Nannette Drake Oldenbourg - Mar 19, 2007 8:24 pm (#21 Total: 22)


Very interesting! -and clear, too, Sean and Steve.

Could you two talk about the specific processes of editing and collaborating for radio versus print?
who starts?
What steps are involved?
do you work serially, one after the other?
and/or shoulder-to-shoulder?
is there a rhythm or some other other aspect that varies, between the radio and print assigning and editing give and take?

thanks

and are you still using Cool Edit?

thanks, Nannette

cstifter - Apr 6, 2007 12:48 pm (#22 Total: 22)


Steve Young, I knew ye back when...nice work, dude.

So terrific to hear your thoughts on this just when I am banging my head pretty hard on the same things out here in the rural wilds of the California Sierra. We're covering stories of rural conservation: small town development, ranchers being priced off their land, enviros and rednecks sitting down to find they have some values in common. But the subject is unfamiliar enough I guess that a state new show asked us to "hand hold" our audience, do more writing than I'd like, explain the mechanics of things more than I think is useful.

And we're also grappling with the idea that we (the producers) are already part of the story because we chose these stories to tell. We're focusing on collaborations that are working, not on the years of conflict that have ripped factions apart. It seems harder to tell the story of what is working sometimes. News likes conflict, but people like inspiration, too. They want to know how others are making it work in their little towns.

And we have a 400 mile mountain range to cover. We're doing our best with the funds we have, trying to be somewhat representative of all of it through the specifics of just a few stories that we are funded to tell.

In the next piece we do, I'm working to carve out distinct characters and their connection to their place while spotlighting the current moment in which settlements were made and the "stakeholders" are all about to move forward together. It's tricky stuff. Needs good writing, but I hope not the usual NPR mostly writing with a few pieces of bad tape saved by more writing.

And yeah, NO phone sound.

Congrats on all the good work and having enough energy to talk about it and share your thoughts, too.

Best,
Catherine