KALW Audio Academy Success Stories Continue

By Shereen Adel, Editorial Operations, KALW News and Christopher Beale (‘21), Summer Trainee

We’re about a third of the way through our 9-month Audio Academy. Our fellows are hard at work on their very first radio features.

While they plug away at that, we have some news from alumni who were in past Audio Academy and summer programs.

Audio Academy alum Mary Goode (’14) sent us a note saying:

I’ve returned to journalism after a big break and am doing feature stories for radio and newspapers from Europe. And what I’m finding is that I refer back to my KALW days and storytelling training every day I’m writing. It really helped me to craft a story better — even for newspaper. So, I wanted to say hi, and thanks!

Audio Academy alum Wren Farrell (‘21) is now an associate producer with All Ears, a podcast from Fork Films.

And summer trainee Christopher Beale (‘21) had one of his stories air on Snap Judgment, subbed in for the host of KQED’s The Bay, and launched his very own podcast Stereotypes.

Here’s what he had to say about being in our program:

Before KALW I had a collection of miscellaneous skills and no idea how to focus them. 

I spent 20 years as a commercial radio personality and through that learned a ton about audio production, but not much about being a journalist. I moved to San Francisco to become a public radio producer and journalist and I’m pleased to say that I did just that. KALW was at the center of the journey.

I interviewed for the KALW Summer Journalism Program with Hana Baba (host of Crosscurrents) and was soon accepted into the first internship of my life — at 38 years old. The team at KALW has a streamlined and intensive program designed to turn you into a working reporter in a matter of weeks. My love of sound-rich work was encouraged and many of my news spots contained field recordings. 

I received one-on-one instruction from experienced educators and editors, networking opportunities with people at NPR, and my first story on the air, all in the first weeks. Through the detailed, hand-on instruction I received at KALW I was able to focus my skills and now have a much clearer path to the career I want. Today I am freelancing, hosting/producing a queer audio stories podcast called Stereotypes and working regularly as a reporter/producer for KQED. 

Stay tuned in January to hear more from our Audio Academy class of 2022.