My journey in broadcasting - Part 1

“I’m Paul Benjamin. You’re listening to WIWU-FM 89.7.” If you had been a student at Indiana Wesleyan University, you might have heard me introduce myself that way on the campus radio station. I wanted to have a cool radio voice and name but I went back to Benj or Benjamin when I transferred to Moody Bible Institute. I learned that it was more fun and more interesting to “be myself” without trying to be anything special.

As a child, I developed a passion for radio broadcasting by listening to Chicago Cubs games, “Doctor Demento,” and “Radio Spirits,” a show highlighting the “Golden Age” of radio. When I played computer sports games, I would do the play-by-play as if I were at the game. Once, at the age of 11 or 12, I combined my love for singing and announcing by doing “live radio.” I would announce the song I was going to sing and then proceed to sing the entire song in my still-changing voice. Today, I can hardly believe it is I when I hear the tape.

Lloyd (“Big Red” to fans of WCVM) of WQKO in Howe gave me my first opportunity at radio announcing. Fresh out of high school, my best friend Matt and I did a show every Sunday afternoon during the summer. The area’s first Christian rock station was also among the first to be computerized. Matt and I thought we had enough content scheduled one afternoon but we were caught playing basketball in the gym when we heard dead air. We learned our lesson and stayed in the studio after that. Fortunately, no one called to complain.
When I went to Indiana Wesleyan that fall, I was ready to take some classes and get some training before I did any more radio shows. I had received very little training before going on the air at WQKO – and it showed. Over the next few days, I will write about broadcasting experience in college and my brief, discouraging foray into television broadcasting. I will try to expound on both the joys and disappointments in my broadcasting journey. Join me to find out an interesting that affects my life to this day.