From field recordings to an expert interview, Radio Rookie Amina takes full advantage of all radio storytelling has to offer. And it sounds really good.
Amina's friends and schoolmates gossip all the time. They talk about people who aren't there, often casting them in a negative light. Amina sees similarities between her gossiping and the movie "Mean Girls." Who better to see if she's right than Rosalind Wiseman, author of a book that inspired the movie? She not only gets an interview with Wiseman, she plays back some gossip she's recorded as well.
Even Amina's parents are big gossips, and she's got them on tape to prove it. Speaking like an anthropologist, Amina argues that gossip is culturally significant and enforces social mores. She has an interesting prospective on this, as gossip keeps her behavior in line with her family's South Asian Islamic expectations.
Congratulations to Amina, producers Marianne McCune and Karen Michel and engineer Wayne Shulmister on a job well done. This eight-minute look at gossip should have a place in many youth radio shows. Stations may also appreciate the full transcript that is available.
Notably, the use of ambient sound is to be complimented here. The way the surrounding sounds are woven in and out of the story, it really helps us ease out of one section and into another. It is almost if we are walking in between rooms. (Although... during the "Mean Girls" scene I thought it was a little bit sound heavy, and could have been scaled back).
The surprising twist in which we come to understand another culture through a story about gossip is very neat. That is really the catch here... what makes this piece unique. South Asian Muslim culture explained through the guise of girls gossiping is a neat place to take us. Only change I would have made is to hint at this point a little more in the beginning, so we know what we are getting into.
The use of the "expert" is creative, and really helps us connect and understand more. While no groundbreaking territory is unearthed, it is a good reminder of what we exactly are doing when we gossip.
Final note: Visual language is very creative here. I can really see what the reporter is describing. And the lapses into casual speech help characterize here as a real person, again making it easier to connect.
Matt Terrell
Youth Editorial Board
generation.prx.org
Comments for We Have Stories to Tell!
Produced by Kaari Pitkin, Miguel Macias
Other pieces by Radio Rookies
Rating Summary
2 comments
Martin Burch
Posted on July 28, 2007 at 06:22 PM | Permalink
Review of Amina Gossip
From field recordings to an expert interview, Radio Rookie Amina takes full advantage of all radio storytelling has to offer. And it sounds really good.
Amina's friends and schoolmates gossip all the time. They talk about people who aren't there, often casting them in a negative light. Amina sees similarities between her gossiping and the movie "Mean Girls." Who better to see if she's right than Rosalind Wiseman, author of a book that inspired the movie? She not only gets an interview with Wiseman, she plays back some gossip she's recorded as well.
Even Amina's parents are big gossips, and she's got them on tape to prove it. Speaking like an anthropologist, Amina argues that gossip is culturally significant and enforces social mores. She has an interesting prospective on this, as gossip keeps her behavior in line with her family's South Asian Islamic expectations.
Congratulations to Amina, producers Marianne McCune and Karen Michel and engineer Wayne Shulmister on a job well done. This eight-minute look at gossip should have a place in many youth radio shows. Stations may also appreciate the full transcript that is available.
Matthew Terrell
Posted on July 09, 2007 at 06:49 PM | Permalink
Review of Amina Gossip
Wonderfully done for a "rookie reporter."
Notably, the use of ambient sound is to be complimented here. The way the surrounding sounds are woven in and out of the story, it really helps us ease out of one section and into another. It is almost if we are walking in between rooms. (Although... during the "Mean Girls" scene I thought it was a little bit sound heavy, and could have been scaled back).
The surprising twist in which we come to understand another culture through a story about gossip is very neat. That is really the catch here... what makes this piece unique. South Asian Muslim culture explained through the guise of girls gossiping is a neat place to take us. Only change I would have made is to hint at this point a little more in the beginning, so we know what we are getting into.
The use of the "expert" is creative, and really helps us connect and understand more. While no groundbreaking territory is unearthed, it is a good reminder of what we exactly are doing when we gossip.
Final note: Visual language is very creative here. I can really see what the reporter is describing. And the lapses into casual speech help characterize here as a real person, again making it easier to connect.
Matt Terrell
Youth Editorial Board
generation.prx.org