Interview with professional-Tom Shinn 94.5WPST

• Tom Shinn-Night Show DJ-94.5 WPST (Trenton, NJ)
• I did an internship with Tom last semester but it was mainly all about me and the things i was learning so in this case it was my chance to interview him
• I am not using this interview for my station profile (I am using NFL films for that) but i figured it would be a good idea to use one radio station and one TV station for the blogs

• What does your professional do? Tom is a very famous and well known DJ in the tri-state area. He has been working as the night show DJ for over 5 years. He is very well known because of his charasmatic personality and the fact that he does off air promotion as well like DJing at bars as "the PST Dj." This not only gets his name out there more, but the stations as well.
• How did they get started? Tom's father was on the radio his whole life and this made Tom want to do the same thing. It has been apart of his family for years. He started off doing AM radio and small stations not as popular.
• What experiences led them to this position? It is all about working your way up. Tom said that he was working for PST as an assistant DJ and then they asked him and another DJ to take over the night show. At first it was just the to of them, but Tom did such a great job that they had him take over the show by himself and gave him responsibility to have college interns help him with the night show.
• What do they like and dislike most about their job? He loves everything about his job. He says he gets the best show because at night you get to be more lenient with the things that you can talk about on the air. The only thing that he dislikes are the hours sometimes because it is from 6pm to midnight. However he still gets weekend off and he has full range of the show now to run it how he wants to. He also gets to meet a lot of famous people in the music industry which is a big plus as well considering the free concerts and back stage passes.
• How do they feel new technologies will impact the media industry in the future? Right now they use all new digital media (touch screen) which Tom has down and can pretty much do without looking. It has impacted the industry in a positive way because it is easier to give the audience what they want. Everything is more accessible. The internet is right in front of him at all times during the show.
• Where and how can students get started? Start off doing internships because this is the best way to learn and the best experience a student can get. It shows tat you are willing to work and learn without getting paid which means you really do take an interest in this type of industry.
• How important is experience and what is the best place to get experience? Experience in the radio industry is important because of the technology used and the best way to get that as said before is internships because internships are where you can mess up and not get penalized for it. It also makes you look good when you get an actual job that you know more than they expect you to know.
• What qualities/characteristics are important for someone getting started in the industry? You need to have a bubbly and outgoing personality. No one wants to listen to someone boring on the radio because all they rely on is your voice and the entertainment that you are giving them. That is why Tom has made it so far in this industry because he is fun and outgoing and his voice is one you remember.

Doing the internship taught me a lot about radio it also made me see that I do not want to do radio for a living. It works for Tom because he likes just his voice being heard and he enjoys the perks of radio. I would rather be on TV or doing something more out in the open. Had i not done this internship i would not have known that this is something i didn't want to do so it was a great experience. However, the things he said in this interview can be applied to any job or industry a person wants to pursue. Getting experience and working your way from the bottom up is the only way to get what you want out a dream you have.

Click here for Shinn's personal PST blog.

This is a video of Tom Shinn interviewing famous pop star Miley Cyrus: