I’ve had an incredible time at NPR’s Next Generation Radio program. This whole week has been a constant learning experience, from starting an audio project, and managing every task, to deciding on the story. I had a great time both with my mentor and with the whole team. I always felt like everyone was happy to help whenever needed. I genuinely enjoyed the process, even the moments when I was very tired and wanted to take a nap.
One thing that I learned from this project was how to work on a story with a team. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to work with each editor for each aspect of the project.
Another highlight was being able to report a bilingual piece in Spanish and English. I believe bilingual journalism is sometimes overlooked, and this experience showed me, even more, that while it sometimes feels like we do double the work, you get double the gratification at the end.
While I’ve done audio reporting before, this project gave me the skills to better plan and execute an audio story. Working through the project blueprint, and then having templates for the scripting process helped me structure the story in a way I hadn’t tried before. They both helped me to organize my story and made the audio editing process way easier, especially with two languages.
I also really enjoyed the interview process. I feel very lucky to have the skills to tell Pastor Ismael’s story, and I thank him for trusting me with it in the first place. After this week is over, I will continue doing more audio storytelling. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy it and how many nuanced stories you can tell through audio.
NPR’s Next Generation Radio has been an incredible experience, from start to finish. I had a great time and never stopped learning. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of the program.
