Capstone Research / Progress (1st Week of March)

This week I am continuing my interviews. I have one that is rescheduled for this Tuesday along with student interviews to do still. So far, I have listened through my audio interviews and written down certain time sections and notes about what was said during those sections. I also have a few possible sound bytes marked in my notes.

As far as research goes, I have been looking over some tips in Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production (by Jonathan Kern) that deal with interviewing. I actually wish I had read this section prior to my interview with  Robert Spiker about the internet here at Shepherd, but I did actually do what the advice in the book says. Kern mentions that in some cases an interviewee may use technical language or jargon and assume that the listener knows what they are speaking about. However, this is not the case and too much technical language and explanation that goes on for too long can ruin a potentially good sound byte (this is spoken from prior experience). To help avoid this, it is sometimes "necessary for a reporter to play dumb" (Kern 52). According to Kern, some reporters request that their guest act as though they are speaking to smart high school student who is easily distracted (52). Some reporters also just hint at their interviewees that they do not want so much technical language (52). In my interview, I played dumb at a couple of spots because I really didn't know what some of the technical language meant. This helped to get an easier explanation.

Although I did not read this section (and more so skimmed over it at first), I believe that, in a way, I did follow the advice because I wasn't afraid to re-ask questions or have answers restated to me in a different way. I will have to remember this for the future, especially if I ever do get into reporting somehow (although it is not my first career choice). The advice and tips that I have been finding in Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production have all been useful.



Kern, Jonathan. Sound Reporting: the NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2008. Print.