UIUC Journalism and Latina/Latino Studies ’22
I don’t think I knew what I was getting into when I chose to take Chris Evan’s JOUR 335 Audio Journalism class. The assumption that it might be an easier approach to journalism compared to video, which involves both audio and visuals to work with, was far from the truth. In fact, as you soon find studying and creating journalism pieces, everything sort of overlaps into multimedia formats. With audio journalism, I grew to appreciate the work it takes behind every podcast or episode to make it as immersive and accurate as possible for listeners.
Some of the mishaps I had was adjusting my writing to fit the 5th-8th grade level required for scripts. I struggled with editing my writing style since I am very much accustomed to print media format; it is what got me into journalism. You note this in my wrap script, where I use words like “threaten” to “commercial logging” that need to be changed to more similar descriptions. In my feature piece words like “resonate” and “prioritize” to “over-sexualization.” Also in the first audio pieces I did, like the two-way, I was not as precise in editing in keeping the audio levels between -9 and 06 dB; there are some moments when I talk that it reaches red too frequently.
In terms of things that went well, I really appreciated the time we took in class to prepare for my two-way. I felt, with the help of my colleagues, that I was able to find sources from places I didn’t even think to look. Additionally, I was fairly satisfied with my feature on the Borderline Play which I was luckily able to be fully accommodated by the staff, cast, director, etc. Having sat in on rehearsals, I got great interviews and pictures, as well as the sound of each source which I used to introduce them in my audio. I was also able to find ways to incorporate an abundance of hyperlinks from “Brown Theatre Collective” to playwright’s “Andrew Sianez de la O” social media to the links to my sources/statistics: “Npr” and “Illinois Newsroom.” I was pleased that I got a variety of sources, many from the theatre production, an audience member and an expert; the only thing I regret is not getting to interview a professor that has expertise in POC art theories/context.
Overall, I have gained so much from being in this class in being very intentional with the words and content I used. Also, how to always be vigilant and adaptive in environments I report in, especially considering all the faces part of audio-storytelling; print stories, pictures, videos, hyperlinks, etc. Most importantly I can add Adobe Audition to my toolkit. (I have only ever used Adobe Spark and Adobe Premiere Pro). I thought my 400 level broadcast course, which is usually taken as a senior, was difficult but this class proved that there is a hefty amount of time needed to research, interview, get audio, get visuals, and write a story promptly to remain as relevant and newsworthy as possible. I am excited to see how I can use these skills in future projects in whatever path I take in the journalism field.