The power of local is often understated, but with the media playing field the way it is, an item in a morning radio show can be turned into content online, putting it in-front of the same potential audience as the ‘big guys.' Mitch has worked in journalism for long enough to have seen big stories come and go, elections, wars, tragedies, but there’s one that stands out for him. The wall next to me had a pinboard attached to it that was festooned with lanyards, badges and press passes dating back to the early days of his career. Taking a prominent, eye level space on the board is a dramatic action shot of a Speedskater on the ice. It’s signed, ‘Mitch, Thank you for giving me a voice, Bridie Farrell.' He had initially set out to interview Bridie for a programme on her career and the Olympics. That interview took place and was aired but off the record at the time she informed Mitch she had another story that needed to be told. Weeks later she sat down with him again for another interview, this discussion was broadcast in-full, unedited and contained the revelation that she had been sexually abused by coach Andy Gabel over a decade previously when she was 15 and he was 33. This was in 2013, a world away from the current climate around sexual misconduct and the ‘Me Too’ movement. The effect of this interview lead to Gabel’s resignation and changes within the sport. You can find the full interview here.

With a handful of broadcast studios and a live session studio used for bands, the station is well equipped for purpose. I was shown around the main broadcast studio used for live news (TOH and Morning Edition) and for playout. There are two record players, a mini-disk player (for archive) and CD players. The microphone of choice is the Shure SM7B Dynamic Vocal Microphone, perfect for speech and has a quiet quality, often attributed to US public radio that Conan O'Brien once quipped was ‘news delivered as if there’s a toddler sleeping in the next room’.