Producer, KEXP, Seattle
Assistant teaching professor, Arizona State University, Tempe
Fill-in host, KUER, Salt Lake City
Age: 31
In three words: “Motivated, friendly, talented”
What colleagues say: Roddy has such immense motivation and drive. When he started producing for KEXP, I was blown away at how fast he was and how beautifully he weaved production, sound effects and music into the pieces he produced.
Without Roddy’s work, KEXP would not have been able to produce its award-winning podcasts, 50 Years of Hip Hop and The Cobain 50. Roddy led monthly training sessions with the editorial staff that contributed to those podcasts. Each of them came from a writing background and were new to audio and radio production. Roddy taught them how to produce their own stories from scratch.
The craziest thing is, he only works nine hours a week at KEXP. He already has a full-time job teaching podcasting at Arizona State University.
What Roddy says
Decision to work in public media: I discovered the power of radio back at my college station, where I hosted an ambient music show and served in various director roles. After a brief production assistantship with my local NPR affiliate, I fell in love with the earnest culture of public media, and I realized that radio is something people can do for a living.
Key accomplishments: I’m proud to have earned a Broadcast Educators Association Best of Festival Award for an episode of 50 Years of Hip-Hop that I hosted and produced. In addition, I’ve had the privilege to compose and score music for many public media programs. I’d be remiss to omit some of my “behind-the-scenes” achievements in radio operations, including training hosts in remote hosting protocols during the coronavirus pandemic.
Inspired by: I strongly believe in storytelling that meets a demonstrable need in the local community, rather than content that’s cranked out to fill space or capitalize on people’s attention.
Advice for young public media professionals: Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Too many people are afraid to execute a creative idea because they think they’ll get in trouble for trying. Instead of waiting, just make the ideas you have happen. It may involve some hours off the clock, but imagine what your prototype could lead to. Worst-case scenario, nothing will happen; best-case scenario, your entire job shifts toward this really awesome idea.
Advice for public media leaders: Let young people do new things. Instead of reprimanding them to stay in their lane, provide opportunities to learn the legacy and then encourage them to blaze their own trails. Also, be transparent with pay. If we’re claiming to be accountable to the public with transparency in our storytelling processes, there are very few reasons to be guarded about the realities of how we do business.
Profile photo: Ace Richmond
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