ACE Spectrum

Help KALW’s State Prison Training Program “Uncuffed” Become Un-cuffed by Donating to Support Four Lost Months of Funding, and Other Stories Too

Posted by Martha Sessums on Aug 29, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, Interim Executive Director, KALW

I just got back from visiting Audio Academy class of 2020 alumnae Precious Green. She’s working as Director of Programming at Manny’s — a coffee house, bar, bookstore, lounge, and events space — which has nightly civic-minded engagement events. Precious just celebrated her one-year anniversary on the job, and it’s been a busy one! She recently interviewed California Representative Adam Schiff on stage, and in a couple of weeks she’ll speak publicly with San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. Really thriving in a great space. You can see, we were pretty happy to see each other there, and she’s repping our training program in the process!

While that’s great news, I have some challenging news to share, too.

Here’s the backstory: Our training program in California state prisons was recently awarded funding through a California Arts Council program that would have continued our work for two years at Solano and San Quentin State Prisons and expanded our programming to California Institute for Women. But two weeks ago, we learned that a clerical error led to the council rescinding all awards (including not just us but 14 other organizations working in prisons).

We can reapply, but the process will take an estimated four months, there’s no guarantee we’ll get the funding, and our uncovered costs in producing our podcast and providing training and support for incarcerated journalists during those four months totals $80,000.

We’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign, and it’s generated over $15,000 so far. Please check it out, if you get the chance, to learn more of the story, and if it works for your budget, consider making a donation to keep the program going! Here’s the link. And while you’re at it, check out episode one of season two of the Uncuffed podcast our program participants produce! Here’s where you can find that.

Meanwhile, our in-house summer trainees have been hard at work, learning the trade and developing their careers. One of them is Sydney Fishman, who’s been a terrific contributor to KALW’s newsroom. Here are a couple of her recent stories:

Kaiser mental health workers strike today to protest understaffing in Bay Area hospitals

Ivy Hill is turning the Old Parkway into the neighborhood weed shop

Here she is, mid-selfie, during a voice recording session in KALW’s Studio B:

I asked Sydney to share some thoughts, and here’s what she wrote to share with you:

When I first started the KALW Summer Journalism Training Program, I didn’t know just how much I would learn from the incredible staff at KALW. I recently graduated from a university program in journalism and am currently working at KCBS Radio. Still, I wanted to join the KALW newsroom to learn more about producing long-form narrative stories. I have learned so much in my short time at KALW. The days I’ve spent with the KALW staff have enhanced my script writing skills, the way I interview people, and how I approach voicing scripts for radio. One of my favorite aspects of being at KALW is working with editors Sunni Khalid and Lisa Morehouse. I spent a great deal of time working with Sunni as my vocal coach, where he showed me how to put more emotion and energy into my narrations. Lisa guided my writing and helped me understand more about creating a “scene in sound.” The other KALW editors and producers gave me detailed feedback on my pitches and helped me finish stories that were mere “ideas” at the beginning of the program. I appreciate all the KALWers, and it will be super hard for me to leave at the end of the summer.

Super hard for us, too. But exciting to see what you do next!

KALW’s Summer High School Podcasting Institute Students Wrap it Up

Posted by Martha Sessums on Aug 16, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, Interim Executive Director, KALW

We recently wrapped up instruction for KALW‘s Summer High School Podcasting Institute. Congratulations to the teenagers who took part in the media criticism, training, and production at the station’s Burton High School campus on the southeast side of San Francisco.

Now it’s time to get back to school — whether it’s high school or college. But the memories of a hands-on, media-making, student-focused, training program remain. And so does the anticipation of season 3 of the podcast tbh: by, about, and for teenagers. Coming next month. They made it happen! And we all benefit!

Here are some outgoing thoughts shared by some of the students who completed the program.

The KALW Podcasting Institute has been an incredible and very educational experience for me. I got to meet and work with a group of amazing, motivated teens. The instructors were extremely supportive and helpful, and I was able to learn a lot about my own writing in the process of working with them. It was amazing to be able to go through the entire reporting and writing process on a subject that I’m really passionate about. I’m extremely glad I got the opportunity to do this, and I definitely gained skills that I will continue using for years. — Cassidy Kanner-Gomes

While there were a million other things I wanted to do, working with KALW was a great summer experience just before university. One thing I learned was that the power of radio has more impact as it actively engages the audience with vivid descriptions while requiring attention. I got to work with other students who either shared a passion for media or wanted their voices to be heard! I had so much fun and would do this again! — Elizabeth Truong

Interning at KALW has been a very educational experience. Through this program, I was able to investigate a subject further than its surface level. I gained exposure to the world of real time interviews and learned to prepare for them. Constructing a script was also very enjoyable, and I received lots of amazing criticism, helping me improve my story, and writing skills. This experience has ignited my love for journalism and introduced me to the exciting world of audio news. — Elise Muchowski

Congratulations to the team!

No Summer Slack at KALW for Newscaster and Podcast Trainees

Posted by Martha Sessums on Jul 22, 2022 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, Interim Executive Director, KALW

If you were to drop by KALW, these days, you’d see a whole bunch of young journalists at work. A big (belated at this point) welcome to our summer trainees Raphael Cohen, Sydney Fishman, Monica Gomez, Hanisha Harjani, Sunday Holland, Lusen Mendel, and Sebastian Miño-Bucheli! They got started in earnest in early June, and they’ve been producing lots of newscast content since then with a bunch of features on the way. Here are some of the stories they’ve covered to date:

Zuckerberg SF General Hospital reopens for monkeypox vaccination — Raphael Cohen

Cities around the Bay consider 100 percent affordable housing projects — Hanisha Harjani

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins fires 15 employees from her office prompting backlash — Sydney Fishman

As homeless numbers rise, Sonoma County to allow camping in certain public spaces — Sunday Holland

City starts effort to clean up West Oakland homeless encampment — Lusen Mendel

Cal AG Bonta backs federal rule to regulate ‘ghost guns’ — Monica Gomez

California orders ban on pumping river water in Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley — Sebastian Miño-Bucheli

Simultaneously, Holly J. McDede, Sarah Lai Stirland, and student teacher Zara Ahmed are running our Summer High School Podcasting Institute out of the station with teenagers Aria Baldinger-Williams, Carolina Cuadros, Cassidy Kanner-Gomes, Elise Muchowski, George Reitan, and Elizabeth Truon. At the end of the program, they’ll produce the podcast tbh: by, about, and for teenagers. Here’s a picture of the crew taken Monday at KALW’s Burton High School campus:

Meanwhile, one of our recently graduated Audio Academy fellows, Erin Copp, joined the program late, and she is continuing her education with us this summer. Here are some thoughts she shared with me:

I came into Audio Academy with a lot of dreams of stories I wanted to tell and a vision of what a career in audio journalism would look like for me. Most of my dreams involved recording people I know and love and archiving their funny stories and experiences. During my first Audio Academy seminar, Shereen Adel, KALW’s Manager of Editorial Operations, spoke the words I will never forget. “Journalism isn’t about interviewing your friends.”  While I was a little disappointed to hear this, Shereen had no idea how much I needed to hear those words. During my time in the Academy, I have hit the streets talking to strangers and met so many amazing people. While my friends and family are great, interesting people, the Bay Area is full of people with amazing stories. I am so grateful Shereen broke me out of my safety bubble and am a much better journalist because of it. While this is one example of how the KALW team has helped me grow, I learn everyday from this incredibly talented and generous group of people.

When we’re talking about incredibly talented and generous people, Erin fits right in!

And speaking of extraordinary folks, congratulations to another Audio Academy alum, Christine Nguyen (2018), for being named a member of the AIR New Voices class of 2022

Christine Nguyen (she/her) became a writer and audio-maker after two decades as a physician. She received journalism training at KALW and at the University of Toronto. She has bylines in radio and digital publications including KQED, KALW, and The Washington Post. Her work has earned awards from the San Francisco Press Club, The Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, and the AAJA. She’s obsessed with native gardening, which translates as cultivating plants otherwise known as weeds.

Congratulations, Christine!