The KALW Audio Academy Means Learning How To Tell Local Community Stories in Audio Format

Students attending The KALW Audio Academy were asked to reflect on what they hope to achieve during the two semesters. Here is the third of those musings.

By Guest Blogger Rhian Miller, Student, The KALW Audio Academy

Expectations.  When I hear this word I cannot help but think about the wonderful way it showed up on a sign in an airport in Ukraine, where instead of a place we all know as the Waiting Room or Arrivals Area, a big sign proclaimed that you were now in the “Hall of Expectation.” So it is all about perspective. Whereas our terminology emphasizes the fact that you may have to wait a bit, this phrase puts the emphasis instead on the joy of what you are waiting for, that what you are anticipating will arrive soon, so often a loved one. For me, and from where I stand, being a part of The KALW Audio Academy is less like being an unpaid intern and more like getting a class for free.

I am at a point in my life and career where I chose to go freelance – opening myself up to more time and more options. By being a part of The KALW Audio Academy class, I will be afforded the chance to learn the craft of audio storytelling and to be involved with an organization whose work I have long admired. So, I do look forward to the hands on learning of recording interviews, sound, music and cutting it together hopefully into something coherent and interesting. But just as importantly, I am looking forward to being engaged in finding out about and helping report on the local communities served by the news programs here at KALW. And to some extent, I hope that my connections and relationships among some of these communities will help contribute to getting at new and important issues and stories for the coming year.

Who’s Rhian?

Rhian Miller has long admired the work of KALW and is now a part of The KALW Audio Academy.

Rhian Miller got her first job at age 11 delivering the local movie calendar door to door in exchange for free admission. Since then, she has found great satisfaction working at various jobs, all within the non-profit world, including: community organizer, political campaigner, events coordinator, grassroots fellowship program director, major donor fundraiser, movie house operator, film editor and television producer — not necessarily in that order. A cofounder of The Working Group, Rhian garnered several awards for projects including the national PBS series “Not In Our Town.”