If you have watched a sporting event on KHWK-TV or heard a DJ on the Northeast college radio station, they have been trained by broadcasting instructor Brian Anderson. He’s been heading the broadcasting major at Northeast Community College for four years but has been teaching at Northeast since 2010. “Not only do I teach all of the classes, I also oversee the radio and TV functions along with the students.” Anderson teaches classes in radio and television production, scriptwriting, news writing and performance, and digital storytelling, everything they need to work at a radio or television station.

Anderson grew up in Laurel, Nebraska. He got his AA from the Northeast Broadcasting program and went on to get a BS in Mass Communications from Wayne State College. One of the classes he enjoyed most at Wayne State was meteorology , “studying the weather and weather patterns and cloud formations,” said Anderson. After graduation, he worked at KNEN in Norfolk from ’92 to ’99. He then went to host a morning show at a station in Grand Island for a year, then realized he belonged in Norfolk and started at US-92. In addition to teaching a full load, and running the broadcasting department, Anderson still works at US-92 as a part-time weekend announcer.

Anderson’s radio name is Brian Masters, which is well-known in the Norfolk area. The name came from a college assignment when he was a broadcasting student at Northeast. “I had to come up with a radio name by Monday, so I spent the weekend watching movies, and one of the movies I watched was Iron Eagle, and in the movie the main character’s name was Masters.” He got into radio because, as he says, he was “one of those kids that would much rather play the music at a dance rather than dance to it.” Anderson has now been in radio 24 years. He continues to work in radio because he enjoys it, but also for the students. “I feel that it is important that the students have a model…you should practice what you preach,” said Anderson.

Interacting with the students is what Anderson enjoys most about working at Northeast. “I like seeing them flourish, I like seeing them pick up the information they’re learning in these classes and actually putting it to work.”