There was a time, before computerised desks, when the only type of studio clock available was analogue – a time when Radio Announcing was considered a “craft.” With little by way of electronic whizz-bangery at one’s (usually) cigarette stained fingertips, one of the few “tricks of the trade” was the felt slip-mat on the turntable, which enabled cueing of a disk. A young announcer would practice timing their intro to each song so that they finished talking just before the vocals began. Telling the time and temperature, seamlessly blending the ads played from banks of cartridges on a carousel as listed on a log typed out the day before was all part of the “craft.”

Also part of the “craft” for most, but certainly not all, was the cultivation of a rich, deep manly voice. Few seem to possess such an instrument today. Is it no longer relevant?

We’re not suggesting that the available training is in any way inadequate. Quite the contrary, the standard of professional training offered by AFTRS, TAFE and others in both the private and public sectors has never been higher.

But in the same way as traditionalists suggest that one should learn to drive on a manual, even though they’ll likely spend the rest of their lives in automatics, is there something young people could still learn from the old school?