Glenn Daniel: 35 not out

Smooth 95.3 breakfast newsreader Glenn Daniel has reached an impressive radio milestone.

He’s just racked up 35 years in the business, earning himself the reputation as one of ‘the’ nice guys AND as one of the best newsreaders in Australia.

Glenn’s radio CV would be the envy of anyone in the industry. He’s been Director of 2Day FM and Triple M Sydney, and was National News Director at ARN.

But he counts himself lucky that he had some great mentors, a veritable who’s who of radio news, to guide him through the early days.

Glenn’s radio journey began as a final year cadet at 2WS in 1982, where Ian Kelly was news editor before eventually becoming News Director.

“Ian Kelly. I look back and he was the one who taught me, as Kel would say, ‘three pars and a grab,” Daniel revealed.

“It made you get the essence of the story and communicate it quickly. He was brilliant at doing that.

“Ian was certainly the main one (mentor) in terms of writing.  I knew he could hand me a story while I was on air and it would be mistake free.  He taught me the most about writing.

“Steve Blanda taught me the most about news reading,” Daniel continues. “When I was a cadet, he’d just joined 2WS from Fox in Melbourne after he’d been at 2SM.  So, he taught me the most about presentation.

“Greg Henricks was probably the guy who taught me the most about radio news.  He was the one who could capture a moment and turn it around so the listener knew exactly what was going on.  He just had a way with word pictures that no one else that I worked with had.

“Murray Olds is probably another one in terms of reporting and capturing moments.”

Lucky to have had great mentors, Glenn says he’s just as fortunate to still be doing a job that he loves so much.

“I still have a passion for it. I still work stupid breakfast hours. But, I still love going to work everyday. I can’t wait to get there.

“I’ve still got a passion for it. You’ve seen what’s happened to print and free-to-air TV in the digital world, but radio is still going strong.”

It’s inevitable that Glenn’s asked how much longer will he enjoy getting up when many are just going to bed. He says the ‘smooth vision’ from management has been a breath of fresh air.

“How much longer? I don’t honestly know. But I know that I’m in for a little bit more yet and we’ll sort of see what happens.”

“We’re very fortunate to have people like Paul Jackson and Peter Clay, who realise that even though Smooth is very much a music station, news is a priority.

“It’s lovely that at this stage of my career to have a music station on FM that wants news. I’m very fortunate that I’ve been able to work my trade in a music environment on radio.”