SMSU alum Mitchell Baker-Magrath, known on Marshall radio as Magraw, is both a hometown boy and a host on KARL and KARZ radio broadcasts at Marshall Radio, which bills itself as the “Voice of Southwest Minnesota.”
“Baker-Magrath grew up in Marshall graduated from Marshall high school in 2013.” He started a degree in video game design at University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonie but decided to have a two-year gap to do factory work and earn some money. The workforce was not for him, so he enrolled at SMSU.
“I came to SMSU and did broadcast and digital media communication studies because I was good at writing.”
“After graduation from SMSU.” “I went to a job fair, and I talked to the guys from the radio station in Marshall.” To his surprise he got the job.
“I do a lot of different things,” at Marshall Radio, He said that his role has changed a lot also. “I schedule part time board ops, record a show that is on air from 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. on KARZ. I also have a show on KARL from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.”
Baker-Magraths shows fits between the music and ads. He tells funny stories that he does for his radio shows.
“I do social media and graphics for the Marshall radio website and also records ads for clients and to get the word out.” He basically told me he does everything he does for Marshall radio. He was also able to share how he gets the stories on air with me.
Having two shows on two different radio stations can be challenging and he was able to talk to me about it. “I get help from a prep service prewritten for radio and try not to read word for word but make it fun for the listeners.”
He has ten breaks between music, advertisements, and those are where he tells his stories. So “I must do 10 different stories to record… I have to be able to land with the people and be able to have good stories, and make it make sense.” He talked about what he does in the summertime for the radio station.
He works for KARZ and KARL and he also has things that he does in the community. He told me “I do social media for the stations, and I also talk during the summer show that we do in the community.”
Baker-Magrath said this on his future “Not always telling stories, but not always on the radio, and I don’t know if it will be around in 50 years.” He said the rise of podcasts are hurting radio stations. “I always suspect doing something for a job but not always at the radio station in Marshall.” He said the skills at the radio station helped him with future jobs. Finally, we talked about how many bits and pieces he must do each day.
But currently he must come up with things for his shows. For KARZ he must make “10 different bits and pieces each day. But they don’t all have to be stories, sometimes just information.” For KARL he also creates 10 stories. Some of them could cross over between shows. The ads have to be especially polished, so he impresses those who want ads on the air. “10 to 20 general information, bits and pieces, and stories each day.”
SMSU alumni Mitch Baker-Magrath is a very important part of Marshall Radio. BakerMagrath has two shows at Marshall Radio, also helps with social media, and he makes the part time board op schedule. Marshall Radio is lucky to have him doing so many things, and the Marshall community is lucky to have him.
If you want to listen to Mitchell Baker-Magrath or known as Magraw on the radio, tune radio stations to KARL 105.1, KARZ 99.7, or Marshall Radio to listen to him.
