Your Equipment Matters I have a confession to make: even though I love sound, I don’t really like sound equipment. It’s expensive, for one. Also, the names are either a charmless mess of letters and numbers that I can never keep straight, or they have too much character, like the time I had to reassure my panicked […]

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I’m keenly aware that HowSound is a fairly mainstream podcast in the way it’s written and produced. Sure, I’ve featured a lot of experimental work on the show. But, the overall approach to how I produce HowSound is, I’d say, middle-of-the-road. But, don’t let that suggest that’s where my taste lies. It isn’t. And, while […]

The post The Recesses Of Jay’s Mind appeared first on Transom.

Inadequate To The Moment Just as the spread of Covid-19 was escalating across the United States, Samantha Broun suggested I record my response to her concerned friendly email about what the heck I was witnessing as a nurse on the front lines here in Queens, New York. I hesitated at first because I was afraid […]

The post Pandemic ER: Notes From A Nurse In Queens – The Hour appeared first on Transom.

In the last episode of HowSound, I posed a question to producers: What do you stand for? When I interviewed Selly Thiam for this episode, I didn’t need to ask. The answer is right there. Front and center. “Being a part of the society that you’re in and trying to make it a better place […]

The post AfroQueer And Podcasting In Kenya appeared first on Transom.

Dealing With A Pandemic By Making Something When the lockdown started, I called my son’s school to see if they needed volunteers to prepare lunches. They didn’t. I called the local hospital and, not surprisingly, they didn’t need unskilled volunteers. All the reporters I knew were working furiously to cover every new development in the […]

The post Our Show – The Hour appeared first on Transom.

My daughter and I were sitting in a Thai restaurant eating dinner and she was kind of freaked. Actually, a lot freaked. She told me this story . . . Her high school volleyball coach nominated her to attend a student leadership conference. She spent the day with a hundred or so other kids her […]

The post What Do You Stand For? appeared first on Transom.

The face-to-face interview is a fundamental element of a lot of audio journalism. Much of the content here on Transom is devoted to tools and techniques for making an interview sound as natural and engaging as possible. That said, getting in the same room with a good microphone isn’t always practical. The COVID-19 crisis has […]

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Reporters and producers are scrambling. Because of social distancing and shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19, they’re having to figure out how to report from home. The new circumstances raise lots of reporting questions: How do I record a phone interview from home? Do I have the gear to do that? Should I use a call […]

The post Gathering Scene Tape While Reporting From A Closet appeared first on Transom.

Just the other day, I walked a beach near my house in Woods Hole. A serious wind blew out of the north. The waves roared a dense, white noise. The sound was inescapable. It was so loud, I could barely hear my footsteps in the sand. After the beach stroll, I walked home about three […]

The post Take A Walk With Your Mic appeared first on Transom.

From Transom’s Samantha Broun: Kate O’Connell is a radio producer who studied at our nine-week Story Workshop in Woods Hole. She’s also a nurse in an emergency room at a hospital in Queens, NY. When the coronavirus pandemic began to explode in the U.S. and especially in New York City, I reached out to Kate […]

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Our Show is a mini-podcast-series produced by Rumble Strip,  created in response to the coronavirus. It’s a show that we make all together.  People all over the planet are — essentially — experiencing the same thing, but separately. In a way it is the most unifying event of our lifetimes, and yet we can’t be with […]

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Estamos enfrentando una crisis global sobre una enfermedad infecciosa, y —comprensiblemente— tanto a reporteros como a productores les preocupa cómo protegerse a sí mismos y a sus entrevistados.  Es importante recalcar que aquí en Transom no somos doctores ni especialistas en enfermedades infecciosas, así que nada de lo que vamos a sugerir a continuación debe […]

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From our CEO, Ken Ikeda:

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak can be felt everywhere and could last for many more months. We at AIR want to communicate our support for the freelancers and small businesses among our membership, peer institutions and friends. There are few resources available for small businesses and for many of us, there are few funds to cover living costs as gigs are  delayed or cancelled. (Details on those funds that do exist are available from the freelance artists resource guide.)

Please don’t hesitate to communicate with us. Our advocacy work is grounded in fair wages and working conditions for freelancers. COVID-19 illuminates just how challenging and fragile our economy, work portfolios, and professional security can be. At the same time, the value of the incredible reporting and storytelling that each of you contributes is needed now more than ever. We’ve adopted the saying internally that AIR members are “Always Independent. Never Alone.” In the best of times this captures the spirit of everyone we meet. In the most challenging times, it is our promise that you are not alone. As a community, if we can connect you with others, listen, and assist in any way, please let us know.

AIR staff have gathered information from across our network in an effort to amplify the work others have already put in. We are thankful for how quickly they have mobilized to provide information and resources and hope that you find it useful as well. 

Your primary source of information and guidance about the spread of the virus and best practices for prevention should absolutely be the CDC and your own local news outlets who are best positioned to provide fact-based assessments of local conditions. 

We’ve identified a few additional resources that may help AIRsters navigate the next few months: 

Squadcast is a web-based app that records conversations with remarkable fidelity. AIR members receive for a month free trial and up to 5 hours of free recording time. Use promocode AIRMEDIA at checkout.

Women in Sound shared an excellent crowd sourced round up of resources for finding work and financial support as well as handling the logistics of social distancing. 

For folks in newsrooms, Hearken shared some fantastic resources on Handling Audience Questions in a Crisis. 

Wherebyus’s Rebekah Monson shared some practical tips for managing newly remote teams on Medium. It’s a great read if you’re on a team that isn’t used to working remotely. 

Marketplace Tech Team has shared their remote plan, including basic protocol for using Zoom.

Current has a great post from KUOW News Director Jill Jackson on how the station is handling coverage of the outbreak in Seattle. 

If there are resources that you have found helpful, please do share them!

The post A Word from AIR and COVID-19 Resources for freelancers appeared first on AIR.

In honor of #worldradioday we’re offering a 30% discount for new and lapsed members.Visit airmedia.org/join, select 1 year student or individual memberships, and use promocode RADIODAY. This discount is good for today only so move quickly.

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Erin McGregor joined AIR as its new Engagement Strategist on January 21st. AIR’s CEO, Ken Ikeda, explains her new role as “a combination of member engagement, partnership development and oversight of our online platform, which is relaunching in early May. We had so many compelling applicants for this role, but Erin’s aspirations for AIR, her project management experience and work in founding Gaydio, align so well with our priorities. We are assembling a team of active learners, practitioners and organizers. Erin is all three. We are so thrilled she has joined AIR!”

A proud Canadian, Erin is based out of Philadelphia. She brings with her 10 years of project management and coordination experience in non-profit, corporate, and education sectors and 6 years of experience as an audio producer. “I’ve been a member of AIR for three years. The organization supported me through my early career in audio production and I am thrilled to bring those experiences and my passion for people who tell great stories to the Engagement Strategist position. I look forward to connecting with our members.”

Erin can be reached directly at is erin@airmedia.org

The post Introducing AIR’s new Engagement Strategist appeared first on AIR.

Welcome to Gain, an interview series where we ask podcasters about the backstories of the great work they’re creating.

Today, we’re speaking with James Harper, creator and host of Filter Stories, a documentary-style podcast about coffee and people. The podcast launched in August 2018 and is based in Germany (and wherever good coffee stories can be found).

Where did your podcast idea come from? What’s the backstory on your podcast’s name?

I’ve always loved stories, and have been telling them since I was a kid growing up in Australia. 

Life eventually brought me to Berlin where I worked for a prestigious coffee roaster. I soon realised everyone around me was deeply ignorant about this product. And yet these are the same people that are informing coffee drinkers. 

So, I bought microphones, a plane ticket to Guatemala and began a quest to discover the truth. I quickly realised how coffee was intersecting with many challenges we’re grappling with today as a society – illegal migration, climate change, war. 

Filter Stories became a documentary that sheds light on these links through personal stories in faraway places and how we coffee drinkers can change the world by selecting our coffees more conscientiously. 

I chose the name Filter Stories because each episode is as long as it takes you to enjoy a cup of filter coffee. 

Who was the first person you told about your podcast?

I met a man in Berlin who shared his plans for his shelved podcast project. Something lit up inside of me – this podcast is what I needed to do. ‘I hope you don’t mind’, I said, ‘but I’m going to steal your idea’, to which he replied, ‘Go for it!’

I have remained in touch and he’s a big fan of the show, although his vision was quite different from my own (less story, more interview, nowhere near as politically charged as Filter Stories). The last time we spoke I leaned on him for editorial advice on the Tito episode. He was enthralled – and admitted he choked up at the point in the story where Tito’s parents pass away.

Why did you want a podcast website?

So many of my listeners are actually people who discovered Filter Stories through my storytelling evenings and crowdfund projects. They are not podcast listeners, but love the show, so I needed a place for them to play episodes outside of podcast player apps. (Related: the people I interview for the show also have rarely listened to a podcast before, and I describe what I’m doing as “a documentary without the visuals.”) 

Podsites does a great job of showcasing episodes with an intuitive player and helps me focus on creating stories.

You publish a new episode of your show. What’s your approach to promoting it?

I will often post on social media (Instagram, etc.) where I have thousands of followers to let them know that a new episode has dropped. I try to take photographs as I travel for interviews, but it’s sometimes challenging to include it with a tight schedule traveling in a foreign country. Once a month or so, I send a newsletter to my subscribers. 

Filter Stories is also quite a novelty in the coffee world! There are many media outlets in the coffee world, starved of interesting content, so when a podcast comes along with gripping stories, they jump on the chance to feature it in their news round-ups. Initially, I built connections and trust by interviewing them when searching for story leads. For example, I received media coverage from Daily Coffee News when I started the show, and regularly feature episodes as the basis of an article.

After a while, Filter Stories itself becomes embedded in the media landscape and I do cross-promotional features. Nowadays, it’s less about promoting the show itself and more about advocating for change in the coffee industry. 

What’s your favorite episode of your podcast? Why is it your favorite?

The series “Is your coffee building Trump’s Wall?”

I spent a month in El Salvador last year and created a series that explored the history of El Salvador. It began as a relatively equal society, but once coffee enters the picture, the country brutally massacres indigenous Salvadorans and eventually slides to civil war and mass migration to the USA. 

The story helped me unearth the plight of the most neglected people in the coffee world and led to the launch of a campaign to help their situation. 

Describe a recent time you talked about your podcast in person. Who were you talking to? What did you say to help them learn more about your show?

It’s always tough to describe a peculiar podcast like this in a way that compels Joe Bloggs to give it a chance. 

I’ve learned the best thing is not to tell, but to show by giving them story teasers. 

For example, for the episode Lemons and Berries, I’d say:

Martin is the best barista in Kenya and dreams of opening his own cafe. But he can’t. Kenyans don’t drink coffee. 

However, Martin’s got a crazy plan: he’s going to win the World Barista Championships to bring fame and glory to his country’s coffee. 

But he’s all alone and up against the richest teams in the world. In the episode, I follow Martin for three years as he tries to achieve the impossible. 

When you record your podcast, you might think about your imaginary listener who will hear this episode soon. What’s your mental image of this listener, and how do you incorporate their needs into your recording?

I imagine them as busy people, queueing for their coffee in the morning before heading into the office for a busy day. 

I work very hard to pace the episode and unpack the story in such a way that is easy to follow. Things will come up during their commute that will remove their attention so it’s my job to signpost often so they can quickly slip back into the story.

Many of my listeners are not native English speakers, so I deliberately talk a little slower and enunciate clearly. 

I also want this podcast to be accessible and interesting to everyone, especially those who don’t drink coffee. I keep the content focused on people, life journeys, broad societal trends. And I think it’s been working because a listener told me last week that, while she doesn’t drink coffee, after enjoying Filter Stories for so long she finds herself exploring the coffee growing world every time she travels to a coffee growing country.

Everyone needs an editor. Yes, even you. Good editors bring an experienced ear to the whole story, and that can make a world of difference.

And even if you know precisely what you’re doing, you also need someone with an experienced eye on the big picture. On some shows that’s the executive producer and it’s a full time role. Other shows bring in a consultant to lay solid groundwork and then step back after the first few episodes are out the door. Often, newcomers to the space turn to experienced editors in search of guidance that looks a lot more like content strategy or operations.  We’ve covered this group of experts under “consulting” below.

In the last in our 2019 rate guide series, we wanted to capture those roles, editing and consulting, and the current market rates we found in our research.

Though these two roles are very different in practice, we’ve included them in a single guide because many of the consultants and other indies we interviewed in the course of our research on rates told AIR that they also do some story editing. Some of them mix a part time staff editing role with freelance reporting. Some freelance full time and only edit stories. We also talked to experienced professionals who tackle more strategic work helping podcasts or radio shows think through their plans, develop realistic editorial budgets, refine their voice, and maximize their reach.

Editors

In this context “editing” refers to the process of working with a producer, reporter or host to refine and finalize a story, episode or segment. Sometimes we’ll use “story editing” to distinguish this kind of editing from “audio editing,” or actually cutting the tape, which we cover in our guide to engineering and music rates.

Most editors are involved from the pre-reporting stage to help frame the goals of the story, they’re checking in along the way to help troubleshoot and prioritize, and they’re helping shape the final piece, including the script itself.

It depends on the format of a show, and on the rest of the staffing structure. But in general an editor is consulting with a reporter or producer about the content, tone and structure of a story (or an episode or series). Often that starts at the conceptual stage, talking with a reporter, producer or host about the goals and big questions for the project. In most cases an editor expects to check in along the way to help assess the projects evolution by asking questions like: what do we have? What do we need? What is turning out to be hard? Almost every editor will want to work directly with the script. Some will also want to listen to a lot of raw tape, while others look to the reporter or producer for that. Every editor will want to listen to a live read with tape.

Obviously some projects proceed much faster than others: the conceptual stage might be a quick conversation for a news feature, while a more deeply reported segment or series could involve substantially more conversations.

Editors tend to bring a good deal of experience both reporting — ensuring that a piece is complete and accurate, and narrative — ensuring that a piece tells a compelling story.

Rates

For experienced editors, we saw rates from $85 to $150 per hour, with most falling in the $100 to $125 range. We did talk to a handful of either specialized or uniquely desirable editors whose rates ranged significantly higher than $150/hour.

Newer editors who are still establishing a professional reputation cited rates closer to $75 per hour, in some cases ranging down to $50 or $65.

Editors at every level of experience cited a range and noted that rates at the lower end of their range reflect consistent, reliable gigs that they can count on and have been doing for a few years.

Finding Editors

Need a great editor? You can search the Talent Directory for AIRsters who are available for Story Editing. And if you’re an AIR member with editing experience, update your profile!

Consultants: Shaping the Big Picture

Most productions can benefit from the insights of an experienced leader who can help establish the show’s voice, identify opportunities to reach a larger audience, assemble a staff and realistic budget, and connect with financing. While some editors can also provide this kind of support, this is usually where consultants come in on a small production.

While titles like “Executive Producer” and “Content Strategy Consultant” are by no means interchangeable, we found that most shows need someone in one or both roles, at least during the conception and launch phase. Once a show is up and running the folks who provided initial scaffolding aren’t as necessary — but unless there’s a very experienced editor in place to keep things moving in the right direction, some level of strategic oversight is important at any stage.

As we were interviewing consultants with an eye for the big picture, we also talked to a few who specialize in operations.  If running an organization is outside your expertise, operations consultants can help you get the contract templates you need, connect with attorneys when you need legal support, and make sure that your budget includes the logistical details of keeping a production running smoothly — details that are often left out of editorial budgets.An operations consultant can help a show scale or just start up in a way that makes sustainability possible.

Some consultants who do this work describe themselves simply as experts, others use show runner. More than one described their work as “creative-meets-editorial-meets-business.”

Our sample size for big picture consultants was both small and diverse so these rates represent snapshots rather than a complete picture. We’re still including them here because we regularly get questions about budgeting for strategic planning.

Rates

Rates for expert consulting among our respondents ranged from $1000 -$1500 per day — many consultants at this level told us that they only work by the day. Where folks take hourly rates, those range from $150-250 per hour, sometimes ranging up to $500/hour.  The amount of time that any one show will need with an outside executive producer or content strategist will vary, but most consultants will be able to accurately estimate the level of engagement they foresee.

Methodology

We interviewed experienced shows and production companies about what they expect to pay for editors and strategic consulting. We also interviewed experienced editors and consultants, to understand how they set their rates and what they are actually paid on individual projects.

AIR’s work on rates

AIR is actively developing a series of guides designed to help independent producers, editors, and engineers set fair and reasonable rates, and to help everyone create accurate and realistic budgets. We want to hear from you. Contact amanda@airmedia.org if you have feedback on our rate recommendations.

This guide was completed in December 2019 and has not been updated. Our hope as an organization is that AIR can keep these rate guides up to date but if you’re reading this and it is more than a year old, you should adjust the recommended rate to reflect changes in the cost of work and living.

The post Rate Guide: Editing and Content Strategy appeared first on AIR.

Are you a Philly-based print reporter looking to venture into audio storytelling? AIR and WHYY are partnering to offer a weekend-long audio training bootcamp, January 11–12, that will provide print journalists with the skills they need to expand their career into radio news reporting. WHYY, an NPR member station, is seeking to expand its pipeline of contributors available to pitch story ideas on a freelance basis

The training is free. Nine selected individuals will work with award-winning radio journalists, editors and audio producers. After, they will have access to guidance on story ideas from WHYY’s news directors and editors. All participants will receive the opportunity to directly pitch a story, with a focus on diverse, local voices, to WHYY editors.

You must be able to commit to the full weekend and complete readings/listening homework assigned prior to the training session. On the first day of training, be prepared to briefly describe a freelance story you would like to pitch to WHYY. 

Who is eligible:

• Print and online journalists creating independently or for media outlets and working in the Philadelphia metro area (including South Eastern Pennsylvania, South and Central New Jersey, and Delaware).
• Recent graduates of college or university journalism programs (this includes associate’s degrees).
• Individuals working with community based news organizations
• Individuals with a laptop computer with at least 1GB RAM and the ability to download Hindenburg audio editing software from the Web (click here for more specs).

You will receive a complimentary one-year membership or one-year renewal to AIR. Apply by Tuesday, December 17 at 8pm ET.

The post AIR x WHYY: Print to Radio Bootcamp appeared first on AIR.

We’re proud to welcome the Winter 2019 class to AIR’s Full Spectrum Storytelling Intensive. This group brings together makers from throughout the United States, and spans a wide range of interests including audio ephemera, communal listening experiences, comedy, video games, ice cream cakes, and then some. Their storytelling expertise runs the gamut, from radio art to digital journalism to film and television production. This December, the Winter 2019 Full Spectrum cohort will gather at UnionDocs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for a week of learning and exploring with the guidance of co-leaders Chiquita Paschal and Cher Vincent. Meet the cohort below!

Myra Al-Rahim (she/her) is an audio producer currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Outside of her day job editing audio, she considers herself a practitioner of hauntological radio art. Many of her performances and compositions are preoccupied with the physicality of analog technologies and emphasizing the material qualities of playback systems that enable us to access recorded sounds. She is an avid synthesist and the use of electronic music tech is prevalent in most of her work. She is also a restless collector of audio ephemera from the past. In an ever privatizing world, Myra believes that airwaves remain one of the last domains truly reserved for the public. In all her compositions, she is dedicated to channeling the public spirit.

Heloiza Barbosa (she/her) is creator/producer of Faxina Podcast, a Portuguese-language podcast of stories that get swept under the rug. She is also a Brazilian academic researcher and a writer whose work has appeared in Alpaca literary magazine and other international academic and literary publications. Heloiza believes that the future of podcasting sounds like women, people of color, queer individuals, and immigrants.

Ellen Berkovitch (she/her) is an award-winning documentary radio producer and podcaster, as well as a digital journalism entrepreneur and writer. She has been news director of Santa Fe Public Radio. In 2018 she contributed a long-form investigative environmental radio documentary about uranium pollution on Navajo Nation to KRCB/NPR One. Ellen is now at work on two new podcasts as well as on a participatory journalism initiative, the Re-Voice Project, to amplify voices of people experiencing homelessness as experts in the accelerating social crisis. She moved back to her hometown of New York City from New Mexico in September 2018. In 2019 she has participated in #50WomenCan (Take the Lead in Journalism), a women’s journalism leadership training program. She’ll begin teaching journalism at Pratt Institute in January 2020.

Molly Born (she/her) is a journalist and producer living in West Virginia. She has spent 2019 working on film projects with documentary filmmaker, Elaine McMillion Sheldon. In 2018, Born was a fellow with Report for America, an organization that places journalists in under-covered areas. As a fellow, she covered issues in southern West Virginia for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the state’s NPR member station, and was a finalist for the 2019 Livingston Award. Before that, Born worked six years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Elizabeth Friend (she/her) is freelance journalist and audio producer based in North Carolina. She’s also the co-creator of Audio Under the Stars, the largest outdoor audio documentary festival in the Southeast. Each summer Audio Under the Stars shares a selection of original stories and thoughtfully curated favorites designed to bring the world of audio storytelling out of your earbuds and into the outdoors, creating a one-of-a-kind communal listening experience.

Robin Gelfenbien (she/her) is the Ambassador of Fun aka an NYC-based storyteller, writer, comedian and host. She’s a three-time Moth StorySLAM winner who has performed on PBS, RISK!, Mortified and countless shows. She’s also shared the stage with luminaries like Hannah Gadsby, Trevor Noah and more. She’s the Creator and Host of the storytelling series and podcast, Yum’s the Word, which features her homemade ice cream cakes. The show has been named a New York Times and Time Out New York Critic’s Pick.

Andrea Gutierrez (she/her) produces interviews and features for The Frame, a daily arts and culture radio show by NPR station KPCC. She is drawn to stories about the intersections of gender, race, class, and ability in arts and culture. Her work has appeared in print, digital, and audio in various outlets, including BBC World Service, The Current (CBC), LAist, The California Sunday Magazine, Marfa Public Radio, and Bitch. In 2019 she was an AIR New Voices Scholar and a finalist in KCRW’s 24-Hour Radio Race. Andrea received an MFA in creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and B.A. in German studies at Scripps College. Social: @AndreaGtrrz

Alisha Hall (she/her) is the creator and producer of the weekly podcast Tell It. Each episode is less than five minutes long and offers listeners little nuggets of wisdom. She’s worked as a board operator and Freelancer for WFYI in Indianapolis, staff writer with FAF Collective, and she was a 2016 New Voice Scholar. Alisha is from University Park, Illinois. She is a mother, college graduate, crybaby, and an overall people-lover. She wants to tell whole stories that open minds, hearts, and inspires people to live fuller lives!

Ari(el) Mejia (she/her) is a Chicago native who believes multiple truths exist at once. She came to audio art and radio production by way of feminist praxis, community organizing and education. As well as working on independent audio projects Ari is the Assistant Director of Features at CHIRP Radio, a Chicago community radio station where she curates & produces interviews with Chicago-based artists. She is also the Youth Radio instructor for Chicago’s youth programming non-profit After School Matters.  Ari was a 2019 Air New Voices Scholar, and is a proud member and co-founder of the Radio (R)ejects, a queer + poc audio collective challenging what it means to make experimental work based out of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans. 

Ron Lyons (he/his) is an independent journalist and audio storyteller. He writes about culture and technology which can be found in 101.9 WDET, StoryCorps and Slate Magazine. When not working on stories he unwinds by video games, eating Korean food and traveling. Journalism like any other industry can have both it’s good and bad days, but he wouldn’t leave it for anything else in the world.

Cat Modlin-Jackson (she/her) is a freelance journalist and co-host/producer of WRIR’s Race Capitol, a weekly show that interrogates racial narratives in Richmond, Virginia — home to the former capitol grounds of the confederacy. Her educational background is in Middle Eastern politics and the Arabic language, which she studied intensively in Oman. She came to journalism by way of national politics after writing about the Women’s March in January, 2017. She’s done stints in New York, Tampa Bay, and Houston, where she covered gender, race, food, agriculture, and the political threads that tie it all together. 

Emerald O’Brien (she/her) is a multimedia storyteller with predilection for audio. Along with the arts of communication and narrative crafting, she’s interested the ways people create and consume stories as a way to engage their world. Since receiving a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, she has worked in various production and reporting roles at KBIA, NPR’s Morning Edition and APM Reports. She is currently a digital producer for American Public Media’s Live from here with Chris Thile.

Erika Romero (she/her) is a producer based in NYC. She’s traveled across the country in the iconic StoryCorps airstream trailer as part of the 2015 Mobile Tour, produced shows for Maeve in America and Mashup Americans. She is currently the associate producer for The Splendid Table.

Kip Reinsmith (he/his) is a writer, director, producer, and trans human who is passionate about unearthing stories and truths rarely told. His past podcasts include the time-traveling historical series Subframe about the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, produced in partnership with the California Historical Society, and Marc Maron Presents: Classic Showbiz, about the untold history of comedy in the U.S. His audio work has been featured on WNYC’s Nancy and KALW. His directorial debut, a music video for Mal Blum’s Reality TV, was featured on NPR’s First Watch. He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where he studied film and television production with a focus on documentary studies.

Laurel Morales (she/her) has been a public radio reporter since 1998 but she has spent the majority of her career in northern Arizona covering Indian Country. During that time it’s been her mission to find innovative ways to break down complicated issues for local, regional and national public radio audiences. She has won several awards for her reporting and writing, including a national Edward R. Murrow Award for her continuing coverage of the Yarnell Hill Fire, the Arizona wildfire that killed 19 firefighter hotshots. Her greatest accomplishments have been sparking dialogues, informing decision-makers and moving people to action.

The post Introducing: The Winter 2019 Full Spectrum Cohort appeared first on AIR.

The entire AIR staff will be at Third Coast this week and we’re thrilled to meet (or reconnect) with AIRsters and beyond in attendance at the conference. Visit our table to meet our team and get to know our New Voices and AIR ambassadors who will also be working the table. Here’s your guide to the AIR experience at Third Coast:

Don’t snooze on our Bitchin’ Pitchin’ Panel.
Happening Friday at 2pm and Saturday at 11am, the pitch panel will bring brave storytellers into an arena of editors to pitch their stories—LIVE! Make sure to swing by to catch one of the sessions—or both.

It’s always a good time for a mingle.
Join us Friday evening, November 1, 5pm–7pm at Motor Row Brewing—just twelve minutes away from the conference hotel. Enjoy some light bites while you catch up or connect with audio pals. RSVP here!

We’ll have a raffle going on along with discounts to membership.
Thanks to our lovely industry partners, we’ll have a slew of prizes including tools from iZotope, Hindenburg, and Epidemic Sound. Swing by the table to submit your name and grab a discount code for 20% off AIR membership.

Contribute to the membership fund for some snazzy AIR swag.
New this year, we’re asking AIRsters to pay it forward though small donations that will go towards membership costs for those who would benefit from an AIR membership but can’t afford it. In exchange, we’ll have (freshly-designed!) t-shirts, tote bags, metal straws, and more.

Follow along online.
Last but not least, stay connected to our Third Coast goings-on by following us on social media:
Twitter: @AIRmedia | Instagram: @AIRcurator | Facebook: Association of Independents in Radio.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

The post We’re going to be at Third Coast this week! Find our table for swag and conversation. appeared first on AIR.

October 28, 2019—In an effort to bring more sustainable support to women-identifying producers of color in media, AIR has paired five mentors with mentees through our inaugural Claiming the Rad in Radio Fellowship. We’re excited to announce the pairs today. Over the next five months, fellows will have time with their mentors to navigate career transitions, assertiveness on the job, dealing with race and gender bias, salary/pay negotiations and finding/creating community for self care. The program will also be accompanied by a series of exclusive webinars specifically designed for the fellowship cohort and their mentorship discussion topics. Meet our fellows below!

Amarachi Anakaraonye and Kim Bui

Amarachi Anakaraonye is a freelance multimedia producer with a keen eye and ear for calling out inequities, and calling in objective subjectivity. She has spent the past decade sojourning the United States, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa utilizing her innate empathic nature and cultural sensitivity to explore how Black women experience and transcend trauma within and beyond such institutions as health, education, and media. In 2017, she created her podcast, The Fragmented Whole, a bi-monthly podcast series that simultaneously dismantles and reframes narratives of trauma, displacement, and healing among women of color, particularly Black women. She has guest hosted and produced such podcasts as The Measure of Everyday Life (WNCU 90.7 FM/RTI International) and The Nonprofit Experience (NC State University’s Philanthropy Journal). Amarachi is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and when she’s not producing new and existing projects, she enjoys cycling, yoga, and dancing. To learn more about Amarachi’s present and future pursuits, visit www.amarachia.com.

Fellowship statement: “My present and future aim is to establish my own multimedia production and marketing company. I have a strong desire to work with organizations prioritizing health equity and media literacy through technological innovation. The ‘Claiming the Rad in Radio’ Fellowship will provide me with critical insight on industry standards to reference when: 1. Educating clients about the significance of multimedia arts in marketing their services in an educational and/or entertaining manner, and 2. Partnering with clients that already realize the significance of using diverse multimedia outlets in marketing, but need guidance in planning, executing, and/or evaluating such assets.”

Gabrielle Berbey and Dmae Roberts

Gabrielle Berbey is a documentary filmmaker and multi-media journalist from San Francisco, based in New York. Interested in exploring how stories can be adapted throughout different forms to have the most impact, Gabrielle’s experience spans across audio and broadcast documentaries. Upon graduating from Bard College with a B.A. in Film/TV and Human Rights, she worked on the producing team for the FRONTLINE PBS award-winning investigative podcast, The FRONTLINE Dispatch. She currently works on the edit team for a PBS broadcast biographical series about Muhammad Ali, directed by Ken Burns. 

Fellowship statement: “Gabrielle’s independent documentary work ranges from radio pieces to short documentaries. With a specific focus on illuminating stories in the Filipino diaspora, she produced a documentary about the last remaining Filipino grocery store in upstate New York, and her senior thesis documentary tells the story of a Filipino-American community grappling with political unrest in the homeland. Throughout this fellowship, she is excited to develop and produce a historical audio documentary about the 1941 attack on Manila Bay, and how the Philippines’ legacy as a U.S. territory has been largely overlooked in American history.”

Elizabeth Estrada and Juleyka Lantigua Williams

Elizabeth Estrada is a Cuban American multimedia producer dedicated to using audio to explore and amplify stories about Latinx communities living in America. She is currently the engagement editor at WHYY’s PlanPhilly where she connects audiences with local news. Elizabeth has worked at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Firelight Media, New York Women in Film & Television and interned at The Pulse. She is a producer and board member at PhillyCAM, Philadelphia’s public access media station, where she was the recipient of the Innovation Award for Radio in 2018.

Elizabeth is a graduate of Ithaca College and The New School University. Originally from Queens, New York, she now lives in South Philadelphia with her fiancé and dog. You can follow her on Twitter @theElizabethEst.

Fellowship statement: “Through this rad fellowship, I hope to cultivate a long-lasting community with other women of color audio producers. I also intend to conquer my fear and finally produce a pilot of a podcast that I’ve been wanting to create for a long time that centers diverse Latinx changemakers.”

Janae Pierre and Alyce Myatt

Janae Pierre is a general assignment reporter and local host of NPR’s All Things Considered at WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama. A native of New Orleans, Pierre has worked and volunteered with several different media organizations, notably NPR affiliate WWNO, the New Orleans Tribune and WBOK 1230AM. In her spare time, Pierre enjoys listening to old vinyl records (she loves that scratchy sound). Some of her favorite artists include Al Green, Gil Scott Heron and Dinah Washington. In early 2019, Pierre was recognized as the “Best Large Market Radio Reporter” by the Alabama Broadcasters Association. She was also listed on Radio Ink’s 2017 “Future African American Leaders in Radio.” 

Fellowship statement: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this mentorship program and I hope to literally ‘claim the rad in radio’ with the help of my mentor Alyce Myatt. With her advisement, I look forward to learning different ways to advance my career and ideas to merge my love for reporting and philanthropy in Birmingham and my hometown, New Orleans.”

Rhana Natour and Carmel Delshad

Rhana Natour is a national reporter and producer with PBS NewsHour in Washington D.C. where she covers a wide array of subjects including stories on technology, race, gender and gun violence. 

Before coming to the NewsHour, Rhana was an associate producer at ABC News in New York. In 2014, she earned an Emmy nomination for her work on the Nightline special “Crisis in Syria.”

Rhana is also passionate about quality long-form storytelling. She was part of the producing team for the feature-length documentary Speed Sisters that follows the first female race car driving team in the Middle East. Rhana is a graduate of the University of Michigan and was a Fulbright scholar to the United Arab Emirates.

The post Introducing: AIR’s 2019 Claiming the Rad in Radio Fellows appeared first on AIR.

Editor’s note: “Meet this Member!,” is an interview series that spotlights AIRsters doing outstanding work in the audio and media industry. This week we feature composer and audio producer, Elliott Peltzman.

1) Where are you based and what do you do?
I am a San Francisco based Composer and Audio Producer with a particular interest in scoring and sound designing podcasts – the weirder the better!

2) A piece of yours (in any medium!) that you would like to share? (And why?)
I’m really proud of this one piece of mine called “Couldn’t Find A Way”. It’s part true-crime, part smoky tiki lounge, part cumbia?? Not really sure what I’d call it. I wrote it outside of any project – just for myself – and to me really showcases my ability to play with tension and release within just a few notes, only two chords. I’m always most proud of one of my pieces when it incites that amazing feeling where you can’t decide if it’s more major or minor and leaves you wanting to dive further in to find out. Also I absolutely love the tone of the guitar I went with

3) What draws you to storytelling?
The Fiction. There was a certain point in life when I started realizing that the best storytellers are not the most accurate storytellers. And I want it to stay that way. The re-coloring, the erasing and augmenting of storylines; it’s not just juicier and more interesting – it’s the stuff that art is made of! What I love most about composing is creating pieces that incite complex emotions that have the power to guide and influence the narrative when played alongside the spoken word.

4) What’s playing on your radio/audio streaming service right now?
This group Khruangbin have really stolen my heart. They’re really moving mountains for (mostly) instrumental music right now.

5) What’s the most underrated tool (technical or not!) you use in your creative practice?
The standard Marimba sound in Logic is where almost all of my compositions begin and where a lot of them stay! I like anything that helps me move past tech and spend most of my time in the compositional headspace.

6) What is something you want to see more of in the industry?
This is such a self-serving answer, but I’d honestly love to see more podcasts feature the same composer(s) for the entirety of the show, or at least the entirety of each season. I believe most shows would really benefit from the cohesion and composers like myself would create much finer work knowing they can create repeated motifs, unique instrumentation per episode / per character. Delivering one-off themes and/or ambiguous pieces is fun, but I wish there were more positions that would allow me to go as deep as I’d like to!

7) Who’s your radio/audio idol and why?
On the same note as the previous question – my favorite composer to tune in to each week is Sean Real who composes original music for every episode of 99% Invisible. Sean has my dream job and does a very, very good job at it. Always subtle, but never innocuous – quirky as all get out. And most importantly, always very well-suited to the narrative.

8) What’s the best method for people to connect with you (including social media)?
I share new works to my website pretty often and prefer to be reached out to through email (epeltzman@gmail.com). Please don’t hesitate to reach out – that’s why we’re members of AIR!

The post Meet this Member! | Elliott Peltzman appeared first on AIR.

Though radio transmitters have been broadcasting for more than a century, the emerging  podcast industry is disrupting traditional models of audio production. Experienced audio engineers, recordists, sound designers, and composers all bring vital skills that can make a big difference in the sound and quality of any show, however the final audio is distributed.

In addition, experienced professionals who bring skills honed on other productions can provide an unbiased editorial ear, and are often able to improve a project long before production gets underway.

A Brief Glossary

In many cases the roles described here overlap and any one show’s needs is going to vary. Most independent producers do their own recording and they often expect to do their own initial dialog edits. Some sound designers compose original scores. Some do all the mixing and scoring for a show. Some mix engineers are asked to make editorial decisions about how to cut tape.

No glossary or guide can replace a clear and direct conversation about expectations. Whether you’re hiring a freelancer or taking on a new gig, make sure everyone is on the same page about what you need.

audio engineer is a broad term that can be applied to someone in any one of a variety of engineering-related roles.

audio mixer, mix engineer, mastering engineer are all titles for someone who mixes a show or segment.  NPR Training defines mixing as “the process of creating balance, consistency and clarity with differing audio sources.”  An audio mixer or mix engineer brings a clear understanding of audio concepts like phase and gain structure and core tools including equalization, compression, loudness, and restoration software to the mixing process. Mixing is typically the final step of producing an audio story and results in a publishable audio file. “Mastering” actually describes the final step in creating a music album, which follows the mixing stage. The term is not technically applicable to audio storytelling, but it is sometimes used to describe mixing work.

Note: some shops use “mix” to refer to the process of cutting and arranging audio — a clear conversation about expectations will help avoid any misunderstandings.

composer describes a musician who creates original music. A show might commission a composer to create original music designed especially for that show, or they might commission existing music from a composer.

dialogue editor is a term borrowed from the film world for someone who cuts and cleans dialogue. In audio storytelling, this responsibility more often falls to a producer who is charged with cutting the story.

scoring describes the work of creating or identifying, selecting and licensing existing music from a music library or other source to suit the needs of a segment or story. In our research we found composers who were firm that scoring a segment always means composing original music, and other folks who were just as firm that in radio and podcasting work, scoring always means finding music from an existing source. As ever, no glossary is a substitute for a clear conversation about expectations.

sound designer, sound design is another title borrowed from film. Sound design traditionally refers to the practice of cutting and layering sound effects and ambient audio using natural or synthesized sounds.  In audio storytelling it might refer to someone who provides music and pacing decisions, or to someone who customizes a palette of music and sonic materials that form the defining sound of a show. Transom’s series on sound design is a great introduction to the craft. A sound designer might compose original scores themselves, find composers to create original sounds and music, or use sound libraries to identify and license existing music and effects. The bounds of a sound designer’s responsibility can vary a lot: some sound designers do all the mixing, engineering and sound design for a single show.

sound recordist, field recordist, production sound recordist are all terms that describe an audio engineer who records “in the field” outside of a studio. Someone using these titles should be competent with remote recording equipment and able to set up equipment that will optimize recording quality given the constraints of the particular scene.

studio engineer describes an engineer who operates a live broadcast or recording studio.

Engineering, Recording, and Mixing Rates

In our research the rates for mixing, recording and engineering roles varied with experience and sometimes by the complexity of the job but rarely varied by the role. We focused our research on independent contractors, though it is not uncommon for a specialist to be on payroll for a short term appointment. In general, independent contractors should expect to charge at least 30% more than peers doing similar work on payroll.

Rates: Most independent engineers we interviewed cited hourly rates in the $75-125 range, though some experienced professionals charge $150 to $200 or more. Everyone we interviewed quoted day rates commensurate with that range.

Comparable rates for someone doing the same work on payroll, with an employer covering payroll taxes, workers compensation, unemployment insurance would range from $58-96/hour.

Some engineers reported including a fixed number of revisions in their contract, even for work that will ultimately be billed by the hour. They opt to bill at a higher rate for the aggravation of inefficiency.

Tape Syncs are a special case — the work involved in preparation, set up, and follow up on a tape sync is relatively consistent and described in our tape sync rate guide.

Additional fees, consistent with time-and-a-half overtime standards, are typical for unusually long days or condensed schedules.

We also found many folks at all levels working in short term staff positions. Staff rates, which include significant additional benefits (among them access to workers compensation and unemployment insurance, paid sick leave) start at  $30-35/hour for staffers working under the close supervision of a more experienced engineer. Staff engineers, whatever their hourly rate, are entitled by law to overtime pay after working 40 hours in a single week.

A few notes on best practices:

Many people we spoke with noted that newcomers to the field often wait until the last minute to bring a mix engineer onto the team. Though many of the roles described here are technically “post-production,” we’ve avoided that term intentionally. A good mixer, engineer or sound designer can make a big difference in the final quality of a show. Bringing a “post production” team in early can head off problems with recording quality or file organization that will be labor intensive to fix later.

Experienced engineers working across these fields reported including a fixed number of revisions in their contract, even for work that will ultimately be billed by the hour. Revisions, tweaks, corrections and adjustments are part of the work, but when those trickle in piecemeal, the freelancer is stuck managing a lot of inefficient communication. Charging a higher rate for revisions after the first two passes can help encourage efficiency and ensure that everyone is able to do their best work.

Composition Rates

Establishing “standard” rates for original music composition is particularly challenging because

some composers can command substantially more for their work than others. Session musicians and a studio cost money, but some music can be produced “in-the-box” using only software. Most composers take expected usage of the work into account when setting their rates as well.  With those criteria taken into account, a composer will generally propose a flat rate that includes a fixed number of revisions (two or three is typical).

Note that our sample size for composers was both small and diverse so these rates for composition represent snapshots rather than a complete picture of the industry. We’re still including them here because we regularly get questions about budgeting for music.

Composing theme music, or an intro and outro for a weekly public radio show with a national audience might run to $15,000. A smaller budget show or one with a smaller market might expect to pay $2000-$5000 for an original score.

Some shows and sound designers also turn to composers for help scoring a single episode. Though we didn’t find consensus on what constitutes a small or large audience, licensing might look like this, where figures reflect a small, medium or large audience:

Licensing a pre-existing track for use on a single episode: $50 |  $100 | $200

Non-exclusive use of a custom track: $300 | $500 | $750

Exclusive use of a custom produced track or score will vary more widely.

In almost all cases, a composer retains the copyright to the work and use beyond the original intended medium may need to be renegotiated. Many experienced composers and sound designers will ask for revisions to a standard contract that asks for exclusive worldwide use in any medium, or will charge more for that level of licensing.

Methodology

We interviewed experienced radio shows and podcast production houses about what they expect to pay. We interviewed experienced sound designers, composers, and engineers about what they charge. We also talked to professionals working in film or music to get a sense of where rates overlap and reviewed rates. We reviewed existing research including Blue Collar Post Collective’s survey of post-production rates in film and television.

For this guide, we relied heavily on interviews to establish the roles and categories. Rob Byers, Michael Raphael, and Jeremy Bloom helped refine, define and clarify the terms we’ve used here and were absolutely indispensable to the creation of this guide.

AIR’s work on rates

AIR is actively developing a series of guides designed to help independent producers, editors, and engineers set fair and reasonable rates, and to help everyone create accurate and realistic budgets. We want to hear from you.

This guide was posted in October 2019 and has not been updated. Our hope as an organization is that AIR can keep these rate guides up to date but if you’re reading this and it is more than a year old, you should adjust the recommended rate to reflect changes in the cost of work and living.

The post Rate Guide: Engineering and Composition appeared first on AIR.

Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Analytics don’t have to clash with journalistic values. Here’s how the Buffalo News used analytics to reinforce its mission.

The post Want to find time for more enterprise reporting? Dive into analytics. appeared first on Better News.

Syracuse’s Whitney Phillips — scholar of the darker corners of Internet culture, author of “The Oxygen of Amplification,” last seen here offering this dire observation/prediction last winter — has a new paper out in Social Media + Society that might make be a bracing experience for some Nieman Lab readers.

When we think of the nightmarish edge of online culture — the trolling, the disinformation, the rage, the profound information pollution — it’s easy to think of the worst offenders. 4chan denizens, for-the-lulz trolls, actual Nazis — you know the type. But, she writes, maybe the origins of those phenomena aren’t only in those dark corners of Internet culture — maybe they’re also in the kind of good Internet culture, the kind that people sometimes get nostalgic about.

I used to believe that the internet used to be fun. Obviously the internet isn’t fun now. Now, keywords in internet studies—certainly, keywords in my own internet studies—include far-right extremism, media manipulation, information pollution, deep state conspiracy theorizing, and a range of vexations stemming from the ethics of amplification.

Until fairly recently, I would sigh and say, remember when memes were funny? When the stakes weren’t so high? I wish it was like that still. I was not alone in these lamentations; when I would find myself musing such things, it was often in the company of other internet researchers, or reporters covering the technology and digital culture beat. Boy oh boy oh boy, we would say. What we wouldn’t do to go back then. It was a simpler time.

…internet/meme culture was a discursive category, one that aligned with and reproduced the norms of whiteness, maleness, middle-classness, and the various tech/geek interests stereotypically associated with middle-class white dudes. In other words: this wasn’t internet culture in the infrastructural sense, that is, anything created on or circulated through the networks of networks that constitute the thing we call The Internet. Nor was it meme culture in the broad contemporary sense, which, as articulated by An Xiao Mina , refers to processes of collaborative creation, regardless of the specific objects that are created. This was a particular culture of a particular demographic, who universalized their experiences on the internet as the internet, and their memes as what memes were.

Now, there is much to say about the degree to which “mainstream” internet culture—at least, what was described as internet culture by its mostly white participants—overlapped with trolling subculture on and around 4chan’s /b/ board, where the subcultural sense of the term “trolling” first emerged in 2003…the intertwine between 4chan and “internet culture” is so deep that you cannot, and you should not, talk about one without talking about the other. However, while trolling has—rightly—been resoundingly condemned for the better part of a decade, the discursive category known as internet culture has, for just as long, been fawned over by advertisers and other entertainment media. The more jagged, trollish edges of “internet culture” may have been sanded off for family-friendly consumption, but the overall category and its distinctive esthetic—one that hinges on irony, remix, and absurd juxtaposition—has in many ways fused with mainstream popular culture.

Specifically, it was the breadth of types within this sort of earlier-web content that opened the door for what we’ve since seen:

The fact that so many identity-based antagonisms, so many normative race and gender assumptions, and generally so much ugliness was nestled alongside all those harmless and fun and funny images drills right to the root of the problem with internet culture nostalgia. A lot of “internet culture” was harmless and fun and funny. But it came with a very high price of entry. To enjoy the fun and funny memes, you had to be willing—you had to be able—to deal with all the ugly ones. When faced with this bargain, many people simply laughed at both. It was hard to take Nazi memes all that seriously when they were sandwiched between sassy cats and golf course enforcement bears, and so, fun and ugly, ugly and fun, all were flattened into morally equivalent images in a flipbook. Others selectively ignored the most upsetting images, or at least found ways to cordon them off as being “just” a joke, or more frequently, “just” trolling, on “just” the internet.

Of course, only certain kinds of people, with certain kinds of experiences, would be able and willing to affect such indiscriminate mirth. Similarly, only certain kinds of people, with certain kinds of experiences, would be able and willing to say, “ok, yes, I know that image is hateful and dehumanizing, so I will blink and not engage with it, or you know, maybe chuckle a little to myself, but I won’t save it, and I won’t post anything in response, and instead will wait patiently until something that’s ok for me to laugh at shows up.”

Phillips calls that response the “ability to disconnect from consequence, from specificity, from anything but one’s own desire to remain amused forever.” And — apologies for all the blockquoting, but it’s good! — she ties that back to some of the journalists who covered this space when its public impact turned more serious down the road.

Very quickly, I realized that many of the young reporters who initially helped amplify the white nationalist “alt right” by pointing and laughing at them, had all come up in and around internet culture-type circles. They may not have been trolls themselves, but their familiarity with trolling subculture, and experience with precisely the kind of discordant swirl featured in the aforementioned early-2000s image dump, perfectly prepped them for pro-Trump shitposting. They knew what this was. This was just trolls being trolls. This was just 4chan being 4chan. This was just the internet. Those Swastikas didn’t mean anything. They recognized the clothes the wolf was wearing, I argued, and so they didn’t recognize the wolf.

This was how the wolf operated: by exploiting the fact that so many (white) people have been trained not to take the things that happen on the internet very seriously. They operated by laundering hate into the mainstream through “ironically” racist memes, then using all that laughter as a radicalization and recruitment tool. They operated by drawing from the media manipulation strategies of the subcultural trolls who came before, back when these behaviors were, to some anyway, still pretty funny.

Go read the whole thing, but here’s the lesson to take from it:

Most foundationally, shaking your head disapprovingly at the obvious villains—the obvious manipulators, the obvious abusers, the obvious fascists—isn’t enough. Abusers, manipulators, and fascists on the internet (or anywhere) certainly warrant disapproving head shakes, and worse. But so does a whole lot else. Pressingly, the things that were—and that for some people, still are—fun and funny and apparently harmless need more careful unpacking. Fun and funny and apparently harmless things have a way of obscuring weapons that privileged people cannot see, because they do not have to see them.