Last minute relfection; One Blood

As my first radio feature, One Blood; A voice raised in silence (previously titled In the Wake of Genocide) is about to go to air I suppose its timely that I do a bit for a reflection about the whole process, especially as the first half was documented so thoroughly in the exegesis for Honours last year.

The exegesis made lots of conclusions, but most of all I think I was pleased with the way I’d been able to work with community members in a “participatory” way. It certainly hadn’t turned out the way I’d imagined and there had been many unforseen challenges but in essence, I felt that I had succeeded in listening to the how the community members understood the story and there was a strong sense of the participants feeling very connected the product in the end. The real key was that we’d developed strong relationships, what surprised me was that when the community trusted me, they were really happy to take a backward step- which was not something I had anticipated or really know what to do with given my emphasis on inclusion. Again is was a lesson in being receptive and responsive.

Throughout 2009 the way things were happening changed again. It wasn’t until April, maybe May where we started to pick up where we left off the year before. Once we finally got together for interviews and for our trip to Cummera we were back in the swing of things, and it was a real boost when we knew that the feature was definitely going to be picked up by ABC. Then it was time for me to get to re-editing the work from last year, which had been really well received by everyone but especially the Jewish community who’d been more involved at that stage.

Before I took the mix into ABC Kevin and I sat together and listened to it together one Sunday afternoon, and I made sure to check with him each time there were parts I felt he may not be comfortable with. His contributions, centering around the journey to Cummerganja were very personal and intimate so this was really important. We also sent copies to Uncle Boydie and Uncle Col.

From there it didn’t change a whole lot at ABC and though I sent some MP3s and scripts through, I was aware that there was some fatigue from the participants. Fair enough too, they were it is a long program and the changes were minimal. Part of me I guess was nervous about the responsibility of being trusted- working together to make sure everyone is happy it much easier in a way, because you  theres no question that everyone is happy with what you have done.

So after learning the value of good relationships and being trusted, perhaps my next lesson is learning to trust myself.

One Blood will be broadcast on ABC  Radio National’s Awaye! program on Saturday December 5th at 6pm and Monday 7th at 3pm. A feature website is also available at the Awaye! website.

Always more to learn

Well I’m one week away from having my first radio feature broadcast on national radio which is truly exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Having my work broadcast has been an ultimate dream for so many years now, but with only time between now and the broadcast I’m suddenly aware that being broadcast is very public and invites judgment and analysis- and I’ve never been one to be at ease in the lime-light. Still, to finish something so big with such a neat full-stop is one of those rare luxuries (for me at least) that I will definitely savour for a while to come!

Juggling work and the seemingly endless edits and re-edits has meant that I haven’t actually been listening to radio or reading about radio in the ways that I should. Even throughout Honours which was very self-directed learning, my research was in such a different direction than how to make good stories.

So why not start with Ira Glass, one of NPR’s well-known radio producers/ presenters. His ‘Manifesto’ is published on Transom, a website with loads of stories, podcasts and reviews aimed at budding producers.

Part 1 of his Manifesto discusses his own experience of starting out in radio- this is certainly a reassuring read particularly as he is very honest in discussing his own early mistakes! Take this for example;

I started working at NPR’s headquarters in Washington when I was 19 but I wasn’t competent at writing and structuring my own stories until I was 27. I’ve never met anyone who took longer, and I’ve met hundreds of people who work in radio….I was sort of hopeless at all the basic tasks of recognizing and shaping a story.

He says he only continued due to lack of other prospects! I can relate!

Part 2 and Part 3, though, were the sections I felt were most interesting and useful. Here he gives really practical advice for developing a sense of being able to identify good stories that will work. The main point being that if you can tell a friend the story and both you and your friend are interested then it probably is a good story. He also suggested being aware of the structure you naturally use when telling the story to other people, the most important information, the order people need it to understand and the turning points. Simple!

This coupled with Part 3 which helps with identifying stories that aren’t going anywhere. Exactly what I need! I probably can’t summarise this section very well here but  I highly recommend it as a good read. The main difficulty I have with it is that I don’t actually like conflict and I would hate the idea of seeking conflict, (even potentially causing it?) and then exploiting it for good radio. I suppose this is an idea I’ll have to wrestle with along the way.

I came across Transom.org a while ago when I was researching gear to buy and found them excellent in this regard, and since subscribing to their newsletter I’m really looking forward to staying in the loop about the other things they have to offer.

Empowering Media

The most inspiring thing in the world for me seeing the power of media harnessed and channelled into development. Coming across organisations who are achieving this takes my breath away every time without a fail.

Some of the orgs I know of are:

ABC International Projects
Funded by AusAID, our very own ABC is training and capacity building with our Asia Pacific neighbours and beyond.

Internews
An American based organisation most active in Africa and parts of South Asia, this one is certainly inspiring. Using local health and related issues as topics, these guys are training local journalists to write/ broadcast quality news about issues facing their community in particularly challenging areas. Wow.

Sancharica Samuha
Ahh my beloved Nepali friends. I volunteered with this organisation during my extended stay in Nepal in 2006. They are a talented, passionate group of women and men training women journalists in rural areas, giving voice to their stories through publications and training editors and reporters in the major newspapers about reporting on women’s issues. A small local NGO  achieving big things!

Community Radio:
They’re everywhere and they’re broadcasting fantastic local media voices talking about local issues, events and people.

Yarra Reporter
Operating almost in my own backyard, this initiative is a wonder. Residents of Yarra City’s public housing are trained by volunteers (professional journalists or students) in reporting skills and then encouraged to take up the challenge.

Then there are some Press Freedom orgs like;

IFJ
As well as journalists members organisation they are strong campaigners for press freedom and the safety and journalists worldwide.

Reporters Without Borders
You got it, not only is there the well-known Doctors version, Reporters Sans Frontiers or Reporters Without Borders is an important agency in promoting press freedom and supporting journalists worldwide. One quick look around this website and you’ll see that they are possibly saving as many lives as the other, more famous, incarnation.

I’d love to hear about other organisations so if you know of any please leave a comment and let me know!

Murray to Mountains; prep work

I suppose when the early settlers bashed their way through Victorian bushland and forests to establish train lines- an important marker of colonial conquest over an untamed, unchartered land- they would never have suspected that centuries later we would enjoy these routes as tranquil paths for the humble bicycle.

As, lets face it, an amateur cyclist, I love the idea of a beautiful meandering track through bushland, especially when I know that the route was specifically chosen for the train’s inability to cope with hills- I can certainly relate!

So to celebrate my 25th birthday we plan to cycle the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail route from Wangaratta to Bright with a detour to Beechworth. What better way to celebrate a quarter of a century of life, health and happiness?

Our trip will be a low-key affair with camping in caravan parks etc. My main disappointment so far is that it looks as though we’ll need to take the car rather than taking public transport. I was really hoping to make it a low-carbon trip but after a call to Vline, it was confirmed that they no longer carry bikes on their coaches. Bicycle Victoria’s website seemed to suggest that bikes may be possible on this route during track-upgrades when trains are not available, but even then the clause is “Whenever possible”- and I doubt that a long weekend counts as a probable possibility! On this subject most websites seem outdated but the response from Vline was decisive. But Bicycle Victoria continues its campaign so we can cope that things will eventually change.

Our plan is:

Day 1: Drive to Wangaratta, ride 42km to Beechworth

Day 2: Beechworth to Myrtleford (42km)

Day 3: Myrtleford to Bright (30km)

Day 4: Bright to Wangaratta (84km).
I haven’t figured out the mode of transport yet but it looks likely that if our legs are up to it, it will be a big ride down the mountain to the finish line!

So the weather looks good, the views look amazing and with only a few things left of my checklist we look ready to go!

Plenty of stories, photos and perhaps even a podcast on our return…

P.S. For Melbourne bike paths this google map is a winner

An entrée

Yes, my first ever radio feature/documentary has been taken up by ABC’s AWAYE! program. After what seems like YEARS ( but not quite!) the pieces seem to be finally falling into place.

Regulars may remember the planning stages of this project, working with Koorie community members as well as the  Jewish community which last year resulted in a short 12,000 words looking at alternative practices of documentary production.

The project has certainly moved on in the last few months with extra interviews from William Cooper’s grandson, Uncle Boydie Turner, and great-grandson, Kevin Russell. We jump onboard as these two men journey back to Cummerganja (means “Our Home” in Yorta Yorta language) to revisit the gravesite of William Cooper, an activist campaigning for Aboriginal Rights around the 1930s. Along the way we learn about his work to protest against Jewish persecution and hear about the Jewish community’s response.

Listen out for the program which is likely to be broadcast on ABC Radio National later this year.

More digital Story-telling

Back to researching digital story-telling tools and found this site which lists 50!

Some of them are very professional looking, other like this one, are really just a bit of fun!

This one is alright as a simple timeline but design is not as slick as some others.
I’m still a big fan of Vuvox and look forward to using that in the future. This one about Nepali migrant workers particularly stood out for me today as I was browsing through. It showed Vuvox’s potential not only as a “timeline” which is how it’s mostly characterised, but also just as a plain old narrative tool.

Digital Storytelling

Seems to me that the phrase “digital storytelling” is being bandied around an awful lot bt at the same time, pinning down a definition of what exactly constitutes digital storytelling is not as easy.

While looking up some alternatives to interactive google maps I found this presentation which lists a number of interesting online sites offering simple tools to create interactive platforms for photos, videos, slideshows and audio.

I’ve only skimmed over the options so far but Voice Thread seems to be focused on user participation with many options for commenting, either by webcam, phone, audio recording, and text. And yes, you can moderate comments if you feel the need. Here is a Voice Thread conversations about the meaning of networks in education.

And this one I’m drawn to for its oral history and memory aspects. What a wonderful way to spark conversations!

Now onto Vuvox: I love lots about this application, collage images with hotspots for audio and video and other links. I’ve attempted before to build a similar effect in flash with hotspots for audio over images but I think using vuvox would be a much simpler, cleaner and more user friendly option. Vuvox would be used quite differently to Voice Thread though, as it is not built around comments as Voice Thread is. It’s more about presenting an interactive story.

I thought this one which is audio focussed was a really successful use of Vuvox for a very aesthetic multi-media outcome:

And for a social history through interactive image collage with pop-up annotations this one about a Black American history througha bakery.

Copyright

Ironically, this cute Disney mash-up about copyright is right at home on you tube!

New Media and Museums: Conference

I’ve just spotted a facinating looking conference being held in Melbourne later this week called Transformations in Cultural and Scientific Communication. It appears to focus on the new and possible uses and releationships bewteen Web2 technologies and online platforms and Museum story telling.

Swinburne Uni also has some more info about it.

Khmer Rouge Trial

It was with mixed feelings that I recieved the news of the Khmer Rouge Trial beginning last week. Justice is value to which humanity must aspire but perhaps not without it’s own sense of pain of memory, trauma and loss of the irreplaceable.

In 2004 I spent quite a bit of time in the region and at the time wrote in an article published in the local paper, “It was Cambodia that stole my heart”. I remember being struck by the harmony of the place, mixed with a strong wiff of memory and dysfuntion. One day I spent hours playing with a group of gorgeous kids in a village after a day on the back of a motorbike. My driver invited me back to his home and before long there was a collection of dark curious eyes following me, playing cat and mouse behind my back before we tumbled into games of soccer, piggy back and shoulder rides, and crude lessons in photography with my camera. I sat for a breather for a cup of tea and a chat when the conversation lightly turned to the family members missing due to the genocide. It seemed to me that these facts were repeated tranfered in this manner with the many others who I spent time with along the way. These people were emotionally spent.

I also remember the feeling of vomit rising in my throat at the killing fields and Tuol Seng in particular.

Perhaps Cambodia was my entre to a need to explore the ghosts of trauma among survivors, how we heal and what aids the healing process. War crimes trial may be one way, Truth and Reconciliation Tribunals, Apologies, compensation, therapy. I don’t have answers to such questions, except what people have told me: speaking, being heard, being acknowledged, being supported, sharing pain and having a future.

These episodes move survivor groups to vow, “never again” but horrifically, as a global community we seem to watch the same story line replayed over and over again only with different characters, different locations. To this again all I can say is that I have no answer and that like everyone else, my eternal question is simply “why”.

Also read responses from Khmer people, News reports and a resource from Yale University