had no answer. "She said, `I've got an announcement for a job opening at
the local radio station and I want you to go down there and apply for it.
Whether you get the job or not, you write a paper on your experiences
applying for this job.'" Roberts applied and got the job.
For the next two years, while in high school, Roberts worked as a DJ
for the 250-watt radio station in his hometown of Worland, Wyoming.
"I got a paid position to work weekends, run the board, and play the
records, read the news, and do
the announcements." He later
learned what set him apart
from the other applicants was
his ability to cold read copy
aloud. "I attribute that to my
mother, because in our family
we read stories to each other
out loud from the time I was
knee high."
Roberts went on to study
broadcasting at Brigham
Young University, where he
became the first student
announcer for KBYU-FM. "I
had some good mentors at
BYU, in terms of how to do
good creative work and the
technical, operational things.
But one teacher kind of opened
the world of instructional and
educational television to me.
I was a freshman and had
grandiose plans about being in
broadcasting." Through this teacher, Roberts got involved in instructional
television: delivering video instruction from a central location to other
places on campus. "It was the first vestiges of distributed learning, I
suppose. This one teacher really lit my fire about media being more
valuable."
Roberts earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts in 1967,
prior to joining the United States Air Force to fight in Vietnam. Initially
enlisting for four years, he stayed on for 24, working in motion picture
production, audio/visual production and management, public relations,
and media relations. "I made a career of it, all in communications. I
learned a lot about media and how it can instruct, inform, and persuade."
"Define what
your vision is. What do
you really want to do? I
encourage anyone that's
interested in media to
think about what kind of story they want to
tell and what's the purpose of those stories.
When they've defined that, then they can
find a path to get there."--Duane Roberts
"I think broadcasting media is a great
business. I really enjoy it and I think it's
more powerful now than ever. I think the
opportunity to do good is enhanced, as well
as the opportunity to do things that aren't so
good. It's a time where you can use your
talents to tell stories that uplift and enrich,
or that will destroy; or at least push people
down into the bottom of the pit, rather than
lift them up. I think you have a choice."
--Duane Roberts
CAREER TIPS
User Comments Add a comment…