Multimedia Reporting

The Children and The Drag Queen by Anthony Tellez.

I’m interested in learning more about the dying Shanghainese dialect and why fewer people are speaking it as the years go by, especially for kids who live in Mainland China. Growing up, I’ve always spoken Shanghainese with my family members and was not aware that other kids my generation living in China are no longer exposed to it. Instead, schools focus on teaching Mandarin and English. I will be interviewing my parents and grandparents so that I can cover 2 different generations, and discuss their thoughts and feelings about how the education system being westernized. Additionally, I think it would be helpful to speak with some of my friends in New York who share my heritage and have them speak on their views.

Reminder on Upcoming Dates:

Scripts for the radio piece will be due Tuesday, March 24, when instead of class as usual I will have everyone sign up for an in-person script editing session (or over the phone in the event that school is closed at that time).

Final produced radio story will be due Thursday, April 2.

In-Class Exercise:

Pair up with a classmate and spread out to find a good interview spot. Take turns interviewing each other about how the coronavirus has impacted them so far and/or how they feel about it. Remember to ask open-ended questions. Interviews should be about five minutes long. Make sure you also record 90 seconds to two minutes of room tone before or after the interview. Make sure you also record some natural sounds that tell you something about the environment: street noise outside making it clear we’re in NYC, or the sounds of student voices showing we’re in a college, etc.

When you’re finished, come back, save your sound files to the computer and make them accessible to yourself remotely, whether by email or Google Drive or WeTransfer. Transcribe your interview. Pick out your top three sound bites and write a short script following this format:

—

Host intro: (Here, the host will give background info on coronavirus and introduce you, the reporter. You can have a classmate or friend/family member record this voiceover.)

AMBI1: (This is where your scene-setting natural sound will go, and it will fade down under your track.)

AMBI2: (As the nats fade down, this is where your room tone will come in. You’ll keep it at a normal volume behind all of your narration.)

TRACK: (Describe where you are and introduce the person you’re interviewing.)

ACT: (Sound bite #1.)

TRACK: (More background info, set up next sound bite.)

ACT: (Sound bite #2.)

TRACK: (More background info, set up next sound bite.)

ACT: (Sound bite #3.)

TRACK: (Use your narration to wrap things up, often by looking towards the future in some way, and then sign off. “For Baruch College, this is __ ___ in New York City.”)

Post your script to the class blog at the end of class (you may continue updating it any time before Thursday’s class). We will use them for reference when it comes time to edit this practice radio story that day. If you plan on working on your own computer, please download Audacity before class.

Refresher on Zoom Settings:

Set it to XY. Bring backup AA batteries if you’re not conducting the interview in a place where you can plug it in. Hold it 1-2 feet from the interviewee’s mouth. Don’t let them hold it. Use the handle to reduce handling noise. Highly recommended to you use your own headphones to monitor sound levels while you’re recording. Please format the card before you return it. MENU –> SD CARD –> FORMAT

I highly recommend that you check equipment out sooner rather than later in case campus is closed.

The plastic bag ban — pros and cons. Many people applaud the ban that took place on March 1, banning stores from using plastic bags, and adding a 5 cent tax on paper bags. It is one step closer to a greener, sustainable New York. However, small business owners and working-class New Yorkers are still concerned about how quickly the ban got implemented. A post I recently read in a Bay Ridge Facebook group revealed that small businesses might have to pay more than 3 times the amount for paper bags that they paid for plastic bags, which is harder for a smaller brick-and-mortar store to cover, and some businesses are even considering charging more for paper bags. Other New Yorkers, who walk or commute to work (rather than drive), are used to spontaneously popping into a local grocery store after work to grab a few things, and it’s harder for them to adjust when they might not always have a reusable bag on hand. I think it’s worth interviewing both people who are 100% for the ban, and those who might like the idea, but dislike the law’s execution.

I am thinking about doing a story about Coronavirus in New York. The main theme is the argument of whether or not we should wear a mask or not.

I want to do some interviews with people work in the medical center in New York about the detailed situation of some patients,  president of Baruch College about the anticipated plan of protecting the students, and investigate some arguments of whether it’s necessary to wear the mask so on. In addition, I want to report some racism accidents happened in New York related to the coronavirus from some Chinese International student’s perspective.

1. A local story I am thinking about is reporting on mental health on campus. College students experience a lot of stress and anxiety due to the demands of school, work, in additional to stress in their personal lives. I would be interested in learning about different Baruch students’ experiences with mental health and how they’ve navigated getting services such as therapy — if they have tried — from either Baruch’s Counseling Center or around the city. For sound bits, I would include interviews, also maybe record the sounds in these students’ everyday lives (i.e. foot traffic on campus, the subway, chatter).

2. A second pitch is a local story in my Bronx community. Near my apartment there is a CrossFit gym that has given the community access to take back control of their health and bodies. The founder of Brutal Boxx CrossFit is Jose Morales who founded the gym “in 2014 after serving five years in federal prison.” It was during his incarceration that he became very passionate about CrossFit — training for it constantly. After being released from prison, Morales was on a mission to bring CrossFit back to his community to “educate others on the benefits of living a more active lifestyle.” I would be interested in learning more about Morales’s story and what his gym has meant for the local community. For sound bits, I would include interviews with Morales — if possible — as well as gym members. I would also include the sounds of the gym (i.e. ropes hitting the floor, instructors training members, grunting from working out, the above ground 4 train near by, etc.)

My story is to interview my friend who on July of 2019 who moved to Xingyi, China for what was supposed to be a 2 year position teaching English at the local university as a Peace Corps volunteer. As of 3 weeks ago, the confusion and panic in China augmented by the frustration of the US government barely communicating with its employees abroad and the Trump administration’s trade war with China ended this program and left her and many others in limbo throughout southeast Asia and eventually back home without any plans.

For my radio pitch I would love to focus on the bike riders of New York City. Last year the city had seen one of the highest bicyclist mortalities rates since 2000 with 29 people being struck and killed while biking. There is now a bill called the Crash Victims Bill of Rights that would ensure traffic violence victims would receive financial help with medical bills on injuries sustained in the accident, funds allocated for burial services, and counseling for family members who lose their loved ones in such accidents. I would like to get the perspective of bike riders and street safety advocates about this particular bill in and what else can be done to improve their safety in the street.

I am interested in creating a story about loss. I plan to interview people about how people deal with life after loss. I’m not sure about the exact details yet since I would want to handle it as sensitively as possible but I want to try to talk to people in their varying stages of grief.

Today: Pitch Workshop 

We’ll discuss your pitches for your radio stories.

Zoom tutorial.

Set it to XY. Bring backup AA batteries if you’re not conducting the interview in a place where you can plug it in. Hold it 1-2 feet from the interviewee’s mouth. Don’t let them hold it. Use the handle to reduce handling noise. Highly recommended to you use your own headphones to monitor sound levels while you’re recording. Please format the card before you return it. MENU –> SD CARD –> FORMAT

Upcoming Dates:

Scripts for the radio piece will be due Tuesday, March 24, when instead of class as usual I will have everyone sign up for an in-person script editing session.

Final produced radio story will be due Thursday, April 2.

Reminder:

Assignment #2 will be a 5-minute news radio feature (a “wrap”). A wrap is a scripted radio piece that weaves together natural sounds, interview clips (known as “actualities”), and reporter narration to tell a story.

These are the components you are required to submit for the final draft:

1. A good headline/title.
2. Your final 4-5 minute edited audio file, posted to Soundcloud and embedded on the blog or on Exposure.
3. At least one photo.
4. A slightly reworked version of the script that reads like a normal news story, similar to the above examples.