We’re excited to launch the next episode of our interview series at IRS+, dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the voices of talented women in our network.
In this series, we highlight the journeys, achievements, and perspectives of women in radio, with the goal of inspiring other women to explore careers in this dynamic industry and to champion greater gender diversity in media. The stories of these incredible women within the IRS+ network are not just inspiring—they’re essential to share.
In this latest episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing Fiona Cahill, Head of News, Clare FM. Tune in to hear the interview or read about Fiona’s journey below.
What inspired you to pursue a career in radio, and how did you get started in the industry?
My love for radio was ignited as a young girl, when Santa delivered a Fisher Price cassette recorder as a Christmas present. I remember it was brown and cream in colour and came fitted with a microphone. From that moment on, I fancied myself as a radio DJ and would record my own radio shows, which obviously had a huge audience reach of myself and my teddies and dolls. In addition to that, my Mam would have the TV on in the background while she was doing her jobs around the house and I would sit in front of it watching the RTE lunchtime bulletins. That planted a seed in my mind that some day I’d like to be a news reader like Ann Doyle and I would practice my posh delivery accent. So, I guess it was in the back of my mind from a very young age that I would be involved in both radio and news some day.
It wasn’t until I went to college that I began to pursue a career in radio. I attended Mary Immaculate College, where I singed up as a volunteer for student radio station Wired FM. I secured the position of Studio Head for my co-op year and that was where I began to build the foundations of my career, learning how to produce and present news and current affairs shows and entertainment shows, as well as how to record and edit audio and produce documentaries, how to train volunteers, amongst other things. It was through the Wired FM management that I managed to secure an interview with Limerick’s Live 95fm and subsequently a job as a Broadcast Journalist. I stayed there for ten years, after which I moved back home to county Clare, taking up a job at Clare FM, where I’ll be celebrating my tenth anniversary this year. I worked my way up through a variety of roles in Clare FM, starting as a Broadcast Journalist, then Senior Reporter, Deputy Head of News and now Head of News.
What has been the most rewarding experience in your radio career so far?
Working in Broadcast Journalism is such a buzz. It’s fast-paced, challenging in a good way and every day is different. You’re not just targetting an audience on the radio, you’re also creating digital content such as web articles, video content and photography. Over the years I’ve composed countless news stories, attended many events, interviewed many politicians, community spokespersons and celebrities and I’ve enjoyed working with each of them, as well as communicating to, and with, ordinary people in the community about the stories they’d like to see covered.
But if I’m being completely honest, the most rewarding experience in my radio career so far has been working with and learning from those with more established careers and subsequently training many young, aspiring journalists coming into the industry, watching them grow professionally and become very successful in other roles after they moved on. Radio is about people; the people you’re communicating to and the people you’re communicating with and I think one of the best things we can leave behind is the skills we’ve learned along the way, so younger generations can learn, build and innovate, far into the future.
What are your thoughts on the current representation of women in radio?
Like many industries, radio has been male-dominated in the past, but thankfully over the past two decades there has been a big shift towards more female voices, both in programming and news and current affairs, with more and more women taking up roles in broadcasting. When it comes to news and current affairs broadcasting, the scales still seem to tip in favour of the male voice though and that’s something I’d like to see change. I believe there’s almost as many female journalists working in the industry nowadays and it would be great to see more anchoring news and current affairs shows, or applying for those positions when they become available. I coudn’t give you an exact figure, but in my time in radio, I believe I’ve seen far more men applying for roles, than women.
In your view, what steps do you think could be taken to have female voice in media more equally represented?
I think as an industry we need to do more to attract women into the profession first of all, by ensuring the right supports are in place for female employees. As we know, there are a number of female-specific health issues that are challenging for women throughout their careers, such as pregnancy and menopause and if an industry is cogniscent of that and taking action to address those areas, more women might be attracted into various roles. Because of the nature of broadcast journalism, for example, working hours can be demanding, particularly in companies where there are small teams, so I think it’s important to keep pushing for Government supports to allow independent broadcasters to continue to expand, and in turn ensure sustainable work practices which would be beneficial not just to women, but all staff members.
Beyond that, I think there’s an onus on all of us to keep providing internships, part-time work and training to younger aspiring journalists to ensure there’s a talent pool to chose from in times when positions become avaiable; either full-time positions, or short-term positions, such as maternity leave cover. Mentorship and support from peers and superiors can go a long way too towards giving women the confidence to grow in their careers and aim for those roles higher up the chain, because it can be intimidating sometimes for women working in male-dominated professions. It goes without saying as well, of course, that organisations should be making sure that decisions on job applications are made on merit and experience and not gender.
What advice would you give to women aspiring to enter the radio industry?
Those with the best work ethic make it, in my experience. If you have drive, passion and focus, you’re already half way there and the rest is about learning from those who’ve travelled the road before you, developing your own style and gaining confidence. Keep innovating, keep trying new things and if it doesn’t work, so be it, try something else. Stand up for what you believe in and keep learning.
I think it was Barack Obama who said “no matter how much you’ve done or how successful you’ve been, there’s always more to do, always more to learn and always more to achieve” and that’s how I try to look at my job, and life, in general. And then finally, leave a legacy behind as you build on your career. They say you should leave every room, every project, every job, every team in a better position that it was in when you started and I think that’s something we should all be trying to do.
What role do you believe radio plays in today’s media environment, especially with the rise of digital platforms and podcasts?
I think there was a fear in the past that the rise of digital platforms and podcasts would result in radio being wiped out in the long run, but instead it almost forced the radio industry to rethink how it interacts with its audience and that has been a good thing, in my opinion. Radio is all about communication in real time and regardless of what’s going on the world, there will always be a way to communicate though the airwaves, so there will always be a need for it. Radio has always been an information service, entertainment, company for those home alone through the wireless.
Now though, it’s so much more than that. We can publish our articles online, so anyone in the world can read them whenever they chose. We podcast our interviews and shows on our website, so our audience can listen back after they’ve aired. We can use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to grab the attention of media consumers not directly tuning in to the radio, by flagging show items or news stories that are coming up, and we can shoot videos on location when we’re reporting or broadcasting, or post photos so people can see, as well as hear the topics we’re covering.
Digital platforms have opened radio up to a world of people who might not have found it easy to access our content otherwise. Sure, there’s more competition now, but reports from the European Commission have confirmed time and time again that radio reamins the most trusted medium, so while we’re continuing to innovate and grow, we’re still operating under the same rules and producing the same ethical, trustworthy content that our audience has become accustomed to. For employees, not only does it make for a great career, because there’s somthing new every day, but it’s also a great training ground for young people hoping to gain experience in broadcasting, journalism, multimedia, digital and social media.
Can you talk about any mentorship experiences you’ve had, either as a mentor or mentee, and how they’ve impacted your career?
I can genuinely say I’ve learned something from every single person I’ve worked with over the past two decades. There’s such a diverse pool of people working in radio, with varying skillsets, in varying roles and I find everyone has something to offer everyone else, be it their experience or fresh ideas. Anything negative that came my way made me stronger and anything postive kept fueling my drive.
There was a defining moment for me, though, when a retiring broadcaster, who’s widely respected, told me they’d spent their entire career feeling like an imposter, waiting for someone to find them out, only to ultimately accept they’d got to where they were, because they were very good at their job. It made me realise that everyone has insecurities about what they’re doing, but you have to have the confidence to trust your gut and experience and push through. Up until then, I was very hard on myself, looking at colleagues thinking they had all the answers, wishing I could be as confident, but we’re all human, and as I say, we all have moments of insecurity.
What projects are you currently excited about?
We’ve expended our team in the past year and have spent that time focussing on training newcomers in the various aspects of broadcast news and helping them to build on their skillset, so the project we’re currently working on is re-introducing mobile journalism back into our news product. So far, our multimedia reports have received a very good response so we intend to build on that, going from one or two a week to one or two a day. It’s something I’m really excited about because as I metioned earlier, the great thing about radio in recent years is we’re embracing new and innovative ways of delivering the news that targets a wider audience, which can only benefit the station, but it’s also helping the team to discover and improve on useful skills that will help them become more rounded and experienced journalists.
Fiona Cahill, Head of News, Clare FM
