AFTRS Radio alum Nick Hose has always been interested in telling impactful stories. Since completing the Graduate Diploma in Radio Broadcasting in 2012, his career in radio presenting, producing and journalism has taken him across Australia and beyond, working for the ABC News Channel, NPR’s WNYC New York Public Radio and ABC Darwin. Most recently, as producer and features reporter for ABC 7.30, he contributed to ABC’s book, Black Summer: Stories of Loss, Courage and Community. Nick spoke to AFTRS’ Alumni Program Manager Christine Kirkwood about his experience at AFTRS, the pressures of reporting from the front line and the allure of Australian stories.
Christine Kirkwood: It’s been nearly a decade since you jetted off from AFTRS with a new role at music station HOT 100 Darwin. You’ve done so much in those years, it’s hard to imagine how you’ve fit it all in. Let’s start with the Darwin culture shock, had you been there before?
Nick Hose: I loved Darwin so much I ended up living there three times, but it was a huge culture shock in the best possible way. I was such an Inner West Sydney music guy, I worked at FBi Radio on their arts program so presenting a weekday lunchtime music show at a hot hits station was very different. My job was to play artists like Taylor Swift and Ke$ha and give away free McDonald’s. I must have been the only person in the world who had never heard of Ke$ha or Flo Rida, lucky for me my boss Clarkie (Richard Clarke) was super patient with me. Although I think I got the nickname ‘Triple J’ because I loved indie music so much.
Whenever I chat to young journos, I always tell them to go to the Northern Territory if the opportunity arises, because you will get big career experience while also having the adventure of a lifetime. When I later worked for the ABC in Alice Springs, I went to some of the most remote parts of the Central Desert for work. I also made so many friendships through my time there, people like Emilia Terzon who’s now a national business reporter for the ABC, Steph Zillman who’s at ABC Brisbane and Tom Maddocks at ABC Melbourne.
CK: What were the first things from the Graduate Diploma in Radio Broadcasting that you had to implement to stay on your feet?
NH: When I think back on the time just starting out, I was so nervous. I reckon I would cringe if I listened back to myself now because I put so much pressure to sound a certain way and never make mistakes. But AFTRS was a great training ground, it taught me how to plan a show, cut music, cut grabs and turn around content. Everything I learned at AFTRS I was able to put into practice hosting a music show.
The other great thing is that AFTRS alumni are everywhere and, you find connections everywhere because of that network, and that’s a lovely feeling. When you tell people you went to AFTRS they instantly give you a little bit more respect, which is cool. But you also have to live up to the high standard expected of an AFTRS graduate.
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CK: Going back to your community radio days, what were your goals at that time, did you always have AFTRS in mind?
NH: It took me a really long time to realise I should get paid to make radio, which is kind of absurd now I think back on that. As a teenager I used to catch the tram after school in Melbourne to volunteer at RMIT university radio. When I moved to Sydney one of the first things I did was volunteer at Eastside FM in Paddington and then later FBi Radio (with some 2SER in the mix too). So, it kind of seems insane that it took me so many years to realise I was passionate about broadcast media and there might be the possibility of a career there. When I was younger I never really backed myself. I remember I went to the AFTRS Open Day and had a chat to some of the radio staff about doing the course, but it took me another two years to get up the confidence to formally apply.
CK: What was it like moving to New York and interning at respected radio stations such as NPR station, WNYC?
NH: Working for WNYC in New York was one of the best experiences of my life. It definitely felt like the ‘radio big league’. I was on the same floor as the teams from ‘Sound Lab’ and ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross. While I was in New York I joined ‘Radio Club’ a monthly meet up of radio nerds like myself – we were all working in public radio and making podcasts. We’d go to someone’s share house, usually in Brooklyn, and we’d sit around and listen to each other’s work and give each other feedback and ideas. It was very cool to be surrounded by such a network of supportive, passionate radio people.
CK: While in the States, you produced segments featuring salubrious characters – from film director John Waters to former U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton. Who was the most memorable and why?
Joan Rivers without a doubt. I was so excited to meet her right up until the moment she arrived and then I was filled with dread. She had just released a new book and was coming on the show to promote it. I suddenly worried that maybe my questions weren’t accurate or funny and I got a bit freaked out about meeting one of my idols.
I was so flustered by the time I went to meet her I was sweating and rambling. I kept calling her ‘Ms Rivers’ and then she would click her fingers at me and say ‘Joan… call me Joan’ and all I could think was ‘Oh God Joan Rivers is clicking her fingers at me’ which I actually took as a weird compliment.
I got to walk her into the studio and I had the chance to tell her how much I loved her performance at the 2006 Logies. She told me she was coming back to Australia the following year for another special appearance at the Logies, but she died two weeks later so it was very memorable.
CK: What advice do you have for folks getting started in radio who get nervous before such interactions?
NH: The best advice I can give people starting out is to ask for constructive feedback, but at the same time be careful about who you ask because everyone has an opinion. If you seek advice from people who you trust and respect you have a better shot at improving. I have found people to be very collegial throughout my career.
When I first started presenting the news in Darwin, I asked ABC journalist and presenter Jeremy Fernandez if he would watch some of my bulletins. He told me to breathe properly and that’s something I still think about to this day. Jeremy has helped me enormously over the years with objective feedback and ideas.
The other advice I would give is to stay in touch with your lecturers at AFTRS. Nine years after graduating, former Head of Radio Lisa Sweeney still kindly takes my calls and gives career advice.
I think the other really important piece of advice is finding your authentic self. Lots of people will tell you how to sound or look and I think it’s important to figure out who you are instead of trying to impersonate someone else.
In terms of nerves, I love the thrill of broadcasting, I don’t need to jump out of planes or bungee jump to feel a rush. I try and think of nervousness as another form of excitement.
The way you talk to yourself is also important. I remember I had an interview with Alexander Downer on [ABC TV] News Channel, and I was trying to think about what I would ask him while at the same time preparing for other live interviews and I remember feeling incredibly stressed about it. But I kept telling myself ‘you can do this’ and I think it made a big difference. If you can talk yourself out of something, you can talk yourself into something.
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CK: Your recent story about two pen pals for ABC 730 was really moving. Are these kinds of stories just as special as big celebrity scoops?
NH: They’re the most special to me. Running around after politicians in Canberra or Sydney or going to daily press conferences can be fun but real people are always more interesting to me.
I made the pen pals story for my mum and my grandmother. My grandmother was dying around the time I was working on that story and it became very personal for me. I also made it for all the parents who lost a child to AIDS.
CK: How is the role of the journalist placed now? What do new graduates need to be prepared for?
NH: The role of the journalist is very broad now. You must be multi-skilled and essentially able to do everything. I think the delineation between presenters and producers has changed and really you should be able to do both roles. Employers want the total package so be the person who can do everything – but also be mindful of what are your strengths and play to those.
If you really want to be on air and there’s no chance in your city but there is a role in a regional part of Australia, my advice is to go and get the experience. Having ideas is also crucial. Sometimes I hear in editorial meetings ‘I haven’t had a chance to read the papers today, or I was off yesterday so I’m not across everything.’ I would say to that, get up and read all the papers, have story ideas on your phone, listen to the radio in the morning, even the stations you don’t like or agree with. It’s your job to be across the issues of the day. People will sometimes hire you just on the strength of your story ideas. It has happened to me.
CK: Earlier this year, you spoke to AFTRS about your contributions to Black Summer: Stories of Loss, Courage and Community. A compilation of stories from ABC journalists, how did that experience shape you as a broadcaster?
NH: When I covered the fires in the NSW town of Batlow, we filmed local paramedic Max Gordon Smith going back to see if his home was still standing. It was very emotional. Watching Max sift through the ashes of his destroyed home was hard to do. Max held it together well, but when he came across his burnt-out ride-on mower he lost it. That was hard to watch because our job is to document what was happening, but my instinct was to reach out and hug the guy. But of course, we couldn’t do that, we had to keep rolling.
I’ve been watching Fires on the ABC, and I have to say it’s pretty close to reality. Nothing really prepares you for the experience of a bushfire or the aftermath. As a journalist, you sort of have an all-access pass. But of course, the flip side to that is you can witness some really tough situations. The people who stayed in Batlow to defend their homes went through so much.
In regard to the book, Black Summer, I found it to be a cathartic experience to write about what happened. I think as, as a country, we’re still trying to understand what happened and how to come to terms with it. It was a national disaster, and it rolled into a pandemic which is still taking its toll.
CK: As you said, the Black Summer fires of 2019-2020 were a disaster on a global scale, that then led into the COVID-19 pandemic. Have you taken that resilience and applied it to your stints coving the virus for the ABC?
NH: The thing I’ve learned is that while the type of disaster changes my method for covering these situations has sort of stayed the same. You want to get on the ground as quickly as possible and talk to as many locals as you can. I tend to avoid the obvious people you might get steered towards and instead head to places where people gather like the local pub or evacuation centre.
The pandemic has also shifted the way that we tell stories. I think there’s a much greater emphasis on user-generated content. Often, when we couldn’t interview people in person during lockdown, we asked people to tell their own stories using their phones.
I’ve found myself in situations where I’m remote directing, where I’m talking to somebody in a hotel in Dubai and I’m trying to explain to them how to do a pan shot (people always pan too quickly) or how to make a visual diary. I’ve sent people instructions on what to shoot and it’s always a joy to see how they interpret that. One time I had a whole sequence of an Australian woman buying baguettes in France filmed by her husband on an iPhone. I didn’t ask for that, but it looked great, so we used it.
CK: What’s next for you and what are your dreams for the future?
No matter what the medium, I will always be interested in telling Australian stories. I have had some of the best experiences of my life being a broadcaster and journalist. I’ve made life-long friends, travelled the world and learned so much. I want to keep learning and exploring, and most of all, meeting amazing people wherever I go.
