About the Studio

Radio - at the breakfast table, in the car, on the bus - is the most accessible, immediate medium for news. In a world of inescapable screens, the best audio journalism lets us avert our eyes and still make a profound connection to the vital cultural and political issues of a seemingly divided world.

In this studio, you will create short, high-quality, multi-layered audio pieces. You will use narration, interviews, sound and music to tell the engaging, original, human stories that you find. The pieces - or “packages” - will be deeply researched, rigorously accurate and tightly scripted, with first-rate production values. The coach, Hasit Shah, will act as editor; you are the reporters.

(The name of the studio, by the way, is a Prince song. It's the bleak, political title track of the greatest album ever made and describes some of the social problems that beset America in the late 1980s.)

Equipment and Software

• Desktop editing software - Audacity or adobe audition
• Microphones - lapel + directional
• Audio recorders
• Apps: Ferrite, BBC Sounds, TuneIn, RadioPublic

What You Will Learn

• Audio production
• Sourcing stories
• Deep research
• Interview techniques
• Pitching
• Scriptwriting
• Narrative skills
• Editorial integrity