THERE’S one thing ABC Radio presenter Cameron Marshall is never short of, it’s something to say.
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On Friday, he celebrated the fact his dulcet tones have been heard over the airwaves for 25 years. Originally a Taswegian, Marshall’s family moved to NSW when he was three years old.
But it was in his place of birth that he got his first break in commercial radio.
“I worked as a volunteer in community radio at first and after completing studies at the Australian Film Television and Radio School I sent out tapes and started to harass people,” Marshall said. The job at 7BU in Burnie came up and he applied.
“I had the interview by phone and the gentleman hired me, wished me luck and told me it was his last day, so I never met the bloke who gave me my first job.”
He started on the Australia Day weekend in 1988 and stayed there for 10 and a half months.
Next was a stint on commercial radio at Lismore, where he worked for two and a half years.
On April Fool’s Day in 1991, a date which Marshall now finds auspicious, he started at ABC Radio at Broken Hill.
“Everyone had cleared off as it was Easter, and I got a bit of a shock coming from the lush green to the barren dry of the outback.”
He stayed for seven years, presenting the morning show and eventually taking over as manager. Making a seachange he took on a position at ABC Mid-North Coast, in 1998, when the station was located at Kempsey.
After two years he thought he would try the big smoke and took a job offered to him from Adelaide. But when he heard the news that a new ABC station would be built from scratch in Port Macquarie, he came back.
“That was in 2004, and he has been the breakfast presenter and station manager ever since.
His time on the Mid-North Coast has included completing an MBA and performing on stage with The Players Theatre.
He says technology has sped up the news cycle, but radio is still all about the art of communication.
“It’s just our interaction with people that has changed through online, social media and mobile phones.”
“But the magic and mystery of radio has stayed the same. It’s like a live performance each day – anything can happen and it usually does.
“My career has been punctuated by weird happenings, but it is a joy to be able to be part of your community.”