Radio road trip: Alana’s Aussie adventure

“If anyone had told me three years ago that this would be my life at 19, I would not have believed them.”

 Alana Bender is soaking up every second of her Australian radio adventure, having moved across the world to follow her passion.

Extreme anxiety kicked in when Alana made the decision to fly solo from her home country of Canada to the land Down Under, to take up an internship with Australian Independent Radio News.

Growing up, Alana’s family always had the news on in the background, igniting in her a dream to one day be a news anchor on national TV.

Alana tells Radio Today “I had my first look at a real newsroom when I job shadowed Global News Calgary for an evening show. After experiencing that, I was eager to get started.”

Alana began her studies in the Radio, Television and Broadcast News program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2020.

“During my final semester at SAIT, I decided I wanted to do an internship with a newsroom in Australia so I could pursue my dream to travel, while working my dream career.”

After studying all sections of broadcast news, Alana surprised herself by switching to a radio route.

“I could still see myself doing a television job one day, but I have developed an immense love for the radio reporting life, and I’m loving the flexibility it has with today’s digital era.”

Alana is also loving life in Oz, and meeting people from all walks of life.

“I find the culture in Australia is very similar to the culture in Canada and connecting with others makes me feel closer to home.”

“I also really enjoy the scenery and nature. The ocean and beaches are very different from my landscape back home, where we have mountains and rivers.”

Alana sources and reports on stories across every state and territory in Australia.

The flexibility of her radio work ticks all the boxes when it comes to travel.

“Being able to pack up my radio ‘office’ and hit the road is something I never imagined to be possible in this industry. I have managed to travel all over New South Wales, and I’m about to do a road trip across Queensland, while still working my radio job.”

“I absolutely love producing news stories in Australia, and I could not have asked for a better team of people to work with.”

Long term, Alana wants to continue working remotely while travelling around the world.

“The flexibility of working with an online radio station is really unbeatable for the current lifestyle I want to live.”

Working in news can sometimes require a thick skin. Alana’s advice to other young people keen to carve out a radio career is firstly to think about the ‘why?’

“Not everyone will love your work and you cannot beat yourself up over that. This industry moves at an extremely fast pace and you have to really know WHY you want to be a part of it, if you are going to keep up and be successful.”

“I know multiple people who enrolled in the same broadcast news program as me and dropped out during the first or second semester. I believe the main reason they burnt out so soon is due to the fact that they didn’t want it badly enough.”

“My audio professor used to constantly ask us ‘how badly do you want it?’ and that quote has always stuck with me.”

“There will always be competition in this industry, and if you aren’t willing to put the work in, you will either burn out or be replaced by a person who is willing to work harder than you.”

“Your ‘why’ is what will get you through the hardest of days and keep you coming back, day after day.”

“Overall, radio news is a super fun and unique industry because you are constantly given the opportunity to learn about different people and their stories, while gaining perspective on a variety of topics.”

“I wouldn’t trade my decision to join this industry for anything!”