jn3800
AUDIO

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 8TH @ 5PM
 CLARE AND JOHN WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE
ON FRIDAY 8TH NOVEMBER

Today
 Think about the
linear narratives of
audio
 Consider different
editorial approaches
 Look at how audio is
being shaped by
social media
 Look at the future of
radio and responsive
devices

Origins: Broadcast

Traditionally a linear
process

Dominant media form

Listening to a standard
broadcast is passive

Radio and more
comprehensive
recordings need to
create a ‘texture of
sound’

Hindenburg

Herbert Morrison working
for WLS recorded the
events as they happened

Followed crash with a
range of interviews with
survivors and witnesses

Helped to form a stylistic
approach to radio news
broadcasting

Ofcom: Radio is still relevant

On average, 90% of the UK adult population tuned in to the radio each week
in the 12 months to March 2013

Listening to the radio on digital devices has increased to 34.3% of total listening,
a 5.1 percentage point increase on last year.

The proportion of radio listeners with a DAB radio set in the home grew to 44%.

Radio listening on a mobile phone has risen from 13% to 20% over the past year.

Total UK radio industry revenues reached £1.19bn in 2012, an increase of 2.8%
year on year.
Ofcom: The Communications Market 2013

Audio Production: Stylistic approaches

Clips: Short, sharp bursts of
information that convey essential
information

Vox Pops

Packages: Incorporates script
and interviews on a specific
theme or issue

Long-form documentaries: A
more in-depth, and immersive
experience

Bulletins: Live news flash based
around breaking information

Overall media landscape (2010)

Proportion of radio consumed (2012)

How this might work on a
digital platform…?

What’s happening online

Combined with other
media elements rather
than a standalone report
The BBC

Personal storytelling

Immersive Media: Hope

Access on-demand audio
and non-scheduled
format: Podcasts and
social sharing

Offers users an
alternative and ‘ambient’
way of consuming media

Journalistic process
 Ask yourself
 Is audio the appropriate
medium?
 Can it be used to add
breadth or depth to your
piece
 Ensure you follow good
journalistic practice
 Do not misrepresent and
be faithful to your
interviewees intention.

Kit requirements
 Audio can be recorded by a
number of devices
 Dictaphone
 Telephone
 Conversion between file
types may be required:
 Think about
 compatibility
 compression

Quality
 TOP TIP: Always try to acquire recordings at the
highest quality possible
 CD
 Dictaphone
 Telephone
44.1 KHz
22 KHz
8KHz
44.1 KHz means the recording
device will ‘sample’ the sound
44,100 times a second

Interview technique

Be nice

Control your environment

Ensure the interviewee gives name, rank and
serial number

Aim to ask open questions

Avoid utterances such as: yeah, a-ha, mmm…

Try not to interrupt

Use silence to your advantage

Repeat if required

Say thanks

Broadcast
voice
 Scripting: control your audio
 Aim for around three words a
second (a pace that is too fast
or two slow impacts on overall
effect)
 Control your interviewee to
ensure your content is usable

Post production considerations

Editorial




Technical


Sound can be used to illustrate a story, and add texture
Descriptions need to fuel audience’s imagination
WARNING: Working with audio (and video) can be time-consuming
Tidy, remove noise and equalise if required
FX and other additions



Music and other sound effects can be used to move story forward
Look at SoundClound for open source music and audio)
Additional tools of fade outs/ins, silences and voice manipulation can prove useful

Pre-publication Final checks
 Does it make sense?
 Does it flow?
 Can you hear
everything and
understand it?
 Is the subject matter
and interviewee
responses accurate
and in line with
original intentions?

Distribution:
Podcasts and
social media
 Podcasting
 Social tools
 Blogs

Flickr

Ian Hayhurst


Fernando Candeias


Matt Blaze


tjmwatson


Will Hastings


Joriel "Joz" Jimenez


The National Guard


PolandMFA


formulapuff