Image of Julio Reyes, Radio Specialist
April 12, 2024
By Graciela, Sophia, Tinny, & Sally
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about what being a media specialist is?
Julio Reyes, the Radio Media Specialist at Titan Radio, California State University of Fullerton’s radio station, has been in in the media specialist business for 10+ years now. He says the his role right now is more on the aspects of radio broadcasting and television and sending out some sort of product for target audiences to consume. Alongside his role, he oversees the radio station and helps the student workers, all while teaching them skills in broadcast and communication. He says the biggest role in his positon is making sure everyone knows how to communicate with each other and the proper way to do it since the way communication has changed since covid. He mentioned how before covid, we would have had our interview with him in person, but since covid, there is barely any in person meetings they’re all on zoom or google meets.
Q: Over the years, have you seen a decrease in the viewership from radio to streaming.
He says since he works in the industry he has a biased view on this situation. He says there has been a decrease that has been seen, but the media world is also in the middle of evolving into this new idea of streaming. He says many people are saying broadcast radio is dying, which is true, but not the way that they think. It’s evolving from its old ways and bringing an upcoming into something new and exciting for the newer generation. He says it’s not the older generation creating this new idea for us, he says its our generation that is shaping the way for this new way of viewer and listenership.
Q: Being a media specialist, I assume you’re on social media a little bit, have you noticed a change in the way people socialize with the increase in popularity in social media from before covid and after covid?
Mr. Reyes said there is definitely a switch in how people, young and older generation, socialize with each other after covid. He said in his free time he plays guitar in a band, and before covid people would constantly be talking to one another at his shows, and now after covid, it is like pulling teeth to get people to have a conversation with one another without pulling out their phones. He says social media takes a big part in it because there is less repercussion for what you say on the internet rather than in person.
Q: Can you tell us a little more about your educational background and about any research you’ve done in your field?
Mr. Reyes attended the California State University of San Bernandino and received a Bachelors in Communications and Mass Studies with an emphasis in Media Studies. As he was studying at CSUSB, he worked at the school radio station while simultaneously working two other commercial radio station jobs. He concurrently gained field experience in both high desert and low desert, Palm Desert and Victorville. Mr. Reyes was able to experience dramatically different interactions with a diverse group of people. For instance, in Palm Springs, he was able to work with an LGBTQ+ radio station. This was a completely different dynamic than Victorville, which is a very conservative area and population.
Q: What radio stations did you work for and what kind of content did you put out?
While attending CSUSB, Mr. Reyes was a production coordinator for the Coyote radio station at CSUSB. After graduating, Mr. Reyes worked for the KQPS, channel Q at the Palm Springs electronic music station and did promotions while working there. He worked a similar position at the El Dorado Broadcasters in Victorville, which is a cluster of five radio stations. While working for these radio stations, Mr. Reyes gained insight on how people think, work, and how music brought people together.
Q: How has it been working at the CSUF radio station and have you noticed any trends in the media that we put out?
Mr. Reyes really enjoys working with CSUF’s Titan Radio station, his colleagues, and the students. He says that it’s been very challenging and equally as fulfilling of an experience. As for the trends he has exhibited while working at Titan Radio, Mr. Reyes states that he has seen the typical, common trends with young people. He says that the younger audience are the “taste-makers” and that they know the ins-and-outs of trends and what’s cool or not. A common trend he’s seen personally with the Titan Radio students is that they like to experiment. He emphasizes that the students’ ambitious mindsets allow for creativity, whereas in contrast to traditional radio stations, there is little to no creative freedom/expression.
Q:How do you stay informed about emerging trends in media and technologies?
Julio has stated that he pays attention to what the students are doing to their communication to the words they say from everything. What he attempts to do is to see what young adults are listening to in music and tries to keep an open mind to everything.
“So a good example is when I first started working here, a band called The garden was super big. And I would listen to it. And I’d be like, What the heck is this, I can’t understand this. But even now, like, after a while, and I’m late to it, I’m late to everything”
Q:How do you stay creative and innovative in your media work?
Julio states that he attempts to convey this message to a lot of the students, especially the students that he sometimes sees as a little blocked and creative. “One to always keep growing, you know, no matter what the age, I think you can always keep growing. And as far as artistically is, you know, you have your career path, you have your professional side of yourself, right” he states. He always tells students, you know, do what you want to do for your career, for your accounting, if your communications PR, great, that’s awesome. But remember to also have this linear parallel line of something you love to do, whether it’s art, whether it whatever it may be. He uses the example of when he was working at Titan Radio he always had a show going on. His show would include him bringing in different local Djs from the dance scene and he gives them a platform by interviewing them. Even if it was his job to do so it was still doing something that he loved and is passionate about. And when you do that, you find more fulfillment, and you end up being happier, even though it’s work sometimes
Q:How do you determine the most effective social media platforms for a specific target audience?
He said he was not sure if he could answer this question but he could in a different way. But he states that the social media platform that he has found staying alive the the app “X” formally known as “Twitter” before its rebranding. He says how it has been around since Facebook and it is still being used especially by newer generations from what he has observed from. He later states that many apps have passed its popularity such as Facebook, Myspace, BeReal, and possibly instagram sharing that same fate. At the moment it seems that “X” and possibly TikTok are the two apps left to still have a growing audience. Although he believes that TikTok will be the next to die out from its social media popularity.
Q: How has the role of social media evolved in facilitating socialization following the COVID-19 pandemic?
He said social media during the pandemic (covid 19) keeps us connected with the world, people we did not get to see, family, and friends. A lot of people who are artists have been supported by others, even strangers or friends they haven’t seen for a long time, which has led them to become famous. Therefore, many tiktokers became famous artists during and after the pandemic with a lot of eyes on them. Besides that, the bad side of social media during the pandemic was when people were stuck in their houses and people in the same house were stuck in their rooms.
Q: In what ways has social media both positively and negatively affected the quality of social interactions after the pandemic?
He said the positive thing would be FaceTime with family or friends that live far away from you. In his opinion. He likes Facetime more than texting, because when he can see people’s voice tone and reasons from a person he calls. In Facetime, it’s better not to misunderstand content such as “I’m fine” when texting, which is different from “I’m fine” when talking. Negatively, some people do not think before they upload the video to express their feelings/ emotions at that point. For example, they just feel sad, and then put the video on social media and the internet.
Q: Have you observed any significant shifts in social media usage patterns or preferences among different age groups as a result of the pandemic’s impact on socialization?
According to Julio, parents worry so much about their children that they ask them to turn on their location or FaceTime to find out if they are drunk or not. He said it’s bad in the way that the kids would wonder why they need to do that. Growth could be inhibited by too much micromanagement. The lesson cannot be learned unless they go outside the world and overcome the challenges around them, even if they are traumatized. Despite this, there is a need for time for each generation to get used to certain things in the new generation; for instance, he stated that his parents enjoyed using TikTok.
Here is a video of our Full Interview:
The Society for Communications Research 