‘My first love has always been presenting’

by | Apr 7, 2019 | Featured 2

VOICE of Wits (VoW FM) programming manager, Matthew Malcolm, has stepped down from his position to be a presenter at YFM, a commercial youth radio station in Johannesburg.

The Wits graduate, formerly known as Matthew Law but now rebranding himself as DJ Flax, started at VoW FM as a presenter during his first year of study in 2014.

“Until September 2015 I did every show under the sun, and it was just to get experience,” DJ Flax said.

Thereafter he presented the breakfast show for three years, while completing a Bachelor of Arts and furthering his training at the Wits Radio Academy. “The most difficult thing is resilience,” said DJ Flax. VoW FM radio presenter, Tshepo Thaela, echoed these sentiments, saying “Anyone can have a good idea, but putting in the work to bring it to life – that’s something special.”

The 23-year-old presenter added, “I really enjoyed working with Matthew because he always had cool ideas and made things happen.”

YFM programming manager, Tumelo Diaho-Monaheng, told Wits Vuvuzela, “VoW FM is a good platform for aspiring radio journalists to gain work experience. It has structure and great people managing the station.”

“I would suggest anyone hoping to go into radio should do it through the campus space because it forces you to do everything and think creatively,” said DJ Flax.

“Matthew’ understanding of the medium and its impact on the listener was very impressive.

“He has worked very hard at earning his stripes at VoW FM and he is a keen learner. That’s what I am looking for,” said Diaho-Monaheng.

Although VoW FM has a high turnover rate, DJ Flax assured Wits Vuvuzela  that, “VoW FM has a phenomenal set of volunteers who have taken on roles where they can to ensure that this hasn’t affected the station.”

Since DJ Flax started at VoW FM, he says, “The station hasn’t really changed all that much. There’s such a culture of pride for the station that it gets passed down to every new intake.”

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