Radio Workshop Syllabus
Spring Semester
(2008)
Professors:
John Dinges, jcd35@columbia.edu, 212 854 8774
(202 362 9226) weekends)
Rick Karr, rk2233@columbia.edu, 917 406 8235
Amy Costello costelloamy@mac.com 239 776 6212
Our
website: http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/radio/
Class Schedule: Class meets Thursdays 5 pm for two or three
hours and all day Friday. (There may be exceptions, so stay tuned to email
announcements.) In addition, you will spend at least one working day per week
reporting. Consider Thursday your regular reporting day, although you are free
to schedule your reporting as needed and according to the availability of
sources. A detailed schedule is attached. All class activities take place in
the radio facilities area on the Broadway end of the Fifth Floor (511A, B,
studios and radio annex)
A detailed Schedule of deadlines and assignments will
be provided.
Textbook: Sound Reporting, edited by Marc Rosenbaum and John Dinges
(Kendall Hunt 1992).
Objectives: In this class, you will learn basic techniques of radio reporting,
writing and on-air production. You will learn to work as a broadcast team as
well as mastering the individual skills of producing pieces for air. The class
will function as a program production team whose fundamental task is to produce
a radio news magazine, Uptown Radio, broadcast weekly on the internet.
The course is
intended to introduce you to the fundamental and advanced skills needed in the
news department of a good quality radio station or radio news organization. It
is also designed to develop your writing skills (irrespective of media) by emphasizing
descriptive writing, narrative and scene building techniques, and long-form
documentary techniques. Writing for radio is not so much different as it is
complementary to print and television writing. Writing for radio will make you
a better writer.
Think of
yourself in this class as a reporter/producer in a news organization, for which
you are working a two-day a week schedule. Professors are your editors and
supervisors. Conduct yourself as in a professional environment. Teamwork is
critical. Lateness, excuses, buck-passing, and other nonprofessional actions
and attitudes are corrosive of the team atmosphere needed in a radio news
operation.
The immediate
goal is to bring your reporting and writing skills to a level of competence and
excellence that will allow you to hit the ground running in your first job,
whether in radio or another medium. In reporting, the emphasis is on
thoroughness, originality and precision. In writing, we will develop your
ability to write clearly and concisely, while stressing vivid description and
creating compelling narratives. In radio production the goal is to become
familiar with the myriad of production tasks you may encounter as a radio
reporter, broadcaster and producer.
A. Reporting and Writing:
Each student
will be assigned a beat, based on your preferences and the balance of coverage
for the news team. A list of suggested beats is appended. You are not limited
to these beats, however, and self-designed beats will be considered. We will
discuss and approve the overall mix of beats, with a view toward achieving the
best mix of stories on the broadcast program.
You will start
with news pieces with tape and progress to more challenging use of sound and
documentary writing. Pieces should cover the range of hard news, explanatory
and analytical reporting, features, and production-heavy documentary. Specific
writing techniques will include writing in and out of tape, transitions,
narrative structures, documentary sound, and writing in scenes.
All stories will
be pitched by reporters and approved by the editors. Deadlines for edits and
final production will be worked out with editors and strictly adhered to. Do
not miss a deadline. A missed deadline for a reported piece may result in
academic warning; a second missed deadline may result in probation. No
journalist should ever miss a third deadline and expect to keep his or her job.
In this class it will result a failing grade.
The
assignments will include, but not be limited to the following:
A: News
story in your beat (2 ˝ -3
minutes). Example
B1:
B2:
Second enterprise story in
your beat with a strong news peg. (3 -4 ˝ minutes.)
At least one of these stories should have strong sound elements and use multitrack mixing, with fades.) Examples of
C:
Essay/commentary (2 1/2 - 3
min.). On any subject. We encourage originality, descriptive writing, whimsy,
political commentary, social commentary, and humor. (Tape optional.) Individual
deadline.
D: Documentary. (8-9 minutes) Emphasis on documentary techniques, story-telling, character, descriptive writing. (Beat story preferred but not required) Deadlines set individually. Documentaries will be assigned to be featured in particular broadcasts. You are your editor are responsible for making sure your piece is ready for the assigned broadcast. Examples:Pedicabs
, Andijan massacre, Veracruz in Queens, Dumpster Delicacies.E: Newsmaker live or live-to-tape interviews.
You will do at least one interview as a host. Live-to-tape interviewsshould
be cut down to 4 minutes on air. Example: AP
Iraq correspondent,
F: Day of
air stories: two stories
(2-3 min. with tape or 45 second spot) filed on the day of broadcast. (Tape
optional for 45 sec spot.) Reporters not working in a production job also may
be assigned day stories on broadcast days. Example: Guantanamo list.
G.
Newscasts: All students will
write at least two newscasts as assigned.
Editing
All stories
are edited before final production and airing. It is your responsibility to
coordinate with your assigned editor/professor to arrange edits on the day
assigned for your edit on the schedule. (See master edit schedule). No piece
will be aired without at least one edit. Edits are face to face, with
professors listening to scripts as well as cuts and other sound elements.
Editing from written scripts is the exception and requires special advance
permission.
A story ready
for edit, therefore, means a written script, within 30-45 seconds longer or
shorter than the time assigned. All sound elements must be in order and ready
to listen to in Pro Tools. All
actualities must be fully transcribed in the script, edited and ready for
listening on Pro Tools. Overly long pieces will not be edited until cut to
time.
In addition,
we encourage (but do not require) that you do additional stories as ideas come
to you and as time allows: short, long, experimental, freelance, on any
subject. For example, if you go to a sports event or play or new movie, you
might want to write a short review for our next show. If you get an assignment
from a local station or your hometown station, we'll help you produce and file.
B. Radio Production Skills:
The team will
produce 12 Uptown Radio broadcasts, at 4 pm each Friday. The programs will be broadcast live from our
website. You are encouraged to
distribute the Uptown Radio address (www.uptownradio.org) to as many people as
possible, especially to sources and others you know will be interested in your
stories. Prospective employers in the world of public and commercial news radio
are regular listeners to live and archived broadcasts. All programs will be podcast.
Skills you
will master include:
1. Sound
editing and mixing, using Pro Tools.
2. Control
board and other control room operations.
3. Production
leadership: Executive producer and senior producer (program planning and
supervision of line producers) and managing editor (coordinating reporters
assignments, continuity writing, intros).
4. Newscast
writing, production, and reading.
5. Line
production tasks: Producer and associate producer roles, which include
preparing recorded pieces for broadcast and all other tasks required to put a
program on the air, under the direction of the executive and senior producers.
6. Hosting,
including on-air Interviewing, 2-ways, Q&A reports, interviewing and being
interviewed
7. Voicing and
on-air performance skills (both in reporter pieces and hosting.)
8. Webcasting (basic skills of building a web page and
streaming audio using Dreamweaver, Quicktime audio, and Content Management System for Radio.
The class is encouraged to build as many elements (photos, YouTube,
extended interviews, etc.) into our web offerings as possible, in addition to program
audio.
Each member of the class will rotate through
the basic production jobs that make up the broadcast team for each show: including newscaster, host and leadership
positions such as executive producer, senior producer and managing editor.
Students not assigned to the production team for a given week may be called
upon to write news stories or take on other assignments. The goal is for
students to become familiar, competent and comfortable in news judgment,
leadership, teamwork and radio studio production.
You are encouraged to free-lance radio
stories, find internships in radio, and in general broaden your network of contacts
in the world of professional radio. We have many contacts at WNYC and WFUV, and will invite news personnel
to attend out broadcast critiquing sessions as often as possible.
In addition, we have a growing relationship
with the undergraduate FM station, WKCR (89.9), which has a powerful
transmitter that reaches much of
Recommended beats:
(You are not
restricted to these beats. Reasonable additions and adaptations will be
welcomed. In some cases, two people may work in the same beat, but are
encouraged develop distinct approaches)
Politics: Primary elections (2
reporters)
Environment (global warming)
Economy: Wall Street and
finance, the recession
International affairs and
international organizations
Human Rights, refugees and
exiles
The War at Home
Immigration
Intellectual and cultural life
(high culture and street culture)
Arts and entertainment
City Services (welfare,
housing, transportation)
NYC Economic Development (including
waterfront development)
Education
Science, health and medicine
Technology
Crime: police work, criminology
Race and ethnicity
Sports (issues, not events coverage.)
Beats will be
assigned based on your interest and the show’s needs. You must submit a two
page explanation of why you want to have a particular beat, with at least three
tentative story ideas. List a second beat as a backup. Your beat will be
assigned definitively by Professor Dinges, and you should pitch and begin
reporting your first story according to the deadlines on the schedule.