Day two of News Reporter Academy at the College of Arts and Sciences had a digital audio storytelling theme. Students started the day learning about the Art of Sound with University of St. Thomas Communication and Journalism Clinical Professor John Keston in the department’s media lab.
The afternoon included an extended session with American Public Media Producer Alex Baumhardt and Intern Erianna Jiles, who is a ThreeSixty alumna. In the Podcasting and Writing for Broadcast class, students learned how to write scripts, then divided into groups and were challenged to design a podcast concept and introductory script.
Here are the student reflections for Tuesday, July 9:
Kaleah Rose Phillips-Kelley Bynum – DeLaSalle High School
Today we got to experience and learn about the different types of podcasts and how to make them. We also learned about analog and digital things and how they change sound.
We started out the day with studies of sound. Then, we recorded our voices and experimented with the different pitches and speeds. We also got to experiment with echo, amplitude, frequency and much more.
Then we went to lunch and after that, we got to learn about what it takes to build a podcast. We split up into groups of three and four, then each group got to pick an unknown object out of a paper bag. We stuck our hands in and grabbed things like electronics, papers and foods.
We then got to make a podcast type of our choice about the object that we pulled out of the paper bag. We got about two hours to do this. The groups spent time brainstorming and soon after began typing down their stories. Each story was very different from the others consisting of different types of podcasts: interviews, conversations, news articles, solos and fiction.
Our group picked a kiwi out of the bag and went with a fictional podcast about how kiwis can kill you. It consisted of interviews of types of people who played a part in that. Another group had picked a blue Game Boy out of the paper bag and went with a story about how an adult remembered her childhood spending hours playing on her Game Boy.
Today the high school students ThreeSixty Journalism were able go learn new ways to write and take an interest in being a journalist and tomorrow, we will continue to learn more.
Evan Odegard – NOVA Classical Academy
Today’s session of ThreeSixty was focused on digital and audio storytelling. Students learned tricks to sound editing, podcasts, and creating meaningful stories to put on air.
I was surprised to learn about all the effort that goes into creating podcasts and the importance of audio editing to radio media. It was extremely interesting to learn about the art of sound and the ways it is applied to various forms of journalism.
We had a very informative day and learned skills that will undoubtedly be important to our careers.
Evelyn Lillemoe – St. Paul Academy
Today we focused on sound. It made me realize the way sound impacts how people perceive things. Music, sound effects, and the way one speaks is just as impactful as the words spoken. Silence is also a very compelling and important part of audio.
We listened to a story of a man fleeing civil war and at a part in the story he said it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That statement was followed by an extended period of silence. Paired with such an intense story, this silence invoked emotion that would be pushed down had there not been that space. I think audio is a powerful and underrated tool that should be recognized more often for the emotional impact it can have. I hope in my career I can use audio in some way.
