creative control of each programme's structure and content.

 

Listeners were encouraged to interact with me and express their opinions on the stories featured via the studio text number or station X account.

 

Guests were occasionally featured and pre-recorded interviews and soundbites were also aired—which I filmed off-air.

 

Live studio footage of the show was also streamed online while the programme would play on-air.

 

I oversaw for all guests to comply with the on-air guest agreement.

Over the course of its run, I researched, produced, and presented the show entirely independently while liaising with the station's management team.

 

Creating the show developed my skill, competence, and experience in: news-gathering, vox pops, audio editing, Myriad Information Systems, news reading, fact-checking, live presenting, pre-recording, public service broadcasting, producing and presenting long-form investigations and coverage, and interviewing.

I am particularly proud to have provided listeners with consistent coverage and analysis of the 2019 general election, and to have covered the COVID-19 pandemic from its emergence in January 2020 and through the first British national lockdown.

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic Insanity's studio was closed, so I took to frequently broadcasting public service information from home, using my own recording equipment.

 

I would follow breaking news stories closely and note-take whenever new updates and regulations were implemented or addressed during government news briefings.

 

I then pre-recorded breakdowns of new government guidelines, and scheduled for the packages to be broadcast at prime airtimes.

 

During the early stages of the pandemic, I used my initiative to platform stories that the mainstream media had not given much attention to, and offer people who had felt overlooked a voice. I took to the streets to interview (from a safe distance) members of the public on their thoughts, feelings, and concerns regarding the oncoming virus.

 

I wanted to bring important conversations that hadn't been given much airtime elsewhere to the forefront of my show.

 

In this time, I interviewed a cleaner who felt immensely worried about how the virus would affect her grandson who has cerebral palsy.

 

I also aired information on local food banks, charity initiatives, and how refugee camps were coping with the spread of the virus, in addition to how the British public could help in the fight against COVID-19.

 

During my COVID-19 coverage, I was mindful not to neglect the other news stories of the day and continued to air news updates on other top stories. 

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On-air, I demonstrated that I am able to remain calm during stressful situations and reassure audiences that I will only tell them what I know while doing all that I can to keep them informed.

 

While live on-air, new facts, stories, and opinions often emerged which took me by surprise. Nevertheless, I remained composed and mindful of my tone and kept informing my audience in a measured manner.

 

To prepare for shows I would conduct rigorous research and consider every possible scenario that could happen on-air—in anticipation of a mishap—so that I knew how to deal with these situations if they ever materialised.

 

Social media came in very handy for research and communication purposes, as it gave me an insight into what other journalists are reporting on and what the general public is thinking about.

 

I engaged with my audience and boosted my outreach through social media channels, where I'd also conduct polls and invite opinions from the public. 

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While involved in radio broadcasting, I felt immensely privileged to be able to facilitate conversations that people wouldn't typically be able to access or ask questions that people wouldn't typically ask.

 

I felt incredibly lucky to be able to highlight important matters, charitable initiatives, and diversity of thought by telling the stories of people whose voices otherwise would not be heard.

 

I drew on my curiosity and knowledge while live, to share the news of the day with listeners in an engaged and personable way.

 

I proved that I am able to edit quickly in my mind if running into broadcast errors and that even without a script or plan; I can deliver facts on-air in a reasonable order that makes sense to the audience.

 

I made use of my airtime appropriately and was always brimming with ideas for original radio content.

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During this period, I was the Deputy Head of Insanity News. The site amassed 2.8 million visits per month during my overseeing of it.

DISCLAIMER NO. 1: ALL CONTENT WAS OFCOM REGULATED AND COMPLIED WITH OFCOM CONTENT AND BROADCASTING STANDARDS AND OFCOM GENERAL ELECTION BROADCASTING STANDARDS.

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DISCLAIMER NO. 2: ALL VIEWS WERE MY OWN AND WERE NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RADIO STATION, AND THE AUDIENCE WOULD ALWAYS BE MADE AWARE OF THIS.

 

DISCLAIMER NO. 3: TRIGGER WARNINGS AND HELPLINE DETAILS WERE ALWAYS AIRED IN ADVANCE OF EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE CONTENT. 

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DISCLAIMER NO. 4: INSANITY RADIO HAD CONSENT TO AIR BBC RADIO SURREY'S HOURLY NEWS BULLETINS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

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Insanity Radio 103.2FM is an award-winning community radio station based in Surrey and exists to inform, educate, and entertain those in its transmission area.

 

It was, in 2019, the most-listened-to radio station in the county.

 

Additionally, Insanity Radio was gifted a Lotto grant and took over BBC Radio 1 for an evening in 2019.

 

This station was voted the UK's “most-liked” student-oriented tune-in radio station of 2019.

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I have a strong understanding of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and the Ofcom General Election Broadcasting Code, and my show was never flagged for failing to meet the Code's standards.

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NOTABLE COVERAGE: COVID-19 pandemic, general election 2019, brexit.