ACE Spectrum

KALW Audio Academy Works at Documenting Current News and Keeping the Record Straight

Posted by Martha Sessums on Jun 8, 2020 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW, audience supported public media; and Precious Green, Audio Academy ’20 Fellow

We’re approaching graduation day for the Audio Academy class of 2020. It’s been the most unexpected and extraordinary last trimester. What can you say?!

One thing is that this class has been KALW‘s most productive yet. We made the choice at the beginning to teach our students how to make spots — one-minute stories — that could enhance our station’s immediate news coverage. By March, when the coronavirus crisis transformed the Bay Area, our team was seasoned and ready to step it up even further. While they’ve been making impactful features, contributing to our person-on-the-street series The Quarantine Diaries, and helping behind-the-scenes with our news operations, each fellow has been reporting a news spot every week. Most all have well over 20 broadcast credits, now, and of course they keep getting better and better. Here are a few examples from this week:

• Victor Tence — London breed Closes the Gap on San Francisco’s Budget Deficit

• Precious Green — Peaceful Oakland Protest Marred by OPD Response

• Imran Ali Malik — Protesters Arrested Outside of San Francisco City Hall of Justice

While KALW has been covering the regional news of the day more thoroughly than ever before, this week’s content on Crosscurrents has been a great reflection of our department’s ability to go in depth:

Day By Day: The Quarantine Diaries Ep. 11 — Combining protests with COVID-19 issues, focused on perspectives of people of color, tremendously emotional, and titled “Who Gets To Be Safe?”

At Mass Demonstrations, Protesters Weigh the Risks of COVID-19 — Powerful, timely story set in SF’s Mission District by KALW’s Immigration Reporter and Audio Academy mentor Teresa Cotsirilos

Kaepernick: Race, Protest and Respect — An updated documentary about the impact Colin Kaepernick‘s protests against police brutality had on the nation, his own career, youth, and incarcerated people, with reporting from Boawen Wang (’17) and Jeremy Jue (’17)

Peaceful Protest Puts Los Gatos on Edge, Unveils Underlying Racial Tensions — Our most popular story in weeks, with a quick turnaround by Los Gatos resident and Audio Academy fellow Sarah Lai Stirland

I asked Sarah’s regular Tuesday Academy partner Precious Green for some thoughts on reporting during these traumatic times. Here’s what she has to say:

When I first started writing this, my focus was on how sheltering-in-place and COVID-19 had upended my Audio Academy experience. That feels so long ago.

Before COVID, I spent my Tuesdays at KALW in San Francisco. They were fairly structured days, guided by the newsroom needs and my assigned tasks. And they were fun. KALW’s news crew is made up of so many fascinating people who shared random stories of wild reporting escapades, surfing, getting tape in a crunch, and Burning Man. We bonded over Chocolate O’Clock and the daily Post-It trophy presentation. And we worked together each day as a team, crafting news features and stories to share with the world. March 10th was my last day there.

In the weeks since, we all shifted, creating home studios in walk-in closets or out of blankets, pillows, and chairs. The news crew ramped up its coverage and that meant many more opportunities for me and the other Academy fellows. But I struggled to take advantage. COVID-19 took people I loved and triggered anxiety that I may never fully process. Thankfully, I was able to make a short news spot each week. The staff has been incredibly generous and kind. But I was weary.

And then, it was deja vu all over again. First, the country learned of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in my home state. Then, Breonna Taylor. Then, the Christian Cooper black birder video. And then George Floyd. The succession of violence has left me reeling and struggling with a sense of hopelessness, anger, distrust, and fear.

I don’t want to feel helpless or cynical. But, how should I respond to the one-two punch of a viral pandemic and systemic racial violence?

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” — Toni Morrison

Ms. Morrison’s quote focused on artists, but the truth is this is precisely the time for journalists, even “baby journos” like me, to go to work. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to tell the stories of this moment simply, accurately, and completely.

“We speak, we write, we do language.”

I recently shared the story of one of Oakland’s peaceful protests with our listeners and I am thinking of new features that will tell the story of this season.

“That is how civilizations heal.”

This is an unprecedented moment of disruption and change. Thanks to our Audio Academy training, my colleagues and I are able to document what is happening and help to keep the record straight. Our new normal will be set by what we remember and what we learn.

The Class of 2020 is “Ready to Be the Change in the World”

Posted by Martha Sessums on Jun 1, 2020 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Martha Sessums, President, ACE

Graduating seniors receive lots of advice, and the Class of 2020 has probably received more than any other class. With no physical graduations, everything went online and the advice piled up. From Oprah to Obama to basketball player Damian Lillard to gymnast Simon Biles and even rapper Cardi B, the advice was plentiful.

But here’s an authentic viewpoint from Julian Jordan and Kyle Trefny,* both 2020 graduates of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. Like their fellow students, they have lived through lots of events that changed parts of the world and are looking at a future filled with more change. Their viewpoint, while positive, is also powerful. “We are not just ready to be in a world of change we are also ready to be the change in the world.”

Congratulations to all the students in the Class of 2020, especially those in the ACE Learning Center schools – KALW Audio Academy, Alpha Public Schools, Oakland International High School, San Francisco International High School and Oxford Day Academy.

Get ready to be the change in the world. The world needs you now.

*Kyle Trefny is the son of Ben Trefny, News Director at KALW, who also manages the ACE Learning Center Audio Academy. Nice job, Kyle.

Radio is the Democratic Way to Reach People ‘Cause the FM Dial is Available to All Claims KALW Audio Academy Fellow

Posted by Martha Sessums on May 27, 2020 in ACE Learning Center, ACE School Report, Continuing Education | 0 comments

By Ben Trefny, News Director, KALW, Audience Supported Public Media and Sona Avakian, Audio Academy Fellow ‘20

We’re getting close to graduation day for our current Audio Academy class. As with so many graduations around the world, we’re going to hold ours virtually — but as with all the classes of 2020, the pandemic does not diminish from these graduates’ accomplishments.

One fellow in our graduating class is Sona Avakian. I was immediately struck when she came into the Academy by her incredible enthusiasm. She signed up for our (not good but spirited) softball team, even though she hadn’t really played before. Showed up to pretty much every contest, too. She was game for every excursion and assignment. And she could voice a story, sounding engaged and convincing, right off the bat.

While her path has taken several turns — most notably, of course, the coronavirus crisis that has shaken up the world — she has persevered, and last week a story she produced aired about somebody who couldn’t leave her job for a series called “The Essentials.” This one is about one of the animal caregivers at the California Academy of Sciences. Check out that story, featuring Claude the albino alligator, by clicking here.

Here are some of Sona’s thoughts about reporting in this time:

My last day in the station was March 9th. People were talking about how easy their commutes were. I don’t think the students were in school at Burton High where KALW is located, but honestly, I don’t remember. At one point the fire alarm went off; we all grabbed our computers and ran outside to continue working at the picnic table. Later that afternoon I opened the door to the school hallway and the smell of ammonia was heavy in the air.

The first few days of shelter-in-place are a blur. So many phone calls and Zoom meetings trying to figure out how we were going to report on this. In some ways it was exhilarating. Then I crashed. Trying to make radio alone isn’t easy if you’re a novice. Working from home can be isolating; but it’s also a privilege. Just being able to stay home is a privilege. Some days I don’t recognize my own life anymore. Other times in the middle of my confusion I feel extreme euphoria at just being able to wash my hands as often as I want.

I was slow to take this seriously. But two people I know have died and my great aunt, who is in assisted living has tested positive. So far, luckily, she has no symptoms. I can’t believe how naive I was.

I don’t know what I’m going to do after Audio Academy. A few of the stories I was working on are on hold because I need more tape. This is disappointing because I thought I would have more finished features under my belt by this time. What I do know is with much of the online news behind paywalls, radio is the most democratic way to reach people. It will always be the medium to deliver thoughtful and truthful information which can be accessed through your phone, computer or a good old-fashioned terrestrial FM dial.