Radio Documentary Radio Feature Radio Magazine

Mrinal Chatterjee, Ph.D

Professor

Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC)

mrinaliimc@yahoo.in

iimcdkl@yahoo.co.in

What is a Radio Documentary

• A radio documentary is a documentary programme devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures.

• Some radio features, especially those including specially composed music or other pieces of audio art, resemble radio drama in many ways, though non-fictional in subject matter, while others consist principally of more straightforward, journalistic-type reporting – but at much greater length than found in an ordinary news report.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_documentary

What is a Radio Feature

• Radio Feature resembles a documentary in its making approach, but differs in its larger scope and subject/time variability.

What is a Radio Magazine

• Radio magazine is a programme on a umbrella subject, which can have several programmes- documentary, features, interviews, music etc.

• There has to be a content synergy in the programmes.

Why radio? Why documentary?

• “No other medium can provide me with more freedom of creation and investigation. It meets my urgent interest in reality and the desire for a 'musical' expression. The material (der Werkstoff) is sound. And sound always surrounds us. And: I'm not so much interested in the description of stable situations, but in processes. Our medium is not space, but time; our stories are not glued to the ground, but have motion, life ... That's why!"

• (Helmut Kopetzky, German author)

Is there any demand forRadio documentary/Feature/magazine

• Yes. And the demand is growing. • Consider the radio world in India

Radio in India: Government domain

• AIR today has a network of 232 broadcasting centers with 149 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 171 FM transmitters. The coverage is 91.79% of the area, serving 99.14% of the people in the largest democracy of the world. AIR covers 24 Languages and 146 dialects in home services. In External services, it covers 27 languages; 17 national and 10 foreign languages.

Radio in India: Private domain

• Entertainment driven FM stations• The number of private FM radio stations in India:

100+ ( By May 2007 it was 69)

• Community Radio Stations.• Campus Radio Stations

• For a list see http://www.asiawaves.net/india-fm-radio.htm

Our Agenda

• Good listening experience for the audience• Public Service• Education• Information• Entertainment

Challenges

• Attracting audience• Pressure of Revenue earning• Competition from Private players• Image of sarkari-media• ‘New idea-unfriendly’ work atmosphere

Ways to meet the challengesIdeas…ideas

• Can we make want/need-based programme• Can we provide information that people

want/need• Entertainment driven/ centered/ focused• Off beat subject• Common subject with a new angle• Can we think out of the box• Use new technology in recording/editing• Use new delivery platform/convergence

For good documentaryThink story, not tools

• Writing is still key • Tell engaging stories

• Here is an example..

Here is a radio documentary following the lives of two of London’s 400 cycle couriers, whose working day is spent delivering packages across the city. The job is badly paid and the risk of serious injury is relatively high, yet there is a thriving sub-culture of people who have chosen the freedom of the road above the security of the office.BBC Radio 4 documentary: City Messengers

September 2, 2008

Technology has provided us new opportunities for storytelling

• Faster dissemination of information• Clearer recording devices• Faster editing tools

•Here is an exmaple.

14.30 hours, January 15, 2009A plane plunges into Hudson river

1st phone from scene

• News on radio within 5 minutes

Documentary by 120 minutes

Features by dozens

Radio magazine covering various aspects of the incident

Be creative

• Get ideas from other industries: advertising, technology, social networking.

Think out of the box

• Let’s play a game

Research

• When developing a documentary, especially on social awareness project, doing the proper research is mandatory! The information dispersed by such a show must be accurate, reliable, and current.

• Research can be accessed via the Internet, library, educational/research institute.

• Doing research for the radio documentary may also involved finding people who have something to contribute to the documentary, either by providing an interview, a story, or any other bits of material that can give the show some added substance.

Use data

• Data provides credibility• However, overuse of statistics makes

programme boring.• Provide a human face to the numbers

Write a script

• Writing a script gives a control over the subject.

Provide need based information

• People listen to programme that gives them information-they need.

Provide resources to the audience on a sustained basis

• Examples:

Focus on sound

• Maximize use of ambience audio, music where appropriate

Make it interactive

• Involve the user

Integrate media

• Don’t fixate on one medium; seamlessly integrate text, audio, video, photos, interactivity, graphics. For Visual Radio.

• Supplement radio programme with print/web content.

•Unfortunately that is not being done. FM Gold has its website. But it does not have audio programmes.

http://allindiaradio.org/index.html

Have a broad base of skills

Pool your resources

• Combine existing work on the same topic into a cohesive package

• Be comfortable working in teams

Resources

AUDIODOCUMENTARY.ORG. "Audiodocumentary.org is a first-of-its-kind guide to free radio

and audio documentary content on the web. There are thousands of great audio stories available for free but many of the sites are not well known. And even great mainstream stories can get lost in the shuffle. This website strives to be part of a curatorial effort for all that great content. Basically we bring you links to stuff that we think is interesting and which might otherwise fly below the radar - that great piece from NPR, that unknown Podcast, or any other audio documentary content we want to bring to people's attention."

RadioCollege<http://www.airmedia.org/PageInfo.php?PageID=3>

An excellent radio training Web site.

Interesting sites for radio

• http://www.hindiradios.com• http://www.planetradiocity.com• http://allindiaradio.org

Sites for good radio documentaries

• http://soundportraits.org• http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts• http://www.abc.net.au/rn/radioeye/• http://transom.org | A showcase of public radio.

Has a sample of radio documentary, which you can listen to.

For courses in Radio Documentary..

• http://www.albany.edu/faculty/gz580/documentaryproduction/index.html

• http://www.salt.edu/programs/radio/• http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/radio/