KALW Audio Academy Students Gear Up for a Second Semester of Producing Stories
By Martha Sessums
The first year students, or fellows, of the KALW Audio Academy have already created a strong collection of stories that have been aired. Like Olympic athletics rushing to the finish line, the second semester will inspire them to continue to deliver community stories that express the spirit of people from all parts of the Bay Area in a compelling and journalistically professional way.
“WOW, what a year, and we are only half way through it,” said Holly Kernan, KALW News Director. “And they’re just gearing up for a major production semester.”
Below are links to the first year student’s stories – Todd, Jasmin, Liz, Rhian, David, Rachel, Jeremy and Charlotte. They range in topics from a one room school house in Marin, to selling guns, to gay issues of housing and health, to watching for falcons to
Mr. T munches on lettuce. He actually lives at my mom's house in Southern California, but I suspect meal time is the same for any desert tortoise.
hiring ex-convicts to the lizards, snakes, pythons and tortoises living in the area, and more.
What makes these narratives work is that they are created by reporters who are being taught by the best professionals at KALW, resulting in a team that has a passion for telling great audio stories. It is not easy work. Look at the syllabus on the ACE Learning Centers page and the depth of curriculum is evident. Listen to the stories below. They are evidence that the commitment to quality teaching of audio journalism is clear-cut because the fellow’s reporting is high class. I look forward to the stories created in the second semester.
Todd’s stories:
Jasmin’s stories:
Gun Owners Trade Firearms for Cash, Neighborhood Postcard: Sunset, Audiograph: Grand National Rodeo, Crime Victims Find Healing, Living with HIV as a Senior, Reporter’s Notebook: My Uncle’s Battle with HIV
Liz’s stories:
Rhian’s stories:
Marin County’s One Room Schoolhouse
David’s stories:
A Class for Dancers with Big Dreams and Leg Warmers, Audiograph: Green Gulch Zen Center
Rachel’s stories:
The Many Translations of Day of the Dead, Slithering Through a Reptile’s World at the East Bay Vivarium, A Nepali Soup Kitchen for the Soul
Jeremy’s stories:
Searching for the Peregrine Falcon, An Afternoon with the Bard in Golden Gate Park
Charlotte’s stories:
Bay Area Cities Expand Employment Protections for Ex-Convicts, Making a home for bees by the freeway