AFTRS Industry Certificate: Radio Content, Management and Leadership

AFTRS Industry Certificate: Radio Content, Management and Leadership - starts 29 April, 24 weeks, online and one weekend at AFTRS in Sydney.

This AFTRS radio industry validated certificate is designed for experienced radio staff working in the commercial, public and community broadcasting sectors wanting to step up into management, content and programming roles. Delivered part-time, online, over 24 weeks, it will develop students programming, management and leadership skills to a professional standard.

Who should consider doing the course?

This course is designed for those who have been involved in making radio (or those helping to run radio stations) who want to take the next step and become creative leaders, helping to shape the sound, style and direction of their stations. It is aimed at community, commercial and public broadcasters who are ready to take that next step in their radio careers and to grow the next crop of leadership talent coming up through the ranks.

How does the course meet the needs of community broadcasters specifically?                        

The course focusses on the leadership and development skills required to lead a group of people in a creative endeavour. It looks at the challenges ahead for radio as a medium, how change will impact our industry and what we can do to adapt and innovate to build radio listenership and engagement with our content. There is a strong focus on duty of care for staff and volunteers, as well as workplace health and safety. The course also covers the basics of broadcast law, including the codes of practice - and defamation and contempt of court. It also looks at how to build income streams and foster strong and successful client, partner and sponsor relationships.

What feedback have other community broadcasters provided on the course?

AFTRS is committed to continuing refining this course to ensure it is relevant and applicable in real-life scenarios. Part of this process has been to seek direct input from industry on a regular basis. To this end AFTRS held industry feedback sessions where senior people from community, commercial and public broadcasting sectors gave direct feedback on the course content. This feedback has been used to re-shape and refine the content to ensure it is current and relevant to each of the sectors. Natalie Pozdeev was the CBAA representative as part of the process and her input formed part of the re-write of the course for 2019.

What are the learning outcomes of the course that specifically relate to those in community radio?

The course is delivered across four main subjects: Content Design; Learning and Leadership; Building Teams; and Tactical Programming. Within these subject headings are key modules that can be applied and adapted to either the commercial, public or community sectors. Topics like researching and understanding your audience; creating engaging content; how we learn; codes, compliance and welfare in the workplace; collaborative broadcasting; what motivates people; harnessing talent; and designing strategies for success. The core aims of the course are to provide students with the opportunity to:

• Develop a thorough understanding of the role of leading program teams and shaping the sound and the success of their station. It will help them to identify and apply skills and knowledge within real-life workplace contexts.
• The course explores the framework of managing people, programming campaigns and strategies from inception to completion and covers techniques for idea generation and implementation.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply their leadership and management skills in decision making, leading teams, developing talent, nurturing teams and creating positive workplace environments
• Explain the role of strategy and tactics behind good content design and programming
• Design content and programming strategies from inception to completion
• Identify the broadcast codes and regulation of the ABC, Community and Commercial Radio

How will community radio students benefit from the course and being part of the AFTRS community?

Students of this course will have the opportunity to network with their fellow students from a broad cross-section of radio stations around the country. The course is delivered online, but there is a two-day ‘residential’ at AFTRS in Sydney where a wide range of guest speakers from industry are invited to present and interact with students. This weekend ‘residential’ is also attended by both the full-time and part-time cohort of the AFTRS Graduate Diploma in Radio course so there is ample opportunity to network and inter-relate with both industry heavy-weights and fellow radio students face-to-face. Interestingly, this year a majority of the full-time Graduate Diploma in Radio students have deep community radio backgrounds. 

Enrol now!

AFTRS is a valued partner of the CBAA.