INVESTIGATIVE AUDIO WORKSHOP
October 6, 2018
Seoul
Citra Prastuti Sandra Bartlett
Jakarta Toronto
Great radio
forces you to stay
and listen
to - the - whole - story
Investigative stories on radio
Radio’s Advantage
It takes you somewhere
It engages your imagination
It touches you emotionally
Radio is intimate
How do you turn
your investigation
into great
radio?
Planning
How will you roll out the stories
Short news stories - 1 - 2 min
Longer news stories - 5 - 8 min
Documentaries - 15, 20, 60 min
Q&A - 5 min, 15 minutes
Serialized in a News story
News stories have one simple focus -
something happened and here is
what we know about it so far
News stories are short and to
the point
News stories have one, two or
maybe three voices
Documentaries
Documentaries can be 5 minutes
or 25 minutes or 60 minutes
You can have more than one idea
or focus in the story
You need to take people more
places and have more voices
Q & A
You talk to the host of the program,
telling a story with or without tape
Podcasting
two people talking
one person talking to different
people
going on a journey with the
reporter
Your investigation
Documents
Data, studies
Interviews
Sounds from events
Archival sound
Characters
People who have a strong story
People whose story helps you to
make an important point about
your investigation
Characters
People who have been doing their
own research
People who have been fighting
against the problem
Experts, Analysts
People with respect in their field
People who can explain technical
or complicated
Locations
The place where it started
The place where it ended
The place where it is happening
The home, the office, the school
Actions, Events
Is the playground right next to a
polluting company?
Does an event take place every
week or month where many people
gather?
Actions, Events
Will there be a conference about
your issue?
When is the company’s annual
meeting?
HOW TO GET AMAZING TAPE
Interviewing
Interviewing
Narratives�
Accountability
Accountability
Ask Open ended questions
Top 10 Questions
What happened?
What do you mean?
Why is that? or Why?
What are the options
@ John Sawatsky
Top 10 Questions
When did things change?
What did he/she say?
What is it like?
What went through your mind?
What's an example?
@ John Sawatsky
More good questions
How? Why is that?
How do you feel?
And then what
happened?
How did it end?
More good questions
What were people doing?
How do you deal with that?
What was the hardest part?
What's the evidence?
Why do you say that?
How to get people to pay attention
Radio: Plus and Minus
Print story: you stop, go back,
read again and then continue
Radio story: You have to
understand immediately because
the story teller keeps talking
Radio: Plus and Minus
Print story: you can look at the
numbers on the page and think
about them before you move on
Radio story: you just have a second
to understand the significance or
importance of the number
Radio: Plus and Minus
Print story: you can keep adding
to the story if you need to explain
something complicated or add
more information
Radio story: the time is limited
and when time runs out the story
has to be complete
Writing the story
Short, sharp, creative
Tension – Surprise
Writing to the Scene����
Taser use in Canada
Story telling without tape
Sequence of events is crucial to
understanding the story
No one knows the whole story
Legal issues prevent people from
telling their story