KALW Stories Are Tops, From International Journalist Fellowship Award To, Literally, San Francisco
By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW Public Radio
KALW’s telling stories from the top of San Francisco.
The Audio Academy really brought it last week! We had our third Crosscurrents showcasing the Portola neighborhood on Tuesday. It included:
– Josiah Luis Alderete‘s feature on a mural and its lead artist capturing the character and history of the neighborhood.
– Greer McVay‘s exploration of the Maltese community that relocated in big numbers to the Portola.
– Beatrice Thomas‘ story about a home for elderly residents that will forever be known by the moniker “Lick Old Ladies.”
Terrific job, everybody, and this collection of stories from all of the Audio Academy members is really a wonderful recognition of KALW‘s home neighborhood.
Also, on Wednesday, Cari Spivack aired her “Liquid Gold” story about potential legislation in San Francisco to compel workplaces to provide suitable private space for pumping breast milk.
And we recently received news that Roop Singh was awarded a fellowship from the International Center for Journalists to report on how globalized markets have forced many Punjabi farmers to come to California. Read all about it here! Read about it here!
Finally, here are some thoughts from Claire Stremple about a recent assignment that sent her high up one of the skyscrapers under construction in downtown San Francisco:
The first question I ask myself, standing on the edge of the crane’s framework and staring up at a series of – was it 100? – spindly-looking ladders, is whether to carry the mic up between my teeth, or stick it in my bag and hope for the best. I imagine arriving at the top drooling, maybe with lock jaw, or, even worse, having it slip free and fall the five-hundred plus feet to the ground. I tuck it into my bag, dial in the fit on my hard hat, and grab a rung.
Leon, the operator, is a fast climber for a big guy, and he waits for me at the end of each ladder system. When we pull up through the base of the crane, only the Sales Force tower and the skinny arm of the crane are above us. Is he going to be able to tell me about how the city’s growing? Leon laughs: “I put half these buildings up!”