5 minutes with Brooklyn Ross

Kirsty Meyer spends 5 minutes with Brooklyn Ross, newsreader at KIIS 106.5.
 

How did you get into radio?
I did work experience at 2RG Griffith when I was 15. I loved it so I followed their advice and joined a community radio station. When I went to university I produced news bulletins for the community radio station during my uni holidays, demos of which helped get my first commercial job.
 
What would you say is the best thing about working with Kyle and Jackie O?
The variety of the show – every half hour is a totally new experience!
 
What do you like and dislike about your job? 
Like – everything
Dislike – 4am starts. NO ONE enjoys that. Ever.
 
What is your radio timeline look like? (Where have you worked)
2006-08 Power FM Bega
2008 Star FM Wagga
2008 2CC/2CA Canberra
2008-10 Mix/1047 Canberra
2010-11 2GB
2011-12 2DayFM/Triple M
2012-14 The Edge 96.1
2015-now KIIS1065, Kyle & Jackie O Show
 
What’s the first thing you do when you get out of the studio?
Empty the six coffee cups that have accumulated in my studio during the morning.
 
What made you choose a career in news?
I always wanted to work in media. I tried music announcing, but – aside from the fact I was terrible at it – I found news suited me better.
 
What’s your most shocking moment on air?
Reading the news completely naked during peak hour on Lane Cove Road. Don’t ask.
 
Married? Single? It’s complicated?
I have a great boyfriend who isn’t in the media (but listens to the show everyday).
 
One day, I would love to:
Work on the Kyle & Jackie O Show. Oh wait. Hmm, I think I need a new goal.
 
Where are you from and where do you consider home?
I moved around a bit growing up – I’ve lived on the Central Coast, Dubbo, Moruya, Bathurst, Tathra, Canberra and now Sydney. But I think the NSW South Coast will always be special to me.
 
If I wasn’t working in radio I would be…
A teacher
 
Name three things you can’t live without:
Air, water, food. We don’t need the rest, do we?
 
What’s your favourite hot spot in Sydney?
Can’t go past a day at Watsons Bay.
 
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Bought plane tickets to go to Burma to train to be a monk. I never went through with it though.
 
What is your mantra?
Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you’re right.
 
Do you have advice for aspiring radio journalists?
These are the top tips I’ve learned about FM news:

  • Know your exact audience and build the bulletin for them. If it doesn’t directly affect them or isn’t of GREAT interest – leave it out. It’s not really “news”, more like “stuff your listeners care about that they didn’t know yesterday”
  • Crime & celebrity stories are overrated. Most crime will affect a very small slice of your audience, and it’s only BIG stories that cut through. Celebrity stories to fill time can be a yawn fest too.
  • Politics & lifestyle stories are great. They affect the masses are will make your news relatable (but you have to write them well)
  • Less is ALWAYS more. Scan your sentences and remove as many words as you can. Then do it again. And again!
  • I once read research that found FM listeners want an entirely fresh bulletin every 30 minutes. If you talked about it half an hour ago, they don’t want to be told again. Try to at least mix up your lead each bulletin and find as many different stories as possible to rotate.
  • Above all else the most important thing in FM radio is your voice. You must be able to read live at 1000 miles/hour, playing tight stings & grabs, using faders to control volume, and responding to announcers who may chime in any time. All with ZERO mistakes while sounding like you are having a ball! It’s not easy but practice makes perfect.

 
 
What’s your favourite TV show at the moment?
Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell. Such a smart show but super silly at the same time.
 
What’s the most played song on your phone/iphone?
I don’t really listen to music on my phone because I hear great songs all day at work.
 
Where can people follow you?
Twitter – @brooklyn_ross
Instagram – @kiisbrooklyn
 

Our profiler, Kirsty Meyer, has worked in news and programs in Australia and internationally.

This is the second in a series of profiles Kirsty is compiling for radioinfo.
    
    @KirstyMeyer

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