If you’ve ever tuned into News 6, UCA’s student-led TV news program, or The Bear 91.3, UCA’s student-run radio station, know that junior Bri Hansen had a hand in it.
Hansen can check off executive producer at News 6 and student manager at The Bear on her resume, to name a few of her responsibilities at UCA.
“It’s definitely a lot,” Hansen said. “As student manager, I oversee all the sports broadcasts. So football, basketball, baseball. Whenever those games are going on, I’m in the radio station while my boss is on the field.”
Hansen said she was introduced to The Bear while at an interest meeting for News 6.
“My boss, Steve O., was there, and he made a little general announcement about it because it was the first semester back since COVID,” Hansen said. “I knew that I wanted to have a radio show, and he showed me the station and just offered me a job like the day I met him.”
Hansen has been working with both programs since her freshman year, traveling all the way to UCA from Chicago, Illinois.
She said the difference between Conway and Chicago is vast, but Conway is “a great environment to be in school,” because there’s enough to do, but it’s small enough she doesn’t get distracted from her work.
Hansen visited UCA after her high school pressed her to look for colleges and she was sold on the journalism department after meeting Donna Stephens, the School of Communication director.
“She let me observe classes and News 6 and everything. It felt like a community I wanted to be a part of,” Hansen said. “She’s the reason I came to UCA because if I had met with anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have.”
During her freshman year, she volunteered for News 6. She said she was “absolutely terrified” but quickly got the hang of it.
“We had like a week to learn everything before we went live, I was freaking out. But it was so exhilarating once we got through that first cast because it was like — holy cow, I just did that,” she said.
Hansen served as a producer her second semester, then was asked to be executive producer starting her sophomore year. She has served in that role ever since. She said that although preparing is good, it’s best to hit the ground running.
“In the past semesters we’ve spent a lot of time training and I kind of want to get out of that,” she said. “You need to make a mistake to learn. No one here is going to get mad for it unless it’s something you’ve already learned.”
Hansen’s favorite part of the broadcast is the news content, and she enjoys being a mentor for the incoming students.
“I love teaching and I love sharing what I know with students who are as eager as I was when I first started. The students we have this year are so excited to be here and so eager and willing and asking questions. It’s just awesome to see that.”
Hansen’s advice for freshmen is to jump in early and get experience in student programs.
“One of the things I love about the journalism program here, and I’m sure this goes for all aspects of it whether it be print or broadcast, is that we have the ability to get hands-on the second we got here,” she said.
“The advice that I would give to people is if they want it, work for it. The work that you put in is the work that you will get out of it,” she said.
Hansen hosts a weekly radio show with sophomore Elizabeth Seymour called the “Brit-Liz Extravaganza” every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on The Bear 91.3.
To keep up with News 6 and catch their broadcasts, follow them on Facebook under the handle News6 UCA.
