GREENCASTLE—A Waynesboro Area Senior High School senior is making waves—airwaves, that is—on his way to a future career.
Bryson Shaull is on air with his radio show, “Why Not Waynesboro” on WRGG-LP 93.7FM.
“Why Not Waynesboro” is based mostly on Waynesboro sports, from the high school all the way to some rec league games and news.
“Listeners can expect to hear news from the past week of Waynesboro sports, sporting events throughout the town, notable alumni performances and interviews with athletes and coaches of the high school,” Shaull explained. “The first couple weeks of the show I really tried to introduce all of the winter teams so that everyone can get the credit they deserve for representing the school.”
The opportunity came to Shaull through a WASHS internship program. Shaull is one of three interns this year at the station, the other two are from Greencastle-Antrim.
“Bryson came up with the idea of a Waynesboro sports show and it was perfect for us at WRGG. It enabled us to have our first Waynesboro area show and it fits in well with WRGG being your local sports connection,” said Greg Hoover, director of operations at WRGG. “Plus, it played right into Bryson’s passion as well. It has been his project from day one and he has done a great job with all aspects of it. We are happy to be able to air it and let Bryson explore his interest through this internship.”
Shaull said he has had to learn how to produce the show.
“Other than Mr. Hoover plugging the recorded show into the software to air later in the day, I do everything to make and produce the show,” he said. “It took me a couple weeks at the start to figure out all the software and how to use it on our school-provided Chromebooks.”
And it’s a bit of a process.
“Basically, I record the show just how it airs, from start to finish. Every Sunday afternoon I’ll sit down and write out the outline for the upcoming show. Monday I’ll record my show intro and write out some of the scripts for the specific segments. I then just go down the outline and record one segment at a time. Tuesdays, I try to record the interviews for the show.”
Sometimes, it’s the interviews that prove to be the most challenging.
“The hardest part about the interviews is preparing the questions for them, mainly because you don’t want to be repetitive and just trying to know what the people want to hear in an interview,” Shaull explained.
Then, he has to edit the interviews, which takes the rest of the day and then edit the show.
“Wednesday is the editing and structure day. The editing process is by far the hardest and longest, it’s something that I taught myself and I’m still teaching myself through experience so it’s not quite perfect yet, but it’s getting there,” Shaull said.
“After the editing, it’s just a process of piecing the show together clip by clip. Normally I’ll start with maybe 12- 15 clips that I have to turn into one big show which can be extremely hard at times.”
But there is reward for the work.
“All together, I’d say I put about 8 to 10 hours of work a week into my show, and then getting to listen to it every Thursday night is so satisfying to see all the hard work pay off,” Shaull said.
Shaull said he hopes the internship will be the path to his future.
“I’m definitely interested in a career in the radio or media such as the current show,” he said. “Growing up in a sports-centered family, I’ve grown up a huge fan of anything and everything sports, so the possibility of just talking or reporting about sports for a career is so awesome and I don’t think there could be a much better job.”
He said he is grateful to WRGG for giving him a taste of the business.
“WRGG is such an awesome place to intern. From Mr. Hoover to Mr. [Gary] Kline, everyone there is so kind and helpful. There’s times I’ll text Mr. Hoover multiple times throughout the day with either questions or just looking for suggestions and he’s always willing to help no matter what it is that I’m asking from him. Mr. Kline as well has been so kind. He allows me to join his show, ‘Chalk Talk’, so that I’m able to get experience with live shows as well.”
But Shaull is also grateful to WASD for the opportunity.
“I also want to thank Mr. [Tom] Hoffman for being so helpful in the process, I mean I don’t think there’s a better teacher for the position. He helps not just me, but all the other students with internships and job opportunities in the school,” Shaull said. “He was the one that helped me find the software, and then understood I needed the time to learn how to use it and learn my way around producing a show.”
Shaull said he plans to go to college to major in either communications or sports communications.
Why Not Waynesboro airs weekly on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on WRGG 93.7 FM, or on the WRGG website. The previous shows can also be found on the show’s website which can be accessed through Instagram @WhyNotWaynesboro.
