Whether you’re just starting out or, since we were in Maryland, have a Cal Ripken-esque resilience streak ongoing, there are going to be tough times you encounter in a media career.
Hustle, grind and determination are all prerequisites.
What can get you through those valleys?
For those gathered at Kent County High School’s 90.5 WKHS(FM) in Worton, Md., on a picturesque Tuesday in November, there was a clear consensus: enthusiasm!
The Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 37 hosted its “Media Forward” event at the school, mirroring the high school’s academic schedule, straight down to the class-change bells.
I was honored to be in attendance for Radio World and to have the chance to speak with the students about my own experiences.
Presenters included engineer Zach Maupin from 88.5 WXPN(FM) in Philadelphia. WXPN maintains a partnership with WKHS, filling in broadcast slots with a simulcast when the high school is not in session.
There was one theme, in particular, I found uplifting.
“Honest to goodness, I don’t know everything,” presenter Kirk Harnack admitted. “But in everything I do, I convey enthusiasm, and it’s carried me.”
Harnack, the creator and host of “This Week in Radio Tech,” led a Monday workshop at the school and presented Tuesday. He’s a familiar to many of our readers and has built stations, traveled the world and even worked as an on-camera meteorologist. His ongoing joy, Harnack explained, is what keeps him energized having his hands in so many aspects of the business.
Other presenters concurred.
“Hard work and joy leads you to the one thing which everyone aspires: luck,” Steve Floyd, chief RF engineer for the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, told the students.
Four FM broadcasting program students with WKHS spoke about what they’ve learned during their time. They were Amelia Plummer, a production director and weather specialist; Sukie Tilghman, the public affairs director; Sebastien Cousineau, who works with Ken Collins, WKHS’ sponsorship manager; and Ava Pannett, the assistant station manager.
“It was such a great opportunity for them to build their network of contacts, and I am so thankful to SBE 37 making that happen,” WKHS Station Manager Chris Singleton told us.
Carrying a positive attitude
As I’ve written previously, student radio is why I’m doing what I do today.
That’s why it was so special for me to be back at WKHS on Tuesday. I wrote a feature about the station, with the help of Singleton in 2024. It’s still probably my favorite story for Radio World.
WKHS’ facilities are still so very impressive.
Anytime I can plant the radio seed in others, it’s worthwhile for me.
It’s also so very rare, as I told the students to see someone who has the trio of talent, hard work and joy for what they do. David Szczepanski, a 2026 Villanova University graduate and former sports director at WXVU(FM), has all three, as I can attest through our WXVU work. He joined me Tuesday to share his own path.
It was his early experience at Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem, Pa., he told the students, that pointed him toward sports broadcasting.
Today, as he hones his craft, he’s learned important details about broadcast engineering as an apprentice for Philadelphia engineer Marty Dickerson.
“Having the ability to troubleshoot a Comrex or switch to another feed from the studio not only can save a remote broadcast but also make you stand out to your employers,” Szczepanski said.
Use social media to your advantage, he told the students. Post clips to Instagram, X and LinkedIn to get notice. “And something that’s been instilled in me, thanks to my parents: Carry a positive attitude,” he said.
High school students by nature, Szczepanski explained, don’t have packed schedules filled with obligations yet. So it’s important, he’s found, to say yes to new opportunities.
For Szczepanski, 22, that even included broadcasting water polo games, which the Kent County students particularly enjoyed hearing.
That sentiment has helped him secure play-by-play opportunities for ESPN+, WBCB(AM) in Levittown, Pa., and recently coverage for Holy Family University, Haverford College and Penn State Brandywine athletics.
Reaching new heights
Amanda Tilghman, 26, was someone whom students could also relate. She serves as president and general manager of Radio Chesapeake, which operates 91.7 WHCP(FM) and 90.3 WFHW(FM). The public radio outlet is based in Cambridge, about an 80-minute drive down the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay from Kent County.
In 2016, Tilghman walked in green as an intern to Radio Chesapeake to learn how a station works from the ground up. After absorbing the basics, she went to Middle Tennessee State University to earn her degree in audio production before returning to the Eastern Shore as marketing and audio production coordinator.
Mike Starling, founder and longtime general manager of the nonprofit, retired in October after originally launching the operation out of his barn 11 years ago as WHCP(LP), a 71-watt LPFM. You may recall our coverage of its upgrade.
In Tilghman, he found a ready successor.
“Mike taught me how to broadcast, and I feel like it is truly possible to pursue your dreams,” she said.
Tilghman told the students she wants to pay that forward by expanding internship opportunities for the next generation of broadcasters.
“I just had this feeling as an intern that radio was so cool,” she told the audience. “And I still feel that way.”
Community radio in particular, she believes, offers that sentiment.
Just how WHCP was able to bring an upgraded signal to the FM airwaves in 2023 an engineering feat in its own right. Michelle Bradley of REC Networks was the architect of its signal pattern. Bradley shared the technical backstory of how upgrading WHCP and signing on sister station WFHW was accomplished.
A Delmarva difference
Working in a small market has its challenges. Josh Lynch knows this. But after starting with WMDT(TV) in Salisbury, Md., as a video editor in 2008, he moved up the ranks. Now, he’s director of engineering and operations for Draper Media’s fleet of stations on the peninsula.
It’s different on Delmarva. But for Lynch, that’s a good thing.
“People on the peninsula depend on us, and we take our role in the community very seriously,” he said.
WBOC(TV)’s local news coverage has cut against the grain, he told students. While local news viewership have dipped in other markets, WBOC’s remains stout. In fact, sometimes Draper has been called upon to help neighboring markets. Lynch relayed a story of when its Chopper 16 helped Baltimore television crews during coverage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
“Somehow we managed a live microwave feed from Baltimore to Laurel, and the weather gods were on our side that day,” he recalled.
Lynch also oversees a large cluster of radio stations, which as he alluded to, may soon include more.
Students were captivated as Lynch described what it takes to maintain those signals, including taking a helicopter up to inspect a 1,000-foot broadcast tower near Laurel, Del.
“I think what excites me the most is you never know what’s in store each day,” Lynch said.
What did Singleton and the WKHS students take away from the presentations? He returned to the theme of the day.
“I think our students came away with more enthusiasm, because they realize from those in the real world, everything we do here matters,” Singleton said.
