CLU STUDENT GIVES VOICE TO NEWS AT NPR STATION.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Two years ago, Jeff Barry walked into the newly opened offices of National Public Radio's KCLU (88.3 FM) during the station's opening day party - ``just to see what it was all about.''

Now the California Lutheran University student is producing news stories - fires, the Orange County bankruptcy and other headliners - for the station that are picked up by all 500 National Public Radio affiliates across the country.

And he's all of 20 years old - far younger than the typical National Public Radio audience.

Did he ever expect his reports to get national play?

``No way!'' said Barry, who lives in Moorpark and had never worked a day at a radio station. ``I had worked in the morning about 10 months doing our local stuff before I'd even pitch them a story - that's what every reporter at a public radio station shoots for.

``Sometimes they're calling me now, which is good,'' he said.

It didn't take long for station officials to see what they had in Barry, KCLU general manager Dan Kuntz said. After two months spent working as a volunteer, Barry was given a paying position through the university's work-study program.

``I think you're going to see a lot more from him - his work is very good, and he's sincere about what he wants to do,'' Kuntz said. ``It just goes to show what a little bit of initiative and hard work will do.''

Not bad for the criminal justice major who wants to study law and had never considered a career in radio. But he does have a longstanding fascination with radio - or radio voices, to be exact.

``You just hear their voices, and when you see them they don't look the way you think they will,'' Barry said.

Not coincidentally, his voice gets him a lion's share of the attention because he sounds much older on the air, much to the surprise of some listeners.

``I've had people stand back and say `You don't look anything like you sound,' '' he said.

Early on, Barry was allowed to host KCLU's ``All Things Considered,'' doing the local traffic and weather reports and announcing the station identification.

Eventually, he got a chance to host the 5 to 9 a.m. ``Morning Edition,'' where he read the weather report, produced two newscasts and served as the local news anchor.

``When I started I wouldn't say I was horrible - but it took a while to get used to,'' Barry said.

He learned the tricks of radio news writing - stories run exactly 45 seconds - and how to use his voice for the best effect.

``Instead of reading something you want to make it sound like you're talking to someone - that's your main goal, almost like you're talking to that one person,'' Barry said.

Since beginning the program, he has produced a variety of reports. They include the Sizzler bankruptcy, a U.S. Coast Guard standoff in Monterey and a Centers for Disease Control-sponsored measles vaccination program for children in Los Angeles.

He's also covered lots of fires, such as the recent brush fire in Idyllwild, the brush fires that roared through several southwestern states and a fire at the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory in New Mexico.

Now NPR is calling him to cover big stories. What kind of stories? ``Mostly it's fires now - I'm almost their fire correspondent,'' he said.

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Photo

Photo: (Color in Conejo edition only) Jeff Barry of Moorpar k produces news stories for KCLU-FM that are picked up by all National Public Radio affiliates in the U.S.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News