Park changed her dream to communicate one-to-one with audiences
“My dream in junior high school was to become a journalist, but after starting high school, I began to broaden my dream towards broadcasting, which led me to apply for Ewha’s Media Studies Department,” Park said.
As a student at Ewha, she found herself entirely caught up in the schedule of the Ewha Broadcasting System (EBS), the former name of today’s Ewha University Broadcasting System (EUBS). She worked in the production department and became interested in setting the contents of the program as a producer.
“The activities in the EBS attracted me more to the field of producing than just becoming a journalist who could only report facts,” Park said. “I grew especially interested in human documentary after making a film about homeless women. When I saw the audience deeply touched by the film, I was enraptured by such a response and chose producing as my future career.”
Immediately after graduating from Ewha, Park enrolled at Seoul National University and received a master’s degree in communications. During her second year of graduate school, she suddenly felt overwhelmed by the barriers that seemed to block her career path.
“Since the career that I dreamt of was that of television producer, I repeatedly applied to the television producing division for a job, but was always rejected. I was desperate since I had nowhere to turn to. Without a degree in business, I was disqualified for the department of document screening in most companies.”
Despite the failures, Park never gave up on her dream and kept her aim on producing in television and radio shows.
“I think the true textbooks for a producer are television and radio themselves. No matter how devastating my situation was at that time, I tried to keep up with current trends by watching and listening to the broadcasted programs.”
Eventually, Park passed the entrance exam for the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, as a radio producer.
“From my past failures, I was able to broaden my viewpoint and therefore look into diverse job options in the broadcasting field. Because I now have the job search behind me, I truly believe that people can accomplish their goals if they let the wandering process become part of the search for their true dreams.”
Working as a radio producer, however, was harder than she had imagined. She continuously faces difficulties, specifically because of the medium’s disadvantages.
“Nowadays when singers advertise their new albums, they first start off with the terrestrial channels and the cable channels rather than the radio programs. The same goes for company advertisements as well,” Park said. “In order not to fall behind, I have to think up of new ideas to ensure our program’s survival, which seems to be the main hardship for a radio producer.”
But there are also some advantages to radio programs, and these motivate Park to work without growing weary of the never-ending schedule.
“A radio producer can communicate one-to-one with an audience, unlike television programs. I also believe that people will again come to prefer radio programs when audiences grow fatigued with the stimulation projected by visual media.”
Park said that since the Starry Night was her first program as an assistant director, she feels more attached to this program than any other producer does.
“There are still many obstacles a radio producer has to overcome, but I look forward to deepening my knowledge of producing so that I can make a breakthrough for future radio producers,” Park said.
Hur Jin
cookiekat@ewhain.net