On the air with a Troy Public Radio intern

While most of those who want fame imagine an audience on the other side of the microphone, Katy Ganaway performs in a room alone.

Many picture an enraptured crowd standing up and cheering, but Ganaway, a senior multimedia journalism major from Huntsville, does not see her audience. She knows that they are probably going about their daily lives — driving to class or work, finishing homework or doing chores.

While it may be a different vision from some, Ganaway loves her job interning at Troy Public Radio and sees the differences she makes and the career for which she prepares.

Troy Public Radio is an on-campus radio station targeted toward the Troy campus and the surrounding community.

“(Troy Public Radio) is giving the community a better sense of what’s going on at Troy,” Ganaway said. “The stories are more than what you can find online, like the small events that don’t get much publicity.”

Ganaway worked for 104.3 WZYP of Huntsville for three years before coming to Troy and becoming involved. She took a tour of the commercial radio station and was hired part time.

“I was really interested because I kind of wanted to be a reporter,” Ganaway said.

Ganaway worked with the street team to find stories and as a board operator during those three years. She watched her boss and decided that she wanted to do what her boss did.

Now, Ganaway is preparing to graduate and is looking into jobs in public radio.

“It would be nice to go to NPR,” she said. “But if not, I would like to stay in the Southeast — maybe Nashville or Orlando.”

Ganaway’s responsibilities as an intern include editing audio for programs and training other interns.

“I am a host for ‘Weekends on All Things Considered’ as well,” said Ganaway.

Troy Public Radio plays classical music the majority of the time, along with NPR programs and regular Troy programs. The interns are currently in the process of starting a new program called “Making Waves,” which will be targeted toward a younger audience.

Ganaway’s favorite part about hosting is deciding how to report a story, especially figuring out “how to animate it with my voice.”

She enjoys the stories about art and humanitarian issues, but overall, Ganaway enjoys the experience of the internship.

“I think it’s awesome that I’m getting to learn how to do all of these things where other places will only give one job,” she said. “There is huge opportunity here.”

Ganaway’s favorite memory of her internship was an experience at the Montgomery studio one summer.

A movie about the 1965 voting rights march from Selma was being filmed in Montgomery, she said, “so we took our equipment and got some good interviews from people watching it.”

She met some people who had been there for the original march, which was led by Martin Luther King Jr.

“Hearing people’s stories and meeting people unexpectedly is great,” Ganaway said.