Radio Journalism And Production

Corporate Structure of a Radio Station

our favorite radio station must operate in a coherent fashion on the air and behind the scenes
to provide information and entertainment. It is therefore imperative that it utilizes a strong
corporate structure. Doing so makes it easy to divide responsibilities into departments, which
come together to make the station function smoothly as a whole.

Station Manager

At the top of the pyramid is the station manager, who's responsible for day-to-day operations.
She enforces the owner's standards while making sure the needs of all employees are being
met. The station manager maintains the budget, hires and fires, trains personnel and reviews
employee performance. She also ensures that operations comply with Federal Communications
Commission regulations.

Operations Manager

The operations manager holds down the No. 2 spot within a radio station and usually focuses
on coordinating, scheduling and promoting on-air programming. He works closely with disc
jockeys, anchors and hosts to make sure they represent the station's branding correctly. When
new programming options must be found the operations manager is usually in charge of doing
the detective work. He answers to the station manager.

Program Director

Program directors create and plan the daily broadcast schedule. This means locating and
providing the news, music, or entertainment that should be covered while monitoring on-air
activity to ensure content is disseminated properly. There is usually a program director for each
individual broadcast. Program directors generally work with the same staff every day and
report to the operations manager.

Sales Manager

Having a sales manager working with a team which constantly generates revenue by selling air
time to advertisers is vital. Some of her charges research potential accounts, do some cold-
calling and generally generate sales leads. Others actually sell air time to meet a quota while
negotiating price and payment schedules. The sales manager must often designate employees
to perform collections on past-due accounts. The sales manager usually reports to the station
manager.

Office Manager

The office manager works with a team of administrative and finance employees to handle
logistics, payroll, taxes, bills, audits and legal matters. Administrative employees also field
phone calls and take messages for the station manager and operations director. They also book
any outside business travel for station employees as well as lodging for guests. The office
manager reports to the operations manager or station manager.

Chief Engineer

The chief engineer manages a team that handles all technical matters. In addition to
supervising, he must regularly inspect equipment, maintain and repair it when necessary,
purchase new equipment when merited and abide by FCC regulations. The engineering staff is
often directly involved with broadcasts by editing tracks, managing sound effects and
monitoring the station's signal for strength, quality and overall clarity. The chief engineer
reports to the operations manager.

On-Air Personalities

Transmitting the station's voice to the public falls to on-air personalities. Disc jockeys play
music, take requests and provide information. Anchors deliver the news, weather and traffic
updates. Hosts often conduct interviews and allow listeners to call in and become part of the
show. All must align with station branding. On-air personalities report to their program
director.

Organizational Structure in Broadcasting

Broadcasting refers to distribution of audio and visual content through a mass communications
medium, such as television or radio. The organizational structure of broadcasting companies is
designed so that departments such as sales, public relations, finance, technology, management
and creative services are adequately staffed.

Executive Suite
A broadcasting company is typically headed up by a chief executive or operations officer called
the general manager (GM). The GM has broad responsibilities for day-to-day affairs including
budgetary issues, legal compliance and liaising with the creative and production teams. The GM
also works closely with community-relations and marketing executives. Depending on the size
of the organization, the GM may have assistants that head up the organization's various sub -
divisions. Also working under the GM are a team of administrators and human resource
professionals who answer phones and emails, pay bills and help hire staff.

Advertising Access

Broadcasters typically sell advertising, such as commercial slots, to organizations and

companies wishing to promote their products and services. The sales, marketing and public
relations teams are normally headed up by a director of advertising who sets the company's
strategy for bringing in new clients and keeping existing advertisers happy. Account executives
and marketing specialists work under the advertising director. Some might sell ad slots directly
to business while others might work on the company's social media presence. Marketing and
PR staffers connect the broadcaster with community organizations and potential busi ness
partners. A TV station might, for example, want to align with a local non-profit group. The
people working in marketing and PR help make those connections happen.

Engineering and Technology

Engineers and information technologists are essential to the company because they make sure
the broadcast signal is distributed properly. Engineering and technology departments are
normally led by a chief engineer or director of broadcast operations. They have a staff of people
who operate cameras and sound equipment, perform maintenance and repair tasks and
archive material.

Creative Types

The face of any broadcasting company is its creative team, which includes newscasters, sports
announcers, DJs and other on-air personalities. This team also includes producers, writers,
editors, makeup artists, graphic artists and art directors who help give the station its
personality. Creative is often guided not only by the day's top stories or the playlist, but also by
the overarching messages the GM wants to convey. These include catering to the company's
target market as well as incorporating advertising and communicating in the tone and voice
that viewers or listeners expect.

ALL INDIA RADIO: Programming and Organizational Structure

The Directorate General, All India Radio functions under Prasar Bharati. Director General is the
Head of the Department and is responsible for the overall administration and supervision of the
entire AIR network. In performance of his duties and functions, the Director General, AIR is
assisted by officers of the following wings.

1. PROGRAMME WING

Additional Director Generals (ADGs) at the Headquarters and in the Regions assist the Director
General in proper supervision of the stations. The Headquarters of the Regional ADGs are
situated at Kolkata (Eastern Region), Mumbai (Western Region-I), Lucknow (Central Region-I),
Bhopal (Central Region-II) and Guwahati (North Eastern Region), Chennai (South Region-I),
Bangalore (South Region-II), Delhi (North Region-I) and Chandigarh (North Region-II). Another
office of ADG is to be set-up at Ahmedabad (Western Region-II).

2. ENGINEERING WING
In respect of the technical matters, Director General is assisted by an Engineer-
inChief and ADG (Engineering) at the Headquarters and by the Zonal Chief Engineers
in zones. In addition, there is a Planning and Development Unit at the Headquarters
in respect of the Development Plan Schemes of All India Radio. For the civil
construction activities, the Director General is assisted by the Civil Construction
Wing (CCW) of AIR, which is headed by a Chief Engineer. The CCW caters to the
needs of Doordarshan also.
3. ADMINISTRATIVE WING
Additional Director General (Administration) and Additional Director General
(Finance) assist the Director General on all matters of the administration and finance
One Director each looks after the Engineering Administration, Programme
Administration and financial matters.
4. SECURITY WING
The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director General (Security), an Assistant
Director General (Security) / Deputy Director (Security) on the matters relating to
the security and safety of AIR installations viz., transmitters, studios, offices, etc. The
Security requirements of Doordarshan are also looked after by these officers.
5. AUDIENCE RESEARCH WING
There is a Director (Audience Research) to assist the Director General in carrying out
feedback studies on the programmes broadcast by the stations of All India Radio.
Director (Audience Research) is assisted by a Joint Director (Audience Research).
6. ACTIVITIES OF SUBORDINATE OFFICES OF AIR IN BRIEF
There are a number of subordinate offices of All India Radio perfor ming the distinct
functions. The broad activities of these offices / divisions are summarised as under:
1. NEWS SERVICES DIVISION
 The News Services Division works round-the-clock and it broadcasts over 607
news bulletins both for Home and External Services. The bulletins are in Indian
languages and various foreign languages. The Division is headed by the Director
General (News). There are 46 Regional News Units in AIR. The bulletins vary from
region to region according to the news worthiness of national, regional and local
affairs.

2. EXTERNAL SERVICES DIVISION

The External Services Division of All India Radio broadcasts in 27 languages i.e.,
15 foreign and 12 Indian languages. These services are radiated for an aggregate
duration of 72 hours daily and are projected to over 100 countries.
7. TRANSCRIPTION & PROGRAMME EXCHANGE SERVICE
This service looks after the exchange of programmes among the stations, building
up and maintenance of sound archives and also the commercial release of
prestigious recordings of music maestros. RESEARCH DEPARTMENT The functions of
the Research Department include Research and Development of equipment
required by AIR and Doordarshan, investigation and studies relating to AIR and
Doordarshan, development of prototype models of R&D equipment for limited use
field trials in AIR and Doordarshan network.
8. CENTRAL STORE OFFICE
AIR’s Central Store Office, located at New Delhi, performs the functions relating to
procurement, stocking and distribution of the engineering stores required for the
maintenance of technical equipment at All India Radio Stations.
9. COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE CENTRES & VIVIDH BHARATI
SERVICE (VBS)
There are 41 Vividh Bharati-cum-Commercial Broadcasting Service (CBS) Centres
including the exclusive VB Centres. The work relating to CBS is performed by two
Wings i.e. Sales Wing and Production Wing. An independent Central Sales Unit along
with 15 main Commercial Broadcasting Service Centres looks after the marketing of
broadcast time in AIR.

All India Radio Code of Ethics

Broadcast on All India Radio by individuals will not permit:

1. Criticism of friendly countries;

2. Attack on religions or communities;
3. Anything obscene or defamatory;
4. Incitement to violence or anything against maintenance of law & order
5. Anything amounting to contempt of court;
6. Aspersions against the integrity of the President, Governors and the Judiciary.
7. Attack on a political party by name;
8. Hostile criticism of any State or the Center;
 9. Anything showing disrespect to the Constitution or advocating change in the
Constitution by violence; but advocating changes in a constitutional way should not
be debarred.
10. Appeal for funds except for the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, at a
time of External Emergency or if the Country is faced with a natural calamity such a
floods, earthquake or cyclone.
11. Direct publicity for or on behalf of an individual or organization which is likely to
benefit only that individual or organization.
12. Trade names in broadcasts which amount to advertising directly (except in
Commercial Services).
Footnote
1. The code applies to criticism in the nature of personal tirade either of a friendly
Government or of political party or of the Central Government or any State
Government. But it does not debar reference to and/or dispassionate discussion of
policies pursued by any of them.
2. If a Station Director finds that the above Code has not been respected in any
particular by an intending broadcaster he will draw the latter’s attention to the
passage objected to. If the intending broadcaster refuses to accept the Station
Director’s suggestions and modify his accordingly, the Station Director will be
justified in refusing his or her broadcast.
3. Cases of unresolved differences of opinion between a Minister of State
Government and the Station Director about the interpretation of the Code with
regard to a talk to be broadcast by the former will be referred to the Minister of
Information and Broadcasting, Government of India who will decide finally whether
or not any change in the text of the talk is necessary in order to avoid violation of
the Code.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR TELEVISION/RADIO BROADCASTS IN

CONNECTION WITH ELECTIONS
The Election Commission (EC) recognises the significance of television and radio in
the coverage of elections. Their reach is widespread and impact substantial. On the
one hand, the electronic media can be misused to favour one party or another. But
on the other hand, the EC recognises that electronic media can, if used properly be
an important source of information for voters across the country. It can provide the
widest first hand education for voters on political parties, their symbols, various
leaders and different issues in the election. This is why electronic media all over the
world is the single biggest source of information of voters in terms of debates,
campaign, coverage etc. It is essential therefore that a model code of conduct is
established for electronic media both to ensure that it is not misused as well as to
ensure that it be used in the best interest of democracy and the voter. Listed below
are the Dos and Don’ts for election coverage on electronic media.

DONTs
 1. There should be no coverage of any election speeches or other material that
incites violence, against one religion, against one language, against one group etc.
2. In any constituency, only one candidate should not be projected. While it is not
necessary to cover every single candidate (as some constituencies may have several
candidates), at least the more important candidates should be covered in any
reports from a constituency. 3. The following could be covered in a balanced and fair
manner:-
 Campaigning and excerpts from campaign speeches.
 Symbols, banners, flags and other campaign materials of parties.
 Results of opinion polls by non-political, professional organisations with a proven
track record.  Party manifestoes (critical analysis of which is also perfectly
legitimate.) 
 Candidates and their views in different constituencies across the country.
 The positions taken by the main parties on different issues important to the
electorate.  Debates between major parties and candidates.
 Analysis of previous voting patterns, victory margins, swings etc. 4. By
‘balanced and fair’ it is meant that among the major political parties:- 
 No political parties should be given substantially more coverage than others. The
‘balance’ need not be achieved in any single day or in a single story, but over a
reasonable period of time, say one week.
 Balance does not mean each party must get exactly the same air time to the last
second, but parties should be given broadly the same amount of time.
 Balance implies that to no reasonable person should it appear that one political
party is being projected to the exclusion of others. 5. Procedures: 
 All producers must record a copy of their programme off air for use as reference in
case of any disputes.
 The EC shall be the final arbiter in any dispute.
6. The final interpretation of any disputed passage or story should be with 
 The Election Commission .In Case of disagreement with the broadcaster, one
authority could be nominated by the Election Commission who could take a decision
immediately when approached.

New trend in Broadcasting And technology

Digitalization of the industry will change the future of broadcasting. Companies are selling a TV
and an ecosystem that provide unique content services integrated with payment and other
home technologies. With AI, OTT, and SaaS technologies, the streaming will be highly
automated and improved.

In the upcoming years, broadcasting technology needs to find a way to adapt to the
new reality, as a new generation of information consumers shift the attention from TV
broadcasting to other digital platforms.
According to the research, only 8% of people in the world use to watch TV only. The majority of
citizens of the US get information from TV and digital. 36% of people use only digital platforms
for consuming the news. It is becoming usual not to have a TV at home, but to use a computer
to watch news and shows.

Top-5 Trends in Broadcasting

New trends in television broadcasting are determined by the aspiration to build quality media.
In the world of misinformation and fake news, a massive range of different media apps and
communication in social media, the quality of the information became a primary challenge for
many companies.

1 Direct-to-consumer (D2C) business models

The auditory of new broadcasters is diverse, and the companies invest more money to develop
new communication platforms and digital media. Hosts want to be closer to the segmentized
auditory.

he D2C model has many benefits for the media. When the traditional market does not allow the
business to interact with customers, the D2C model allows building a close relationship with
product users.

More and more broadcasters spend time and money interacting with customers, answering all
their questions, understanding particular needs, and being relevant to their real life. And new
technology can facilitate this relationship-building process.

2. Software As-a-service

Even if the SaaS technology is not a new trend, broadening it for broadcasting media started
mostly during the pandemic time. The idea of using software that is not located on your
computer became a new trend for the new media industry. Also, this technology provides an
ability for quick reaction.

Moreover, the technology can save media companies’ budgets as they start to adapt their apps
for SaaS. It looks like the tendency to use the software as a service will be with us for the next
few years.

#3 AI Technology as a valuable tool for change

On the one hand, people want to have human-created content; on another – the media
companies do not plan to raise the number of employees and search for automatization
methods. The best way is to implement AI technology into life and automate processes that
do not need human involvement.
For example, more broadcasting channels already started to use AI for weather forecasts or
create subtitles for the video. The AI is most often used in video analytics and manages the
manual process. With another trend in television in 2021, implementing AI into monitoring and
the analytical process can fill many gaps in the industry.

#4 Launching apps in OTT delivery systems

One of the essential steps in the broadcasting digitization process is using a new content
delivery system. OTT (over the top) technology implemented in such successful examples as
Apple TV and Roku. For the industry, it means that TV and broadcasting cover all possible places
in our homes. The future of broadcasting TV is almost dependent on building a close connection
with users in all apps. It means that they can find news, weather forecasts, or other real-time
generated content in their favorite apps for consumers.

#5 User-generated content solutions

One of the most challenging media changes in the industry is to moderate and navigate user-
generated content. In 2021 the world is looking for new platforms to share the content and
expertise. Broadcast technology is already in the user’s smartphones and computers. There is
no need to have a piece of special equipment to create a podcast or video stream. The media
industry’s challenge is to manage significant and valuable content and misinformation, and fake
news.

User-generated content (UGC) platforms help brands contact consumers, monitor, and use the
text, video or photo, created by brand users. Building new diverse platforms for communication
and content creation is the next step in broadcasting.

Conclusion

In 2021 the number of smart TVs installed worldwide is more than 1 billion. According to media
predictions, this number will grow even faster. The broadcast media companies are going to
provide new platforms for delivering the information. Simultaneously, there is a great challenge
to provide accurate and high-quality content for the customers.

Digitalization of the industry will change the future of broadcasting. Companies are selling a
TV and an ecosystem that provide unique content services integrated with payment and other
home technologies. With AI, OTT, and SaaS technologies, the streaming will be highly
automated and improved. It was difficult for the production to create content in pandemic
time. But technology helped to adapt and save the customers and money, even though it was
quite tricky in covid-19 time.
Furthermore, broadcasting companies will need to find a way to become more flexible and
reactive in the nearest future.

Aspects of sound Recording

sound reproduction the process is reversed so that the variations stored on the medium are
converted back into sound waves. The three principal media that have been developed for
sound recording and reproduction are the mechanical (phonographic disc), magnetic
(audiotape), and optical (digital compact disc) systems.

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital

inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music,
or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog
recording and digital recording.

Sound recording is the transcription of visible vibrations in air onto a storage medium such as a
phonograph disc. The process is reversed in sound reproduction, and the variations stored on
the medium are transformed back into sound waves.

Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes

in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical
representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record (in which a
stylus cuts grooves on a record). In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the
microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current, which is then
converted to a varying magnetic field by an electromagnet, which makes a representation of
the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound
reproduction is the reverse process, with a bigger loudspeaker diaphragm causing changes to
atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves.

Digital recording and reproduction converts the analog sound signal picked up by the
microphone to a digital form by the process of sampling. This lets the audio data be stored
and transmitted by a wider variety of media. Digital recording stores audio as a series of binary
numbers (zeros and ones) representing samples of the amplitude of the audio signal at equal
time intervals, at a sample rate high enough to convey all sounds capable of being heard.
A digital audio signal must be reconverted to analog form during playback before it
is amplified and connected to a loudspeaker to produce sound.

Audio recording is the process by which sound information is captured onto a storage medium
like magnetic tape, optical disc, or solid-state drive (SSD). The captured information, also known
as audio, can be used to reproduce the original sound if it is fed through a playback machine
and loudspeaker system.
Here’s the basic process for creating an audio recording:

Sound waves are converted into electricity using a transducer. (Common transducers include
microphones, tonewheels, and pickups.)

The electronic information produced by the transducer is stored via computer program or—many
years ago—a tape recorder.

The captured information—audio—is made audible via playback machines and loudspeaker
systems.

This is quite the list of abstractions, so here are some specifics:

(1) A transducer is an electronic component that turns one form of energy into another. A
microphone is one kind of transducer because it turns sound-wave energy into electrical
energy, and a speaker is the opposite kind of transducer because it turns electrical energy into
sound-wave energy. Other common transducers in the pro-audio world include pickups and
tonewheels.

2) Storing audio these days is done almost entirely with solid state drives (SSD). Gone are the
days of storing audio magnetically using analog audio tape or digital audio tape (DAT). For the
foreseeable future, audio will be digital and stored on SSDs. To be sure, compact discs,
mechanical hard-drives, and other optical drives still exist, but they will soon be relics of the
past.

(3) Today, playback machines and loudspeaker systems often take the form of a
smartphone and a set of headphones. Many people on Earth consume media this way—dare I
say most. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are today’s playback machines, and
devices like smartphones and headphones are today’s loudspeaker systems. Yesterday,
traditional audio setups included home stereos, car radios, and boom boxes. For the
foreseeable future, however, playback machines and loudspeaker systems will consist primarily
of smartphones, headphones, and the occasional Bluetooth speaker. Happily, car systems
continue to be an important type of playback device. As a musician, you should be pleased if
anyone is consuming your music on a car system because they provide some of the highest-
fidelity audio playback available.

As mentioned above, all modern audio is digital. Once audio has been converted from analog to
digital, it only ever returns to analog when made aloud by headphones or loudspeakers.
Everything in between—editing, mixing, mastering, and so on—takes place digitally on a
computer running a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
Digital audio is produced via pulse-code modulation (PCM), which entails sampling audio
and turning it into a digital code that can be interpreted by a computer. Here’s how it works: A
computer “listens” to an audio signal at discrete moments (many thousands of times per
second) and converts each time sample into a numeric code. The speed at which your
computer system performs this conversion describes its sample rate. One of the most
common sample rates for digital audio is 44.1 kHz, which means that 44,100 samples are being
created every second. That sounds mind-numbingly high, but higher sample rates exist in the
realm of pro audio like 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and even 96 kHz.

If a sound has a frequency of 20 kHz, say, then the sample rate must be at least 40,000 kHz to
accurately capture one complete cycle of the soundwave’s up-and-down movement. This is
called the Nyquist theory. Since humans hear down to 20 Hz and up to 20 KHz, a sample rate
of 40,000 Hz is the lowest possible sample rate that can be used to accurately reproduce sound.
Consequently, 44.1 kHz, which is the most common sample rate, is 4,100 Hz faster than the
required minimum.

At bottom, a sample rate is capturing specific amplitude levels in time. These amplitude levels
are determined and controlled by bit depth, which refers to how many ones and zeros are
contained within each coded sample. For example, four-bit codes have four-digit “sentences”
like 1101, 0101, 0011, 0001, 1110, etc. and can yield 16 possible amplitude values.

When producing digital audio, it is important to be clear about your system’s bit depth and
sample rate configuration, especially if you are sharing files. Problems may occur if you change
the sample rate and bit depth of your audio project. When you make such changes, your
system must employ a process called dithering to maintain the integrity of your sound. But
dithering often results in slight temporal distortions to your audio file. You’ll notice these time
deformities if you try synching audio files that were gathered at disparate sample rates and bit
depths.

Process
The first step in the recording process is to convert musical sounds into electricity using
microphones and other transducers. Next, the audio is routed through an analog-to-digital
converter and into a DAW for mixing and processing. Last, the captured music is finalized by the
DAW as a single audio file featuring two distinct channels: a left and a right. Such an audio file is
what gets streamed on Spotify or burned to compact disc.

To successfully record musical audio, you need to set up a guide track. Guide tracks usually
come by way of (1) click track, (2) drum loop, or (3) scratch track. A click track is a
metronome. A drum loop is a four-to-eight measure drum passage that’s been designed to
recur seamlessly ad infinitum. A scratch track is a live version of a song recorded while the
drummer listens to a click track and the rest of the band (or parts of the band) play along.
Drums and bass are commonly recorded this way—that is, as part of a scratch track, or basic
track—and the combination of these two instruments is often called a rhythm track.

After the rhythm track is completed, the next step is to add the harmony, which is the music’s
chord sequence. The harmony, which is usually provided by guitar, piano, or synthesizer,
consists of simultaneously occurring notes. Incidentally, sometimes the harmony is added along
with the rhythm track. But, just as often, it is added separately as an overdub. After adding
harmony, you need to add melody, which is a pitch sequence provided by vocals or lead
instruments like trumpet, saxophone, synthesizer, guitar, etc. Often, another type of melody,
known as a supporting melody, is added to a song’s already existing mixture of harmony and
melody. These secondary tunes are typically provided by guitars, keyboards, strings, and
background vocals.

Last, nuance, color, and flare are added via sound effects, drum fills, hand claps, auxiliary
percussion, and many other varieties of ornamentation.

After basic tracking is over, the next order of business is to edit the musical content for form
and style. This means that you must remove all mistakes, nudge the performances into
alignment with the click track, tune all lead instruments and vocals, alter the arrangement, and
remove unwanted noises like mouth sounds and amplifier hiss.

Signal processing, which usually comes after editing, consists of running your captured
audio through electronic components meant to adjust volume level, dynamic character, and
frequency response. Common signal processors include compressors, limiters, equalizers,
reverbs, delays, expanders, and gates. If done well, signal processing will result in a more
refined and brilliant character of audio. In fact, signal processors are largely responsible for the
hyper-real and three-dimensional style of audio common to modern pop music.

The last step in the audio-recording procedure is to finalize your file. This occurs when you
condense all editing and processing down to a single audio file, usually one that’s in stereo.
Common verbs for this procedure are bounce, export, mixdown, finalize, and export mixdown.

Types of Microphones & Their Uses

The different types of microphones can be intimidating at first. There seems to be so many of
them. But if you break them into groups based on purpose it'll all click and make perfect sense.
I'll show you the main ones you need to know plus the more rare types of mics you probably
aren't concerned with...
In most cases most people will only ever deal with three types of microphones. These are the
main choices used in most recording and broadcasting scenarios.

The main difference is in their diaphragms, which is the mechanism that reacts to sound and
converts it to an electrical signal that can then be sent out of a speaker or recorded onto
magnetic tape or a computer's memory.

Due to the variation in the construction of the diaphragms, each of these three main types has
different levels of sensitivity as well as tonal characteristics. I'll explain how each one performs
below. If you know these three mic types, then you know enough to make the right decisions
for your needs.

Beyond that, I'll show you some other microphone types that you may hear about or see, but
possibly never encounter a need to actually use them yourself. And they're all just sub-types of
the main three with different pickup patterns, so you won't get confused at all.

The 8 Types of Microphones

The most important categories of mics to think about and remember are the following three:

1. Condenser Mics
2. Dynamic Mics
3. Ribbon Mics

Those three categories, based on the type of diaphragm used, cover the broad range
encompassing all of the other sub-categories. It's still useful to mention some other types that
fit in these main categories but have such unique applications that we discuss them as being
separate. Those are:

1,. Multi-Pattern Mics

2. Bass Mics

3. Shotgun Mics

4. Boundary Mics

5. USB Mics

There are others you'll encounter, such as lapel mics (like TV hosts wear clipped to their
jackets), but for the most part the above types are the ones you'll hear about. Some people
break them down further and there's always edge cases. But this is more than good enough.
The 3 Main Microphone Types
If you remember anything from this article, this is what you want to remember. There are three
main types to remember: condenser, dynamic, and ribbon.

Let's look at each individually so you can understand why they exist and when to choose them.

1. CONDENSER MICROPHONES

Use When:

in the studio with low noise, recording vocals, recording guitar and other high frequency
instruments, needing to capture subtle details, the sound source isn't extremely loud.

There are two sub-types of condenser mics, which are large diaphragm condenser mics and
small diaphragm condenser mics. It's obvious what the difference is based on their name. Each
shines in a different application, which I'll mention below.

Condenser mics are typically chosen for studio recording when you're in a controlled
environment with no noise and great acoustics, meaning sound won't be bouncing around off
of the walls and back into the mics.

The reason they're chosen is because they're extremely sensitive and can pick up a ton of detail
other types can't. That's why you wan't a perfect acoustic environment, because they'll record
unwanted noises too.

They're also chosen mainly for vocals and instruments like acoustic guitar, violin, and anything
that doesn't produce a signal that's too loud and has subtleties that need to be captured. You
can damage the diaphragms if you subject them to too much sound pressure levels (SPL).

Large diaphragm condenser mics are the best choice for vocals while small diaphragm
condensers (often called pencil microphones due to their shape) are great for instruments with
a lot of detail in the high frequencies, like the aforementioned guitar or violin.

You can stick to large diaphragm options only and do just fine, though, which is what I choose
to do in order to keep my mic cabinet smaller and more organized. We've previously covered
our top picks for the best condenser microphones in several budget ranges if you want to get
an idea of what's out there.

Two more interesting things about condenser mics is they contain vacuum tubes that can be
switched out to provide various amounts of warmth and saturation, and they require 48 volts
of phantom power to power their active electronics. Our article What is Phantom
Power? explains more if you're interested.

Some can take a battery or have their own power supply, but most of the time a microphone
preamplifier (which all microphones must be coupled with) have the ability to send phantom
power up the mic cable to power them.

2. DYNAMIC MICROPHONES

Use When:

on stage or any live or noisy situation, recording guitar amplifiers, on loud sound signals, on
signals that vary in volume, recording rap and rock vocals.

Typically when you want to record an instrument or vocalist with either a wider range in
amplitude (volume) or that is very loud, you'll opt for a dynamic mic. They can handle higher
SPL's without sustaining damage or producing internal distortion.

Because they're less sensitive, they're often a better choice for live situations when there's an
audience like a press conference, music concert, or a news interview out in the field. They'll
pick up less unwanted ambient noise.

Even in the studio these are the right choice for recording a guitar amplifier, drums, or loud
vocals like those from a heavy metal or rock singer. Many rappers are recorded with dynamics
as well, partially for their proximity effect which is a bass boost when the mic is very close to
the instrument or mouth.

We've previously covered our favorite picks for the best dynamic microphones in various
budget ranges, if you're interested in seeing a wide range of options in this category. These are
a must have for any music studio, as are condensers.

Dynamic mics contain passive electronics and don't require phantom power. You won't hurt
them by accidentally feeding them this power, as you'll often hear. But you can definitely hurt
the next type if you do that.
 3. RIBBON MICROPHONES

Use When:

in the studio seeking a warm and vintage sound. These are rare, fragile, and expensive. Opt for
a condenser mic instead.

The last of the three main types is the ribbon mic. All other mic types are either condenser or
dynamic, but the ribbon mic is a category of its own due to the unique diaphragm it uses. I'm
sure you'll be surprised to hear that it's in the shape of a long, thin ribbon.

These were some of the earliest mics available and are making a comeback but are still rare.
We loved them because they could offer even more detail than condenser mics, but the
problem was they were very fragile. Any damage to the flimsy ribbon would ruin them, and
they were extremely expensive and still are.

Even to this day, a mistake like running 48v of phantom power to them could fry the ribbon.
Dropping them can break the ribbon. There's really no point in using one of these in the present
age due to equally good and far more durable options.

The 5 Other Types of Mics

Let me say again, these are all either condenser or dynamic mics, but they get their own
category for their unique design purposes. They are built for a specific reason and thus are
thought of as their own sub-categories although that's not perfectly accurate.

If you're interested in the topic of mics, please read on because these special sub-types give
cause to explain other things you need to know about, like pickup patterns, preamplifiers, and
more.

1. MULTI-PATTERN MICROPHONES

Use When:
wanting to record ambient sounds in the environment, groups of vocalists or a bluegrass group,
vocal duets or harmonies. Most of the time you're better off with a condenser and cardioid
pickup pattern.

You may not know this yet, but nearly every microphone uses the cardioid pickup pattern
(sometimes called directionality). The cardioid pattern basically records everything in front of it
and to the sides while rejecting sound coming from behind.

Obviously this is the most useful pickup pattern, especially since we tend to record everything
on it's own track for mixing purposes later. But there are many other pickup patterns that you
may want to use, and that's where multi-pattern mics come in.

These have switches on them letting you select different pickup patterns. These include
patterns like supercardioid, hypercardioid, figure-8, shotgun, and omnidirectional. Essentially,
they give you choices to record in front and behind, all around in 360 degrees, or in a tight laser
focus pattern.

For the most part, you'll never use these. Omnidirectional is good for recording ambient sounds
for TV and film while shotgun mics are good for recording people's voices for the same purpose.

Figure-8 patterns can sometimes work for stereo recording though I can't imagine a scenario
where I wouldn't want two mono tracks instead. Plus they aren't aim-able. You get two sides
and that's it, which is far less useful than using two separate cardioid pattern mics.

2. BASS MICROPHONES

Use When:

recording kick drum, bass guitar cabinets, cello, or any deep frequency sounds or musical
instruments. Not for bass vocals.

Bass mics are designed with one key purpose in mind, which is to record instruments that are
extremely deep in the frequency spectrum. This would include a bass guitar, kick drum, cello,
etc. You'll often see them labeled as kick drum mics, but that's just one application.

What makes them unique is their frequency response. Their designed to record nuance in the
bass region but also have a low end boost plus a scoop in the mids. This scoop in the mid
frequencies is good because bass instruments often sound muddy or boomy in most small
rooms.
 3. SHOTGUN MICROPHONES

Use When:

recording actors on set for film or television, recording sound effects in the field, attempting to
record any specific source from a distance.

Shotgun mics have two key characteristics. They're small diaphragm condensers that have the
shotgun pickup pattern, meaning they reject as much sound as possible from all directions
except the tightly focused area you aim it at.

In addition, they usually have a very long interference tube at the front that filters even more
sound from the sides. They look like shotgun barrels and that's how they got their name. The
reason this tube exists is because the pickup pattern still accepts sound noise from the sides
(there's no way around it).

So the best we can do is hide the diaphragm deep behind this acoustic shield tube. It works
amazingly well and produces the vocal recordings you hear on nearly all TV shows and movies
you watch. You'll have seen people on set holding these long, fuzzy mics over the top of the
scene at some point or another.

4. BOUNDARY MICROPHONES

Use When:

recording entire rooms like a conference room, theater stage performance, church choir, a
room mic in the studio, etc.

Boundary mics are an anomaly that exist for two specific reasons. They don't suffer from comb
filtering because they're right up against the walls that reflect sound and cause the comb
filtering. The other reason is to record the sounds of an entire room out of convenience.

Typically, you'll find these in business conference rooms at the center of the table everyone is
seated at and sometimes in theater auditoriums laid on the front of the stage to record the
performance. Otherwise, you'll sometimes (rarely) find them in studios being used as room
mics to give more options during mixing.
 5. USB MICROPHONES

Use When:

recording hobbyist levels of music, podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube videos, etc. Useful to quickly
record music demos or ideas at home. Don't expect superb quality.

The last of the different types of microphones is the USB mic. When these first came out in the
mid 2000's, everyone including me scoffed at them. They flat out sucked, but that's because
they were being made cheaply to see if people even wanted them. Turned out they did and the
quality has gotten better.

These exist solely for people who do hobbyist levels of music recording, podcasting, or
narrating audiobooks. They contain tiny preamplifiers and analog-to-digital converters in them,
and then spit the digital signal out of a USB cable so your computer can capture the recording.

It's an extremely cheap way to get into recording, but you'll be guaranteed sub-par quality. It
allows you to skip buying a separate mic preamp and an audio interface, which would have
been of a much higher quality. You're trading convenience and cost for quality, which may be
fine for your needs.

I feel I should mention microphone preamplifiers, which all mics need unless it's a USB mic
(which also needs them but contains one). Microphone audio signals come out at a very low
amplitude and have to be boosted up.

If you try this with the volume knob you'll be turning up a ton of background noise too.
Preamps are designed to boost the signal without also boosting the noise floor. Not only can
you not record anything of decent quality without one, they're probably the most important
piece of equipment if you want professional quality, even more so than the microphone itself.

And That's the 8 Mic Types!

To reiterate, if all you remember is that condenser and dynamic microphones exist and for
what purposes, you know enough to make the right choices about when to use them. Ribbon
mics are the 3rd main type but are so rare that you can forget about them.

The other types of microphones are really just sub-categories but are talked about separately
due to being created for specific purposes. They're pretty self-explanatory by their names, so
don't stress about it. You'll remember what they're for when you hear their names. Have fun
out there, and happy recording!

Field Recording Techniques

Recording amazing nature sounds requires more than just gear. While tripods, wind protection
and low-noise microphones certainly help, they are nothing without technique.

Top 5 Field Recording Techniques for Better Soundscapes

1. Plan. Planning is an essential part of field recording. ...

2. Listen. Before you set your equipment up, take a moment to observe your
surrounds. ...
3. How to Fine-tune Microphone Balance. ...
4. Don't Chase Sounds. ...
5. Practice, Practice, Practice.

1. Plan
Planning is an essential part of field recording. Without a proper plan, you can be left in the
field cold, wet and frustrated; and, more importantly, without any usable recordings. There are
many things to think about when planning a field recording trip, but here are the big three:

1. What do I want to record?

2. What will the weather be like?
3. What time of day should I go?

Sometimes, the answer to one question will answer the others. For example, if you want to
record rain sounds, you need to research weather forecasts for your desired location. No rain =
no rain sounds. For the time of day, you need to be there during the predicted rainstorm. Okay,
that was an easy example, but sometimes these questions require more thought.

2. Listen
Before you set your equipment up, take a moment to observe your surrounds. It can be
tempting to hit that record button right away, but this extra effort is worth it. Close your eyes
and take note mentally of everything you hear. The leaves rustling in the wind; a babbling brook
in the distance; talking trees as their limbs rub together. As you sit in silence, notice how the
landscape comes alive with sound.
By mentally plotting the location of these sounds, you can best decide where to put your
microphones and how to orient them. If your recording gear simulates a human head, you can
use your head (and ears) to find the perfect placement.

With eyes still closed, look left and right, and up and down until the soundscape is the most
pleasing. This is where you want to put your microphones.

3. How to Fine-tune Microphone Balance

Mic placement will be pretty good, but not perfect. Being off by just one or two degrees can
ruin the balance of an entire recording. This 2-step tip will save you the frustration of getting
home and realizing that you should have fine-tuned your mics.

Use headphones to isolate your recording from ambient noise

Adjust microphones for perfect balance

After you’ve set up your equipment, plug in a pair of headphones to your recording device. This
will allow you to hear what your microphones are recording. It is important to use headphones
that prevent environmental noise from leaking in. This is called “isolation.” If you can still hear
the ambient environment through your headphones, it is very difficult to fine-tune your
placement.

For this reason, I use a pair of earbuds with “gummy” or “marshmallow” tips. This creates a
physical seal between my ear canal and surroundings. Once you have isolated your soundscape
audio from the ambient environment, it is very easy to make small tweaks to your mics to
achieve perfect balance.

4. Don’t Chase Sounds

Sometimes you will do the research, observations and fine-tuning, but as soon as you start
recording, you think about changing spots. Maybe the wind starts, a new bird begins calling, or
a fish jumps and you just have to record it.

Do not be tempted! After you break down your gear and get set up again, you will have
disturbed those species and they won’t be in the same location. Then, as you sit there, you hear
a new sound, just a little over there, that you simply must have; and the cycle repeats.

Save yourself from recording 5 minute shorts of you running around and commit to your
original plan. The time you spent in preparation was worth it. Your microphones will still
capture the changing winds, that new bird and even that jumping fish (probably), and then
you’ll have a nice, long recording to show all your friends.
5. Practice, Practice, Practice

Its been said a million times before, but there is no substitute for practice. If you only take away
one thing from this post, let it be this. The more you get in the field and record, the better your
recordings will become.

By practicing, you find what works, and what doesn’t work, for you. Through hands-on
experience, you will refine your skills and develop new ones that will contribute to your unique
style.

Format of Radio Programmes

The radio stations are Vividh Bharati, AIR, FM Gold or some private commercial station. .

Announcements have been traditionally made by people who are known as announcers. A
radio station also broadcasts programmes of different types.
The requirements of listeners of radio stations are not the same. To serve them, we need to
know many facts about them. So we should know about the audience:

Radio formats decided on the basis of the needs of the audience.

(a) The total population of the area.

(b) Number of men and women — Sex ratio

(c) Literate people/Illiterate people

(d) The languages spoken in the area.

(e) Schools/Colleges

(f) Children going to school

(g) Health facilities — availability of doctors, primary health centre, clinics,hospitals.

(h) Any major diseases

(i) Religions in the area-population wise

(j) Power supply

(k) Nearest radio stations/Television stations

(l) Climate of the place

(m) Main occupation of the people

(n) Income per head/people below poverty line

(o) Roads/transport facilities

(p) Irrigation facilities

(q) Number of people engaged in agriculture/other occupations.

(r) Types of crops.

Announcements : These are specifically written clear messages to inform. ...

Radio talk : The radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. ...

Radio interviews: ...

Radio discussions :- ...

Radio documentaries/features: ...

Radio drama: ...

Running commentaries : ...

Magazine programmes :

TYPES OF RADIO FORMATS

A Radio format can be split into three parts: They are:-

(a) Spoken Word or Human Voice
(b) Music
(c) Sound Effects

1. Announcements :

These are specifically written clear messages to inform. They can be of different types. These
announcements have become informal and resemble ordinary conversation.

2. Radio talk :
The radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. There has been a tradition in India and
Britain to invite experts or prominent persons to speak for 10 or 15 minutes on a specific topic.
These talks have to go through a process of being changed into radio’s spoken word style. Over
these long radio talks have become unpopular. Instead, today, shorter duration talks are
broadcast. Of course, we can listen to these talks only on public service broadcasting stations.

3. Radio interviews:

In the media, be it the newspaper, magazine, radio or television, journalists use this technique
of asking questions to get information. There can be different types of interviews in terms of
their duration, content and purpose.

Firstly, there are full fledged interview programmes. The duration of these may vary from 10
minutes to 30 minutes or even 60 minutes depending up on the topic, and the person being
interviewed. Most of such interviews are personality based, long interviews with well known
people in the field of public life, literature, science, sports, films etc.

Secondly, there are interviews which are used in various radio programmes like
documentaries. Here the interviews are short, questions specific and not many. The purpose is
to get a very brief, to the point answer.

Thirdly there are a lot of interviews or interview based programmes in news and current
affairs programmes. With phone-in-programmes becoming popular, you might have heard live
interviews with listeners. These interviews have been made interactive.

There is another type of interview based programme. Here generally just one or two questions
are put across to ordinary people or people with knowledge on some current topic to measure
public opinion. For example the railway budget is presented in the parliament, people
representing radio go out and ask the general public about their opinion. Their names and
identity may not be asked. Such programmes are called ‘vox pop’ which is a Latin phrase
meaning‘ voice of people’.

4. Radio discussions :-

In radio,is used this technique to let people have different points of view on matters of public
concern. Radio discussions are produced when there are social or economic issues which may
be controversial. So when different experts meet and discuss such issues, people understand
various points of view. Generally,these discussions on radio are of longer duration-say 15 to 30
minutes. Two
or three people who are known for their views and a well informed senior person or journalist
who acts as a moderator take part and discuss a particular topic for about 30 minutes. The
moderator conducts the discussion, introduces the topic and the participants and ensures that
every one gets enough time to speak and all issues are discussed.

5. Radio documentaries/features:

If you see a film in a movie hall, it is generally a feature film, which is story based and not real.
But there are also documentary films which are based on real people and issues. A lot of
programmes you see on television are educational and public service documentaries. Radio also
has this format. Unlike documentary films, radio documentaries have only sound – i.e. the
human voice, music and sound effects. So a radio documentary is a programme based on real
sounds and real people and their views and experiences. Radio documentaries are based on
facts presented in an attractive manner or dramatically. Radio documentaries are radio’s own
creative format. The producer of a documentary needs to be very creative to use human voice,
script, music and sound effects very effectively. Radio documentaries are also called radio
features.

6. Radio drama:

A Radio drama or a radio play is like theatre drama. The only difference is that while a stage
play has actors, stage, sets, curtains, properties movement and live action, a radio play has only
three components. They are the human voice, music and sound effects.
Radio uses its greatest strength for producing radio plays and that is the power of imagination
and suggestivity. For example, if you want to have a scene in a radio play we don’t have all
physical arrangements made. All that you have to do is to use a bright tune on the excited
voices of people to create in a listeners’ imagination, a wedding scene. The voice of the actor s,
music and sound effects can create any situation in a radio play.

7. Running commentaries :

Running commentaries on radio can be on various sports events or on ceremonial occasions

like the Republic Day Parade or events like festivals, melas, rath yatras, swearing in ceremony of
ministers, last journey (funeral procession) of national leaders event. A commentator would
give us all the details of the match such as the number of players, the score, position of the
players in the field etc. So by listening to the running commentary, you get a feeling of being in
the stadium and watching the match. The commentator needs good communication skills, a
good voice and knowledge about what is going on. Today radio running commentaries
especially of cricket and other sports can be heard on your mobile phones.
8. Magazine programmes :

Radio also has magazine programmes like those in the print media. A radio magazine is
broadcast at periodicity ( a particular time on a particular day of a week or a month). Similarly
it has plenty of variety in contents. Some or many formats of radio are included in a radio
magazine. These may be talks, discussions, interviews, reviews, music etc. Likewise, the
duration of each programme or item in a magazine programme also vary. Another
characteristic of a radio magazine is that it has a signature tune. A signature tune is an
attractive piece of music which is specific to a programme. It can be like the masthead (title) of
a magazine. A magazine programme also has a name and one or two presenters or anchor
persons who link the whole programme. In the beginning, the titles of the day’s programme will
be given by the presenters after the signature tune. They also give continuity and link the whole
magazine. Magazine programmes are generally broadcast for a special or specific audience.

9. NEWS:

Among all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most popular. News bulletins and
news programmes are broadcast every hour by radio stations. In India, only All India Radio is
allowed to broadcast news. Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 30 minutes. The
longer news
bulletins have interviews, features, reviews and comments from experts.

II. MUSIC :

So music is the main stay in radio. There is no radio without music. Music is used in different
ways on radio. There are programmes of music and music is also used in different programmes.
These include signature tunes, music used as effects in radio plays and features. India has a
great heritage of music and radio in India reflects that. Let us understand the different types of
music.

Classical Music
There are 3 types of classical music in India. They are:-
1. Hindustani classical
2. Carnatic classical
3. Western classical
There are also vocal and instrumental music forms.
There are also light classical music forms like, Thumri and Dadra. Insturmental music forms
include string (sitar, sarod etc.) wind (like flutes, shehnai) and percussion (drum)
instruments.You might have heard such music on radio a large variety of devotional and folk
music in your area and across the country. Which are broadcast on radio. While there are film
songs in different languages, the one with a national appeal and popularity is Hindi film songs.
On most radio stations, be it public
service or commercial,Light western and pop music are also popular among some groups of
listeners and there is a large section of young people listening to western pop music.

III SOUND EFFECTS

Let us see how sound can be used in radio formats.

Sound can play a major role in evoking interest.

Sound can be used for comic effects to evoke laughter

Sound can be used to create certain moods or enhance them.

India has taken giant leaps in the field of information technology and radio as a medium, has
taken a lead in applying information technology in its broadcasts. Let us discuss some of these
formats:

1. Phone in programme – In this age of technological development, phone-in is the most

important format. This is called interactive programming where the listener and the presenter
talk to each other. Their talk goes on air instantly.The listener has the satisfaction that his voice
is being listened to and replied immediately. Other listeners also listen to him. Such
presentations need advance publicity so that the listeners get ready to air their
grievances/queries or requests. They dial up the announced telephone number at a stipulated
time and get their problems discussed with experts in the studio. Initially this format was
introduced for playing the listeners’ request based film songs. Now it is being used for health
related programmes, rural broadcasts, complaints against the government/
administrative machinery etc.

2. Radio bridge : Radio bridge means connecting different stations throughout the length and
breadth of the country. In this technique, for example, an expert sitting at Chennai can interact
with the common man in the studio in Delhi. This format was first used by All India Radio during
elections.

3. Radio on internet : Radio on internet is a growing phenomenon with thousands of radio

stations operating through computer modems. It is altogether a new format that removes the
restrictions of frequency or license. It is relatively cheap to set up. It has certain advantages as
well as disadvantages. Now all the national and international radio stations like BBC, Voice of
America, and
All India Radio are available on internet. It is now possible to listen to the programmes from a
radio station while working on the computer.
All India Radio started its services on internet on 1st May 1998. With this, it was possible to
extend the coverage of programmes to all parts of the world including USA and Canada.

DOCUMENTARIES AND FEATURES

A documentary presents, facts, based on documentary evidence about a relevant subject from
real events, persons or places to reflect, interrelate, creatively‘ interpret or comment on
current concerns and realities. The feature programme on the other hand need not be wholly
true in the factual sense. It may include folk song, poetry & fictional drama to help illustrate its
theme.

Reality is the basic requirement for a documentary. Documentaries may be classified as

information, interpretation or persuasion according to the ultimate objective. They may also be
combined.

To develop a subject (idea) of a documentary the following process is normally followed:

Information

to

Knowledge

to

Understanding

to

Expression

Some suggestions are given for the production of documentaries.

Prepare as detailed an advance script as possible.

Divide programme elements into those that are under your control and those that are not

Write narration involving the audience.

Provide narration that sounds natural and conversational.

Avoid long lists, unnecessary statistics, complex terms and jargons and hackneyed expressions.

Make narration clear, precise, and easy to understand.

Do not inundate the programme with too much narration.

Do not use narration when a sound will communicate the information or mood more
meaningfully.

Interview
The work Journey began with an interview. You have to pass the interview to start the work-
life. But what is an interview and what value does it hold?

The interview is a formal meeting between two people (Interviewer and interviewee). The
interview is conducted to ask questions and obtain information from the interviewee. An
Interviewer is the one who asks questions and an interviewee is who answers the questions.

In organizations or companies, interviews are generally conducted to test the interviewee,

check their domain knowledge, examine their skills, scrutinize their behavior and attitude, and
many other aspects that are required to fulfill organizational needs.

After proper evaluation, then only the interviewee is selected for the job role. Failing job
interviews is not meant that you are incapable of working, you don’t have to be upset about it,
despite this, you have to work on your flaws, try to polish your skills-set, understand where
you’re lacking, how you can fill in the gap, what measures you have to take, and lastly, things
that are required to succeed in interviews. Self-evaluation plays a major role here.

To evaluate an interviewee, there is not only one type of interview is followed by the
interviewer, but they evaluate the interviewee by testing them with different types of
interviews. As it becomes important to prepare yourself for different types of interviews. But
before, you should be aware what are the types of interviews and how they are performed.

With respect to this, let us help you understand the types of interviews, which will aid you to
practice accordingly and perform best in your future interviews.

Radio interview Techniques

1.Think like your audience. Who will be listening to the call? What will they most want to
know? What will resonate most for them?
2. It’s not actually about the book. Focus on the information you have to offer to improve the
lives of the people listening. Yes, you want them to buy your book, but you’re on the air to
make a difference. Book sales should stem from that.

3. Avoid generalities. Tell a brief (and entertaining) story to illustrate your point.

4. Interviewers love sound bites and catchy phrases. I had Deb use two phrases she
coined, “2 minute volunteering” and “successful sabotage.”

5. Be succinct. The most engaging interviews have an upbeat pace and the banter goes back
and forth between host and guest. Hosts find it frustrating if you talk too long, especially if
you’re not on point.

6. Write out your answers to your questions and have them in front of you. This is
your cheat sheet. Of course, because you’ll practice a ton before your first interview, you
should know your answers inside out. But sometimes people get nervous, especially those who
are new to interviews. It can’t hurt to have something in front of you in case you space out. And
it may just make you calmer.

7. Stand up. Your voice and demeanor will naturally be more commanding and confident
when you stand. Your audience will hear more energy in your interactions.

8. Have fun. The more you enjoy yourself, the more your audience will, too. Don’t be afraid to
use humor.

9. Be spontaneous. Once you’ve prepared and practice, allow some room for spontaneity to
take over. Be grounded and centered for the call so that you can really connect with your host
and let your inner expert shine.

10. Don’t mention your book too often. It’s the host’s job to talk about your book. Don’t
overdo book mentions. On the other hand, if your host doesn’t mention the book at all, by all
means, mention it towards the end. Most hosts are quite gracious, however.

Radio Interview

An interview can be casually described as a conversation between the interviewer and the
interviewee. The interviewer asks a host of questions to the interviewee on a relevant subject.
Since radio is primarily a audio medium, the type of questions asked is very important. It is
these questions and their relevance that will keep the listener hooked.

Here we try to break down the types of interviews on a radio and share some tips on how one
must conduct a sound radio interview.
The interview types:

1. The Opinion Interview

According to the topic of the programme, experts are called from various fields. These experts
then give their sound opinion and advice on the concerned topic. For example, a doctor will be
called to address the issue of a malaria outbreak in the city. These interviews are also known as
personality interviews. This interview style does not adhere to a script. The interviewer can
react, comment, opine and ask questions as the conversation unfolds.

2. Information Interview

The purpose of this interview is to give information about a particular something to the people.
In such interviews mostly everything is scripted unlike the opinion interview. Many a times the
script is practiced and rehearsed before the programme goes on air. The interviewee can pass
factual information or experiences based on a cause or purpose. When the script is written the
personality of the interviewee should be kept in mind.

Radio Interview Tips:

These are some important interview tips that you must keep in mind when you are asked to
conduct a radio interview:

1. Do background research
2. Schedule the interview with basics. For example: introduction, conclusion, questions
and so on.
3. Maintain a notepad and take notes
4. Agree with the guest if required and ask for explanations when a certain point is unclear
5. Observe and fine-tune the interview as required
6. Be fair
7. Relax

2. phone interview:

1. Introduce yourself properly

2. Speak slowly and clearly

3. Make statements that will put the guest at ease

4. Ask brief questions

5. Give the interviewee sufficient time to respond

6. Do not talk simultaneously

Types of Interview
1] Formal and Informal interviews:

Formal interviews are well-planned interviews, the questions are prepared in advance, and the
time, date, venue, dress code, everything is decided prior to the interview.
Whereas, Informal interviews are not well-planned and the questions are random and generic.
The communication between both is also casual as compared to formal interviews.

2] Sequential and Panel Interview:

Sequential interviews consist of several interviews. Here in this kind of interview, the same set
of questions are asked repeatedly by several interviewers to check if the interviewee answers in
the same manner or not.
And in Panel Interview, several interviewers are sitting to ask questions to the interviewee. This
type of interview mainly consists in Public Sector.

3] Group Interview:

Group Interviews are where many interviewees participate in the interview. Usually, it is
termed as applicant pool and it happens during college or university placements. In group
interviews, many interviewees are evaluated and few are selected amongst all.

4] Situational Interview:

In this kind of interview, a situation or a problem is kept front of the interviewee and interviewers ask
them how they will deal with it and what will be the solution for it. Through this interview, they
evaluated how well they will manage problems in an organization and how proactive they are in taking
decisions in such situations.

5] Phone or Video Call interview:

This interview will be performed on the Phone call (Telephonic round) or Video Call. In the
current pandemic, we have witnessed how interviewers were taking place on video calls. And
this type of interview was majorly focused on during the covid-19 situation.

Radio Presenting skills

Radio presenting is not an easy job and it is very important for your radio station. It is therefore
essential that you try to improve your radio presenting skills as much as you can if you have
your own radio station. In this article, we will give you some tips that hopefully help you to
become the best at radio presenting.
 1. Good preparation

“A good beginning is half the task” is truly applicable to this situation. Good preparation can
make the difference between a hit or a miss in your performance as a presenter. Especially
when you want to present larger chunks of text, it is very hard to improvise everything without
preparation. Therefore, it can really help if you think about it beforehand and write down the
main points you want to say. This helps you remembering and will make your story more
consistent and structured. People who have the tendency to ramble, really benefit from a
script. If you present something informational that involves facts or data, you should always do
your research as best as you can. You do not want to claim things on live radio which are not
true, because this harms your credibility and the trust that exists between you and the
listeners. You should know what you are talking about, so doing research about your topic is
crucial.

2. Stress control

A quality which is very helpful to have is handling well in stressful situations. During a live
broadcast, everything can happen. Even if you prepared everything perfectly, things can and
will go differently than you planned, especially if you have live contact with one of your
listeners or someone you interview. You can prepare for your part, but you will never know
what the other person is going to say. You will definitely experience situations when things do
not go as expected and you have to fix it on the spot. The way to train this, if you do not have
this quality naturally, is work experience. If you present radio every day, eventually you will
become more comfortable improvising when things go wrong.

3. Be kind and confident

If you interview other people on your radio station, you have to have confidence in your
interviewing skills. No one wants to listen to a silent and awkward interview, so you have to b e
confident in the conversation and fill the silence when it happens. Also, you should always be
kind to your guests on the show and to the listeners. If you are shy and you want to practice
interviewing, start with just normal daily conversations that you have. When you have a
conversation with a friend or a family member, look at your conversation skills. Can you keep
the conversation going? Do you ask relevant questions? Do you really listen to the other? These
are things you can practice all day every day until it feels more natural, so you can also do it live
on radio.

4. Know your audience

To find the right tone of voice and topics to speak about, you should get to know your
audience. Find out what kind of people they are and what they are interested in to hear. You
approach a very young audience very differently than you would approach an older audience.
Try to find your own style and match that with what your listeners like to hear. Are you a more
serious presenter or do you like to include some comedy? Do you talk a lot on your show or do
you keep it short? All important things to figure out for yourself.

5. Timing

Timing is very crucial in the radio business. If you need to fill up the silence between two songs,
you need to know how to do the timing just right, so that you are done talking when the new
song starts. Also, you should know for how long you can keep your listeners engaged with a
topic before you play the next song or start talking about something else.

6. Stay open to improvement

The final tip, which is not only relevant in radio presenting skills, but really in life in general, is to
stay open to improvement. No one presents radio perfectly, you will always make little
mistakes. So be critical of yourself and allow others to give some constructive critique on your
presenting skills. It is never too late to learn something. Try to always have something that you
are working on to improve. This will not only make your radio station more successful, but it
will make presenting more interesting for yourself, because you are trying new things and
seeing if they work for you.

Radio Talk And discussion

Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or
almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are
regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with several different
guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting
live conversations between the host and listeners who "call in" (usually via telephone) to the
show. Listener contributions are usually screened by a show's producers to maximize audience
interest and, in the case of commercial talk radio, to attract advertisers. Generally, the shows
are organized into segments, each separated by a pause for advertisements; however, in public
or non-commercial radio, music is sometimes played in place of commercials to separate the
program segments. Variations of talk radio include conservative talk, hot talk, liberal talk
(increasingly known as progressive talk), and sports talk.

While talk radio has historically been associated with broadcast radio, starting around 2005 the
technology for Internet-based talk-radio shows became cost-effective in the form of live
internet website streaming and podcasts. Now, an individual can use a variety of services to
host an Internet-based talk-radio show without carriage by a traditional radio station.
What is live streaming

Streaming is the method of data transmission used when someone watches video on
the Internet. It is a way to deliver a video file a little bit at a time, often from a remote
storage location. By transmitting a few seconds of the file at a time over the
internet, client devices do not have to download the entire video before starting to play
it.

Live streaming is when the streamed video is sent over the Internet in real time, without
first being recorded and stored. Today, TV broadcasts, video game streams, and social
media video can all be live-streamed.

Think about the difference between regular streaming and live streaming as the
difference between an actor reciting a memorized monologue and improvising a
speech. In the former, the content is created beforehand, stored, and then relayed to the
audience. In the latter, the audience receives the content in the same moment that the
actor creates it – just like in live streaming.

The term live streaming usually refers to broadcast live streams: one-to-many
connections that go out to multiple users at once. Videoconferencing technologies like
Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts Meet work on real-time communication (RTC)
protocols rather than the protocols used by one-to-many live stream broadcasts.

Field reporting

A field report is a documentation of observations and analysis of particular phenomena,

behaviors, processes, and more. It is based on theories and researchers' analysis, which are
used to identify solutions for a specific project or case study.

A field report should include these points: theoretical framework, plan for doing research, and
observations. Connect each paragraph with each other and divide the text into sections
(introduction, thesis, methodology, etc.). In your writing you can incorporate your impressions,
feelings, emotions

Most them have the following components:

1. Introduction. The introduction is the section where the objectives and important
concepts of the field of study are outlined. ...
 2. Description of activities. ...
3. Interpretation. ...
4. Conclusion and recommendation. ...
5. References.

Fieldwork is designed to provide the student with an opportunity for a practical, “real world”
experience for the purpose of developing direct leadership, programming, and administrative
skills sufficient for entry into a professional career.

Importance of a Field Report

A field report is essential in various industries including construction, field services, education,
medicine, and management. It provides a detailed description of an observed person, place, or
event which is used to analyze and compare data over a theoretical framework. It also helps in:

1. observing safety programs outside the office;

2. identifying challenges in implementing standards and protocols;
3. capturing information on how resources are managed; and
4. discovering new processes and effective solutions for the project.

How to Effectively Write the Report

A field report focuses on factual details of a project case. It should cover the circumstances and
contributing factors that can help one understand how theory applies to real-world scenarios.
Below are the main steps in effectively writing a field report:

Define the objective(s) of the field report

Clearly state the purpose of the field report to determine the focus and provide the right
information needed by the organization. A field report should also define the nature of the
organization, the setting of observations, and the methods used to gather data.

Create theoretical framework

Creating a theoretical framework is as essential as knowing the facts when creating a field
report. Gather information based on statistics, news, and research to better understand the
topic at hand. A theoretical framework guides researchers in determining the data that need to
be measured and set as a baseline for comparison to get the needed information.

Define scope of work (SOW)

Determine a detailed plan on how to achieve the objectives set by the organization. Evaluate
the timeline needed to finish the observation, state the deliverables, and record any potential
milestones, risks, and hazards.
Conduct a field observation
Accurately document the changing aspects of the situation and record details gathered through
analysis and observation. Clearly explain the investigation and adhere to the initial plan and
methodology. Document the following:

1. Physical characteristics of the setting

2. Demographics
3. Impact of actions and behavior of the subject
4. Use of language
5. Description of activities

Use a field report checklist

A field report checklist is used to guide researchers on documenting their observations. It helps
monitor the work in progress and staff performance in achieving the task assignments and
deliverables.

Specialize (Beat) Reporting

Beat reporting, also known as specialised reporting, is a genre of journalism focused on a

particular issue, sector, organisation, or institution over time.

Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with the topic, allowing them to
provide insight and commentary in addition to reporting straight facts. Generally, beat reporters will
also build up a rapport with sources that they visit again and again, allowing for trust to build
between the journalist and their source of information. This distinguishes them from
other journalists who might cover similar stories from time to time.[1]
Journalists become invested in the beats they are reporting for, and become passionate about
mastering that beat.[2] Beat reporters often deal with the same sources day after day, and must return
to those sources regardless of their relationship with them.[3] Those sources may or may not be
pleased with the reporting of the reporters.[3] It is pertinent that beat reporters contact their sources
quickly, obtain all necessary information, and write on deadline. [3]
According to media sociologists, beat reporting occurs because of the limited time reporters are
given to cover stories.[4] For big scoops, beats are not necessarily as useful as other journalism
types.[4] Some of the best inside stories, such as Bay of Pigs and Watergate, did not come from beat
reporting.[4]
Beat reporters collect information from each person they meet while reporting. [5] They routinely call,
visit, and e-mail sources to obtain any new information for articles. [5] When reporters have
experience on a specific beat, they are able to gain both knowledge and sources to lead them to
new stories relating to that beat. [5] Beats are able to help reporters define their roles as journalists,
and also avoid overlap of stories within the newsroom
There are various Types of Beats in Journalism. Before saying anything let us for clear the difference
between types and beats. Types in journalism mean different fields of journalism that are independent of
each other generally, they use different pedagogy and research methods, for e.g. Investigative
Journalism, Feature Writing Column Writing, etc. While beats can be called subsets of different types of
journalism, A beat in journalism means going in-depth in any type of journalism, for e.g. Business
Magazines, Politics, Finance, Weather, Entertainment, TV Network Schedules, Sports News, Local News
Resources, Government Directories, Horoscopes, Money, Personal Health Site, PR Newswires, Social
Media and much more. The term ‘beat’ is referred to as the way or road taken by an individual on a
regular basis. In journalism, the word ‘Beat’ is also referred to as the niche which is appointed to the
reporter.

The journalist has an art of conveying in various forms. There are numerous types of Beats in
Journalism which we will try to study in this blog. Some reporting techniques are more popular in a
particular field than the rest. The role of the reporter is to deliver the news, show the story according to
their perspective and observations, give us the insights, comment on it and to submit the report of the
issues on the given period of time. Here are 6 types of popular beats are given as follows:

6 Types of Beats in Journalism

1. Political Reporting

Political Journalism is a very prolific and very broad branch of journalism. This beat includes
coverage of all aspects of politics and its political science. Many people opt for this kind of
journalism, it requires a lot of courage and diplomatic smartness. Although the term usually
refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power.

2. Food Reporting

Food is a kind of industry which can never be outsourced. Food lovers always try to discover
new food places near their areas. The job of the beat reporter in this field is to remind people
about what’s cooking in the local restaurants or any new opening of the outlets of famous
restaurants. The reporter tries to connect with the audience by doing advertising and
discovering the likes and dislikes in the food preference of the people.

3. Education Reporting

These days many reporters are trying to concentrate on Education reporting which focuses on
young people. For the reporters, educational stories are easy to cover which includes exam
scores, campus stories, and sports. They can also cover the safety regulations of the students or
underpaid teachers in an academy. For example, in India, the reporter announces the results of
entrance or final results of schools and colleges.

4. Health Reporting

It is one of the newsworthy issues these days. In today’s generation, many individuals have
started to focus on their health. The reporter covers topics like malnutrition, disease,
healthcare, pediatric care, nutrition, fitness, growing epidemics and much more. Reports mainly
try to focus on prevention of the serious ailment or disease and for that, he must have great
knowledge about that field and provide us with the insights.

5. Sports Reporting

This reporting may seem cool for the audience but they don’t know the hard work and sweat
the reporter has to put to provide information to all the viewers. Reporters can cover
information about hockey, football as well as cricket tournaments held all around the globe.

6. Entertainment Reporting

This is one of the famous reporting where the journalist tries to reveal the juicy gossip of the
glamorous people in the world. But it is not an easy job. The reporter has to wait for hours for
the appearance of the celebrities. Entertainment reporting takes interviews, reviews of music
and films and much more. There are many more types of beats in journalism but these six are
one of the famous of all.

Above mentioned are some of the top Beats in Journalism but there are many Different Types
of Beats in Journalism which is mentioned below.

6. Civic Reporting

It is a type of reporting which covers citizen's wellness. This type of reporting is not just normal
news but that makes the audience think. The purpose of this type of reporting is to make a
difference by public awareness.

Infrastructure Reporting

In the world of globalization, rapid infrastructure development is a must. The beat, who reports
infrastructure reporting collects information about all infrastructural sites like Railway Stations,
Airports, Government infrastructure and makes the audience aware of it.

7. Crime Reporting

Crime reporting is one of the most famous reporting in the industry. All audiences consume
crime news in one or another way means the audience is big and that is why this segment of
reporting requires all details before getting published. All crimes are included in this reporting.

8. Environmental Reporting
All modern-day activities like globalization and digitization have their impact on the
environment. From the Ozone layer to Deforestation environmental reporting includes all. It
makes public awareness about what is going on in the environment.

9. Investigate Reporting

This type of reporting demands the beat to be sharp and dedicated because it takes too much
effort to open up facts and stories about investigation. But if the beat completes any
investigation completely, it can give good recognition and fame.

10. Lifestyle Reporting

In the era of social media, the audience will always be interested in what is going on in the
latest trend and what is in fashion. This reporting includes news/stories about the latest
fashion/fitness trends and other trending stuff.

11. Business Reporting

All news related to trade/business falls under this category. Import/Export, Goods, Trade,
Market, Stock Exchange and other news that are related to business attracts a large set of
people and that is why this type of reporting is one of the most famous reporting in current
time.

What is investigative journalism?

Investigative journalism is finding, reporting and presenting news which other people try to
hide. It is very similar to standard news reporting, except that the people at the centre of the
story will usually not help you and may even try to stop you doing your job.

The job of journalists is to let people know what is going on in the community, the society and
the world around them. Journalists do this by finding facts and telling them to their readers or
listeners.

In much of their work, the facts are easy to find in such places as the courts and parliaments,
disasters, public meetings, churches and sporting events. People are usually happy to provide
journalists with news. Indeed, in many countries, thousands of people work full time in public
relations, giving statements, comments, press releases and other forms of information to
journalists.

Throughout the world, though, there are still a lot of things happening which people want to
keep secret. In most cases these are private things which have no impact on other people - such
as relations within a family or a bad report from school. These personal things can remain
secret.
In many other cases, governments, companies, organisations and individuals try to hide
decisions or events which affect other people. When a journalist tries to report on matters
which somebody wants to keep secret, this is investigative journalism.

The great British newspaper publisher Lord Northcliffe once said: “News is what somebody,
somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.”

There are several reasons why societies need investigative journalism. They include:

1. People have a right to know about the society in which they live. They have a right to
know about decisions which may affect them, even if people in power want to keep
them secret.
2. People in power - whether in government, the world of commerce, or any other group
in society - can abuse that power. They can be corrupt, steal money, break laws and do
all sorts of things which harm other people. They might just be incompetent and unable
to do their job properly. They will usually try to keep this knowledge secret. Journalists
try to expose such abuse.
3. Journalists also have a duty to watch how well people in power perform their jobs,
especially those who have been elected to public office. Journalists should constantly
ask whether such people are keeping their election promises. Politicians and others who
are not keeping their promises may try to hide the fact; journalists should try to expose
it.
4. Of course, journalists are not the only people in society who should expose
incompetence, corruption, lies and broken promises. We also have parliaments,
councils, courts, commissions, the police and other authorities. The police often take
people to court for breaking laws. But sometimes they do not have the time, staff or
skills to catch and correct every case of abuse. Also, they cannot do anything against
people who behave badly without actually breaking any laws.
5. So journalists have a role as well. The difference is that when journalists expose
wrongdoing, they cannot punish people. Journalists can only bring wrongdoing into the
light of public attention and hope that society will do the rest, to punish wrongdoers or
to change a system which is at fault.

Who should we investigate?

Journalists should be able to expose abuse, corruption and criminal activities in all fields of
public life, but the main areas include the following:

1. Governments
These range from local councils to national parliaments and foreign governments. Sometimes
politicians and public servants are actually corrupt and should be exposed and removed from
office. But often they hide a decision because they know the public may not like it. They might
keep a deal they have made with a foreign timber company secret because it will harm the
environment or destroy people's homes. Often politicians and public servants spend so long in
office that they forget that the public has the right to know what is happening. If the public
elects people to office and gives them taxes and other forms of wealth to administer, the public
has the right to know what they are doing. The electors should also know so that they can
decide how to vote at the next election.

2. Companies

Some companies break the law and should be exposed. But companies usually like to keep
activities secret for other reasons. Perhaps they have made a mistake or lost money. Perhaps
they do not want competitors to steal their secrets or they do not want people to oppose a
development they are planning. However, even private companies have some responsibility
towards the public. Companies are part of each society. They usually make some use of natural
resources, take money from customers and shareholders, provide jobs for people and use
services provided by all taxpayers. Where their activities affect the rest of the community, the
community has a right to know what they are doing.

3. Criminals

Although governments and companies can be corrupt, criminals make their living at it. They act
like leeches on the community, so your readers and listeners have the right to know about
them. Fighting crime is, of course, mainly the job of the police and legal system. But sometimes
they do not have enough resources to do their jobs properly. Sometimes the law itself limits
their powers. Also, the police and judiciary can sometimes be corrupt themselves. So journalists
- like every law-abiding citizen - have the duty to expose wrongdoing.

There are, of course, all sorts of other individuals and organisations who like to hide things
which affect the public. A charity may try to hide the fact that it is not doing a good job with
money it has been given. A football club might be secretly negotiating to move its ground
against the wishes of its fans. A man might be selling colored water as a cure for every illness.
All these things need to be exposed so that the public can make up its mind whether to support
them or not.

Some basic principles

Let us discuss some basic rules about investigative reporting before we move on to the practical
techniques.
 1. News value

Most newspapers, radio and television stations get a lot of requests from people to
"investigate" some alleged wrongdoing. In many cases these are silly matters, lies or hoaxes.
But you should spend some time on each tip-off, to decide whether or not it will make a story.

You should judge all topics for investigative reporting on the criteria for what makes news. Is
it new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people? Sometimes, the story might only
affect one person and be so trivial that it is not worth following up. Remember you have limited
time and resources, so you cannot follow every story idea. Use your news judgment.

2. Keep your eyes and ears open

Always be on the lookout for possible stories. Sometimes people will come to you with tip-offs,
but often you must discover the stories yourself. Story ideas can come from what you read or
overhear or even a sudden thought while you are brushing your teeth. Good investigative
reporters do not let any possible story clues escape. They write them down because they might
come in useful later.

Listen to casual conversations and rumour, on the bus, in the street or in a club. Careless words
give the first clues to something wrong, but never write a story based only on talk you have
overheard or on rumour.

3. Get the facts

Because investigative reporting means digging up hidden facts, your job will not be as easy as
reporting court or a public meeting. People will try to hide things from you. You must gather as
many relevant facts as you can, from as many people as possible. Your facts must be accurate,
so always check them.

And do not expect dramatic results. Real life journalism is seldom like the stories you see in
films. Most investigations need many hours of work gathering lots and lots of small details. You
and your editor must realize this. If you are not given enough time, you may not be able to do
any successful investigative reporting.

4. Fit the facts together

As you gather the facts, fit them together to make sure that they make sense. Investigative
reporting is often like doing a jigsaw. At the beginning you have a jumble of pieces. Only slowly
will they emerge as a picture. Unlike a jigsaw puzzle, you will not have all the pieces at the
beginning. You have to recognise which pieces are missing then go and find them.

5. Check the facts

Remember you are trying to find information which some people want to keep secret. They will
not help you in your investigation, so you cannot check your facts with them. They will probably
oppose you and look for mistakes in everything you write or broadcast. If you make a mistake,
they will probably take you to court. You must always check your facts. Take a tip from the
most famous example of investigative reporting, the so-called Watergate Affair. The
Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigated a crime which
eventually led to the downfall of US President Richard Nixon. They knew their enemies would
be waiting for them to make a mistake, so they made it a rule that they would never use any
fact unless it was confirmed by two sources. This is a good rule to try to follow.

However, remember that many people you might interview about corruption could be corrupt
themselves. Criminals lie, so be suspicious of what you are told - and check their words with
someone else, preferably someone you trust.

6. Evidence

In addition to gathering facts, you should also gather evidence to support those facts. This is
especially important in case you are taken to court for defamation as a result of your
investigation. Courts will only accept facts which can be proved. If someone tells you something
on the record, you can show the court your notes, but it would also be useful to get a signed
statutory declaration from them. This is a kind of legal statement given under oath. Original
documents will usually be accepted as evidence, but photocopies may not, unless they are
supported by evidence from the owner of the original, who may not choose to help you.

7. Confidential sources

When investigating corruption or abuse, you will meet people who will only give you
information if you promise never to reveal their identity. This is very common in criminal
matters, where people are scared of pay-back.

You can agree to these conditions but remember, sometime in the future a judge examining the
same matter in court may order you to reveal the name of such a confidential source of
information. You will be breaking the law if you refuse to name your source, and could go to jail
for contempt.

If you promise to protect a confidential source, you must do so until the source himself or
herself releases you from that promise. So if you are not prepared to go to jail to protect a
source, do not promise in the first place.

8. Threats
People may threaten you to try to stop your work. This could be a threat of physical harm or a
threat by a company to stop advertising with your newspaper or station. It could even by a
vague threat to "do something" to you. Most threats are never carried out. The people making
them realise that harming you will only make their situation worse.

But all threats should be reported immediately to your editor or your organization’s lawyer.
This will share the burden of worry with someone objective. It will also act as extra protection if
the person making the threat knows that it is public knowledge. If you have a witness to the
threat, you might be able to include it in your eventual story, after getting legal advice.

Investigative journalism always leads to some unpleasant conflict. If you cannot cope with
conflict, stay out of investigative journalism (see Chapter 58: Pressures on journalists).

9. Work within the law

Journalists have no special rights in law, even when investigating corruption. Unlike the police,
journalists cannot listen in to other people's telephone calls or open their letters. Journalists
cannot enter premises against a person's wish.

You must work within the law, but more than that, you should not use any unethical methods
of getting information. For example, you should not pretend to be someone to whom people
feel obliged to give information, such as a police officer or a government official.

However, there are situations where you do not have to tell people that you are a journalist
when gathering information. We will discuss those in the next chapter.

If you have any doubts about legal matters, consult your editor or your organization’s lawyer.

Investigative journalism is needed to uncover important stories which people want

to hide

Investigative journalists need all the skills of general reporting, but

especially:

1. an alert mind to recognise story ideas and important facts which people are trying to
hide
2. an ordered mind to make notes, file information and fit lots of facts together
3. patience to keep digging for information
4. good contacts throughout society
5. courage to withstand threats from people you are investigating
 WRITING FOR RADIO

We know that script is the backbone of production. So writing is an essential part of it. We
write what type of sound would be required at a given situation and what would follow. Sound
is the entire means of communication in radio. Sounds help create and enhance mental images.

Sounds have the unique capability of creating an environment for the listener. Through the
creative use of various writing and production techniques, entire worlds can be created in the
human mind. Many techniques are availed to create an environment with sound.

Language: The primary goal of language is to communicate ideas and information to be easily
understood. The selection and using words and the combining of words into meaningful
sentences are important for good production.

Words: Words are the primary tools for the expression or thoughts, ideas, and emotions,
regardless of the medium. Words have meaning and power. Words need to be selected
carefully. Use words that come close to reality. Informal, rather than formal words are
preferred.

Sentences: Sentences are the principal units of organised thought. The keys to construct
effective sentences are clarity, simplicity, conversational style and conciseness.

Radio news writing

Radio is a fast, easy media that targets everyone, from highly educated people to less
knowledgeable ones. The writing must therefore be short, simple, in present tense... easy to
listen to and to memorize.

The first rule is to properly understand what you're writing about. If you fail to do so, you will
write badly. Understanding is the key to explaining, and the basis to the informal contract
between a journalist and his audience.

Radio writing simply means writing in the language of radio, so now we shall try to
understand what is meant by the language of radio. Radio writing is different from any other kind
of writing. It is also true that radio writing is more difficult and challenging than other kinds of
writing.

What are the elements of radio news?

News features typically contain the following elements:
A well-researched topic.
An introduction or a lead.

A main body with a clear narrative pattern.

Interviews and/or sound bites.

A conversational writing style.

The topic's character and personality.

A wrap up that completes the story.

Most on-air personalities working at radio stations today have at least some journalistic
background. This is because more and more small radio stations need people who can are
capable of filling many roles. It is not surprising then that many radio personalities at small
stations announce, play music, work the console, and write the day’s news. Having all these
skills is important, especially for aspiring disc jockeys.

There are many types of news stories. Hard News is essentially the news of the day. This is the
type of news most frequently read on the front page of the newspaper or at the top of the hour
on a radio or television station.

Soft News is news that isn’t time sensitive. This can include profiles about local individuals, or
even companies and organizations. Editorials are personal opinions about particular topics.
Editors and writers often take a side on a topic and write an argument about why their side is
right and the other side is wrong. Features are in depth stories about a certain topic. Features
can be about current events, but they often are best at discussing a particular issue in detail.

Radio news features are essentially two to four minute pieces that tell a single story. The story
can be about a current event, or it could be an information piece about an ever-green topic.
The news pieces typically focus on a single topic, and go in depth about it. They also typically
contain interviews or sound bites from relevant people.

News features typically contain the following elements:

1. A well-researched topic.
2. An introduction or a lead.
3. A main body with a clear narrative pattern.
4. Interviews and/or sound bites.
5. A conversational writing style.
6. The topic’s character and personality.
7. A wrap up that completes the story.

1. The Topic

Topics for radio news features vary greatly, but the vast majorities are specific topics that are of
interest to the intended audience, and that offer themselves to in depth discussion. It’s not
necessary to choose a topic of interest to the feature’s writer, but it is important to do in depth
research on the topic. Since a feature is not an editorial, the facts must be complete and
accurate, since the story’s integrity relies on them.

Researching a topic in the 21st century can be very easy, but the researcher must be diligent
about selecting information from reputable sources. Features typically use information from
first hand research, as well as second hand research. This means the writer interviews pertinent
individuals and reads original documents, as well as obtaining information already gathered by
others.

2. The Introduction

The beginning of any radio news feature should contain a brief introduction. This introduction
should tell the listener a bit about this story, but without giving too much away yet. This is also
called the news feature’s hook. The writer’s main objective here is to hook in the listener and
make her want to listen. Keep the introduction short; no more than two sentences.

3. The Body

The news feature’s body should contain the story’s main details. This is typically referred to as
the “5 W’s and 1 H”. The who, what, when, where, why, and how. The who tells the listener
who the main characters of this story are. The what tells the listener what this story is about.
The when tells the listener when this happened, or if it’s a future event, when it will happen.
The where tells the listener where this event or story takes place. The why tells the listener why
this is happening. The how tells the listener how this happened, or how they can get involved or
attend. These details should be told in the first paragraph, or at most in the first and second
paragraph.

After the listener understands the main points about this story, the rest of the story (another
four to eight paragraphs) should contain further information about the story. The further
information should be more in depth details about the “5 W’s and 1 H”. For example, many
radio news features tend to go into detail about the who, what, and why.
4. Quotes

Just like any news story published in a newspaper, radio news features should have quotes
from related individuals in order to support the story’s premise. These quotes are sometimes in
the form of interviews with prominent individuals directly involved in the story.

As an example, pretend a radio news feature producer is writing a story about a city’s public
transit system. The producer could try interviewing the city’s director of public transit, or
perhaps even the city’s major. The producer would need to ask relevant questions relating to
the topic. This is important, since the interviews need to help prove or disprove the news
story’s premise.

Interviews may be used in at least two different ways within a news feature. The interview can
occur directly after the announcer reveals the story’s main points, or it may occur at the very
end after the announcer has finished his entire written dialogue.

Another form of quote used in radio news features is the sound bite. A sound bite is a short
audio recording lasting no longer than 10 seconds, and revealing a major point in support of the
story’s argument. Sound bites are similar to interviews in that they are quotes taken from
people directly involved in the story. Sound bites differ from interviews in that the sound bites
are typically taken from secondary sources, such as other interviews or press conferences.

For example, suppose a radio news producer is writing a report on last night’s basketball game.
The producer can’t interview the basketball star who scored thirty points, but he knows there
was a press conference after the game where the star made some comments. The producer
could obtain footage from the press conference and extract a sound bite from when the
basketball star was interviewed.

5. Writing Style

Newspaper articles and radio news features are very different in regards to writing style. Where
a newspaper article might be written with a formal tone, the radio news feature is often written
with an informal tone. This is because newspaper articles are meant to be read, not
announced.

When writing the radio news feature, the most important style consideration is to be
conversational. The use of contractions in a radio news feature is not only allowed, but actually
recommended. Writers may also want to avoid long, complicated words, as well as using
parenthetical statements and other writing techniques not ease to announce.

Radio is a broadcast medium in which the announcer speaks directly to each listener. The
announcer must have the ability to relate to the listener directly. This is why conversational
writing is so essential. When in doubt, the writer should try reading the words out loud. If the
sentences are too long or sound like a book, they should consider rewriting.

Another important consideration when determining the story’s writing style is to take the
intended audience and format into consideration. Writing a radio news feature for an audience
of young college students will be much different than writing that same feature for an audience
of retired adults. Understand the station’s demographics, and that demographic’s needs before
attempting to write for them.

It’s also crucial to understand the station’s format before writing the feature. A news feature
written for a National Public Radio station, and one written for a 24-hour news stations will be
completely different. NPR news features tend to last an average of four minutes, while a 24-
hour news station’s news features might last a minute or less.

Depending on the format, the writing style may not be the only difference. On some formats,
some stories may be inappropriate or even obsolete. On other stations, certain facts may not
matter to the target audience.

As an example, when reporting a fire at a hospital, a 24-hour news stations might briefly discuss
information about casualties, but they may also discuss information about how this will affect
the listeners’ commute. On a music station, the story might be reduced to a one or two line
synopsis. It’s not that people listening to a music station don’t care about the hospital fire, it’s
just that news isn’t as important as music on a music station.

6. Tone and Character

Radio news feature writers should pay attention to the type of story being reported on, and set
the tone appropriately. Different types of stories require different approaches in tone. For
example, when writing a story about clowns at the park, the tone may be much happier, and
the script may even include clown puns and euphemisms. On the other hand, when writing
about a plane crash, anything other than a serious and delicate tone would be inappropriate
and perhaps even offensive.
7. The Wrap-up

The end of every story should include some sort of wrap up in order to complete the story.
Wrap-ups usually include a quick recap of the story, going over the facts one more time in order
to summarize the story. Some stories even wrap-up the story by looking to the future, perhaps
by including a quote about a future action or event, or with the announcer telling the audience
of future plans.

Radio Copy

Radio commercials, for example, involve copywriting. A copywriter writes the words that the
announcer reads out loud over the air. Same goes for television commercials. Radio and
television commercials are written by copywriters. Any message designed to sell something or
market something features copywriting.

What are the main elements of radio copy?

If you really want to produce memorable radio ads, you need consistency in advertising. This
includes the voice, the music, and the message. Consider a local hardware store with light-
hearted tones, excitable voiceovers, and upbeat music.

Writing Radio Copy

In 30 or 60 seconds, a good radio ad grabs attention, involves a listener, sounds believable,

creates a mental picture, spins a story, calls for action, and manages to keep the product on center
stage and the customer in the spotlight — all without sounding pushy, screamy, obnoxious, or
boring.

Done perfectly, a radio ad is a one-on-one conversation with a single target prospect, written and
produced so well that the prospect hears the introduction and says, in essence, “Ssshhh, be quiet,
you guys, I need to hear this. It’s talking to me.”

Writing to be heard

Great writers tell you to write out loud when you create radio ads. Here’s how:

1. Use straight forward language that is written exactly how people talk.
2. Write to the pace people talk ,not to the pace at which they read.
3. Include pauses. People need time to think, and the announcer needs time to breathe.
4. Cut extra verbiage. You wouldn’t say indeed, thus, moreover, or therefore if you were
explaining something exciting to a friend, so don’t do it in your radio script, either.
 5. Rewrite elaborately constructed sentences. Don’t expect listeners to track through
phrases linked together with who,which, and Instead of The new fashions, which just
came off the Paris runways where they made international news, are due to arrive in
Chicago tomorrow at noon try The newest Paris runway fashions arrive in Chicago
tomorrow at noon. You’re invited to a premiere of the world’s leading looks.
6. Tell listeners what to do next. Prepare them to take down your phone number (Have a
pencil handy?), or at least repeat your number for them. Most important, help them
remember your name so they can find you in the phone book or online. (Warning: Don’t
waste radio time telling people to look us up in the Yellow Pages, especially if your
competitors overshadow your presence there.)

Radio do’s and don’ts

Use the following checklist of ideas to employ and landmines to avoid:

1. Do stick with a single theme in each ad.

2. Do make a simple offer that calls for immediate action.
3. Do generate leads by making no-risk offers for free estimates, free brochures, or free
information.
4. Do limit a 30-second ad to 60 or 70 words unlessit includes an intentionally rapid-fire
conversation.
5. Do use radio as a complement to other advertising: Look for our coupon in Friday’s
paper.
6. Do say your name three times.
7. Do match your ad to the format of the stations you air it on. If you advertise on a country
western station, you won’t want an ad with new-age music in the background.
8. Don’t expect the ad to make the sale; use it to make the contact.
9. Don’t advertise products with a bunch of disclaimers.
10. Don’t fast-talk the prospect.
11. Don’t use incomprehensible jingles.
12. Don’t use weak attempts at humor.
13. Don’t talk to yourself. We’ve been in business 25 years. . . . We’re excited over our new
inventory. . . . We’re open until 10 p.m. Instead, turn every statement into a consumer
benefit (Shop ’til 10 nightly!) if you want to hold listener attention — and you do!

How to Write Radio Copy for a Business Service

When you own or manage a business, advertising and marketing play a key role in your bottom
line. That’s why creating strategic, thoughtful copy for your radio ads is important to actually
reaching your customers, reinforcing your brand and, most importantly, selling your services. If
you’re writing the script for your business’s radio ad, you need to keep your customer at the
forefront of your message.

1. Put Your Customer First

One mistake many businesses make when they are creating copy for a radio ad to promot e a
service is focusing the message on their company and their service. This can be tricky, because
when you’re building a brand you want to talk about what you do and who you are. That said,
you have limited time in a radio advertisement, and you need to spend that time solving a
problem that your listener has. For instance, if you’re selling a carpet-cleaning service, don’t
start your ad by telling your listeners everything you do well. Start the ad by identifying with
your customer and their dirty carpets. If the holidays are coming, talk about how important it is
to show a clean home to family and friends who are visiting. Your customers will identify with
this better and be more apt to keep listening as you present your solution.

2. Avoid Technical Speech or Jargon

You’re probably an expert in your industry. That said, most of your customers probably aren’t.
After all, that’s why they need your service. When you’re creating copy for a radio ad, avoid
using industry jargon or language that is too technical. Listeners tend to tune out when a
message requires a lot of focus to comprehend. Write your script exactly how you would speak
– minus those technical terms that the layman won’t understand. If you’re selling a pest-control
service, for example, talk about your environmentally safe pesticides, not the exact chemicals
you’ll be using.

3. Repeat Important Information

While you have limited time in a radio advertisement, it’s important to emphasize your call to
action. Your call to action is what you want your listeners to do when they hear your ad. For
instance, if you want them to call to make an appointment, tell them to do so. If you want them
to print a coupon online, give them the web address. Since this is the most important part of
your ad, you need to emphasize it. Repeat phone numbers and web addresses at least twice so
that listeners have a chance to take note. And if you’re currently running a special promotion,
repeat the sale details a couple of times.

4. Keep it Simple

One pitfall many businesses run into when creating radio copy is trying to speak to more than
one service. While you may offer a number of services that you’d like to tout, a radio
advertisement may not be the place to do it. In such a short amount of time, cramming too
much information into a script may leave your listener more confused than excited about your
services. Stick to one central service and theme. For instance, if you’re a salon offering buy-one-
get-one haircuts for families, keep your radio script about that particular promoti on and
service. While you also likely offering coloring and blowout services, you run the risk of diluting
your primary message by cramming them in.

News agency copy

News agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to
organizations in the news trade: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters.
They are also known as wire services or news services. News agencies can be corporations that
sell news (e.g. Reuters and All Headline News (AHN)), cooperatives composed of newspapers
that share their articles with each other (e.g. AP), commercial newswire services which charge
organizations to distribute their news (e.g. Market Wire, Business Wire and PR
Newswire).Governments may also control "news agencies," particularly in authoritarian states,
like China and the former Soviet Union or non-profit organizations operated by both
professionals and volunteers. News agencies generally prepare hard news stories and feature
articles that can be used by other news organizations with little or no modification, and then
sell them to other news organizations. They provide these articles in bulk electronically through
wire services. The bulk of copy, which comes to the news desk, is from wire agencies.

The tele-printer keeps on creeping information almost all the time during peak news hours of
the afternoon and evening. This copy comes in takes-the unit of news agency transmission or
unit of news writing. Foreign news items have their own serial numbers, FG, FS, FES, FTF, PAS
and POOL. Whereas FG, FS and FES files carry news items received from Reuters, AFP and UPI
and are credited to those agencies, the PTF file is made up of reports received from PTI’s own
correspondents and stringers abroad. The POOL file is devoted to agencies participating with
PTI in the Press Agencies Pool of Non-Aligned countries. Every news agency copy news story
must carry at the top a suitable slug. Generally the slug is one word, which is often the key work
in the story. Thus a story about rain would have a key word, which is often the key word for
reporting about rain. Slugs are nouns and not adjectives and a master slug should be used with
sub-slugs for individual story. In the news agency copy, the agency is not supposed to give
headlines but now to lighten the burden of newspaper sub- editor the news agencies have
started to put up headlines. If the sub-editor at the newspaper desk likes it he can indicate the
type size for the headline.
How All India Radio (AIR) compilation the News?

All India Radio (AIR) News Services Division gets news items from its own correspondents and
news agencies, PTI and UNI. After that compilation the News process start, the news pool is
sorted out into following categories.

1. Pool Copy.

Keeping in view the target audience, MR has introduced a system of what is called new-spool.
The News Room has four shifts during a day-morning, day time, evening and night. Each shift
issues its own pool copy in English. After editing, the selected news is put into the pool split into
different categories such as Home, Foreign, Parliament and Sports. Inclusion of an item in the
pool means:

1. The news is broadcast worthy,

2. It has already been written in broadcast style and
3. Any linkages arid back-grounding required has been done.

The pool copy is distributed among all editors compiling different bulletins. The editors
preparing the pool copy also constantly keep a tab of important developing stories and revise
and update them. They also prepare round-ups of important events and happenings such as
elections, train accidents, clashes, floods, bomb blasts and other disturbances.

2. Compiling News Bulletins.

Keeping in view the duration of each bulletin and the interest of the target audience, the
editors who compile the bulletin further select and prune the news items. They prepare the
bulletins and send them to the Language Units and the External Services Units where language
editors translate the news items and put out in their languages. News in different languages
should be written keeping in view the diction, style and flow of the language. The language
bulletin should also keep in mind the requirements, tradition and culture of the people.

3. Selecting the Headlines.

After the bulletin is prepared, the Editor decides which items apart from the lead story are to
be headlined. Generally, the Editor selects headlines keeping in view the interest of the
listeners. All bulletins have different headlines. The headlines given for Urdu bulletin will not be
the same for Oriya bulletin. Radio headlines should be brief and written in simple language.
Headlines are generally repeated as quite often many listeners tune in late and only from the
repeat headlines do they know the important news of the day.
All items which figure in the headlines must be included in the news bulletin. Details about the
main news items are provided after the headlines are read.

4. Use of Spoken Language in the News Bulletins on Radio.

Radio news bulletin should be clear, precise and to the point. Sentences should be short and
direct. Brevity is essential as there is a time limit. In a 10 minute news bulletin covering world,
national and regional news, there will be about 1000 to 1100 words. News should be in crisp
and easily understood language.

5. Clarity through the use of simple words.

News for radio bullet should be written in simple language as everyday speech. For example,
write “The work has started” in stead of “the work has commenced”, “The play has ended”
instead of “terminated”. “Officialese” should not be used in bulletins (officialese is the language
used in official press notes). The words chosen should create visual images in the mind “Roads
are under water” or “The telegraph poles have been uprooted” or “The bridges have been
washed away” sound better than “The communications have been disrupted”. Say “admitted
into the hospital” or “reduced to a minimum” instead of “hospitalized” or “minimized”.

6. Short Sentences.

Never use long sentences in radio bulletin. Do not use complex sentences. Avoid subordinate
clauses. Sentences should be written in 18 to 20 words. Split the long sentences. Put only one
idea into one sentence. A news items should not be more than 90 or 100 words. Some items
can be even shorter.

7. Present Tense.

The present tense should be used wherever it is possible say “They have shifted to the new
center” instead of saying “They shifted to the new center”, Say “The President says the country
is making progress” instead of” The President said the country was making progress.”

Try to use minimum figures. Too many figures confuse the listeners. Also, use round figures. Say
“about 50 crore” and not “513,879,968”. Explain technical words. For example, the right of
Habeas Corpus. This means that the authorities must bring the suspect before the Judge. Do
not use sound clashes like “the building was built by a local builder”. Rewrite the sentence to
“the storehouse was the work of a local builder”.

The arrangement in news writing is the reverse of the literary style of writing. The lead, or the
climax, should come first in the news bulletin. Once you have written the intro, the rest of the
item takes shape quickly. Leave optional points towards the end of the story so that if your
editors are running out of time, they can delete these without any difficulty.

Sound Effects
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process
used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance,
animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditionally, in the twentieth century, they
were created with foley. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound
recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point without the use of
dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, without
necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television
production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements.
Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the
processes applied to such as reverberation or flanging effects, often are called "sound
effects".

Sound effects in a radio programme give meaning and sense of location. It adds realism
to a programme and helps a listener to use imagination. Sound effects describe the
circumstances of a dramatic audio situation. They can be used for such things as
setting and place, conveying action, solving certain narrative problems and evoking
characteristics. Effects should sound as though they were being heard by the character.
Dubbing adds extra sound effects or bring disparate sounds together.

Sound effects can be used in two ways:

(a) Spot effects or effects that are created as we speak and

(b) Recorded sound effects.

Categories of Sound Effects:

a) Ambiences: It provide a sense of place, “where”, and perhaps of time “when”, events
occur. b) Discrete Effects: Indicates individual events; “what”, “how”, and “how much”.
c) Crowds: Sounds of many people in a crowded situation, without specific voices or
words being distinguishable. d) Dialogue: Dialogue is sound too. The character of the
voice indicates a lot about who the character is. Give importance to vocal contrast. e)
Silence: A dramatic element.

Without further ado, The Most Popular Types of Sound Effects:

Crowd Sound Effects.

War Sound Effects.

Foley Sound Effects.

Train Sound Effects.

Scary Sound Effects.

Background Sounds.

Door Sound Effects.

Sci-Fi Sound Effects.

1. Crowd Sound Effects

Unless you're able to get a room full of people to chatter under a microphone for you, you'll
need some walla. Don't try and decipher the murmurs- they're usually gibberish anyway.

2.. War Sound Effects

Considering how many productions (film, game or otherwise) are war-based, it's no surprise
war sound effects are on our list. The ambient noises of war (machine gun fire, background
explosions) add an essential layer to any war scene.

4. Foley Sound Effects

If your project has humans (or anthropomorphic creatures), you're going to need movement
sounds. Check out Foley Essentials, our collection of clothing rustles, footsteps, props, body
grabs & more – recorded by Academy Award®-winning sound artists.

. Train Sound Effects

The distinct rattle of rails and the toot of a steam engine is integral in any Western. Train
sounds can not only add to platform scenes but also provide a perfect transition from one
setting to another. Check out Sonomar Collection: Trains for a wide variety of train
sounds, including a 1907 steam train, modern electric commuter trains, diesel freight trains and
more.

5. Scary Sound Effects

When trying to create an eerie atmosphere, it's all in the sound. Doorknob rattles, floorboard
creaks and wind sounds create a mood that no picture could possibly manage on its own.
6. . Background Sounds

A good ambience or background sound should blend right in and fit naturally in your scene –
finding the right language/dialect, crowd size, room size, activity, etc. are all crucial to creating
the perfect atmosphere.

7. Door Sound Effects

It's probably pretty difficult to find a piece of media that doesn't feature a door in some
capacity – whether it's a simple front door to a house, a metal portal on a spaceship, or a creaky
wooden door to a creepy basement. Check out Doors by Richard King to set the tone for your
scenes with colorful and clean recordings for a wide variety of door types, sizes, speeds and
perspectives.

8. . Sci-Fi Sound Effects

With more sci-fi games, movies and TV shows that ever, every media creator needs high quality
sound effects of aliens, spaceships, robots, outer space, and all things futuristic.

9. Animal Sound Effects

This one wasn't surprising, but did you know that we have sounds from hundreds of animals,
not just the typical dog bark or cow moo? We've got capuchin monkey calls, pig squeals, tiger
growls and more.

10. User Interface Sound Effect

Make all of your apps, video games, websites, and interactive media sleek, modern and
intuitive with high quality UI/UX sounds.

11. Static Sound Effect

Ever wonder what sonic fuzz sounds like? Static sound effects are often made from white, pink,
or even brown noise that's then chopped up and subjected to ASDR envelopes. Google that
one if you're new to sound synthesis. Check out Interference to add intensity to your sci-fi,
fantasy, and horror projects with unmatched gritty and dark sound effects of robotic radio
static, scans, morphs, risers and more.

12. Cartoon Sound Effects

Cartoon tends to be synonymous with funny when it comes to the sound effects world. If you
need ingredients for a laughter cake, look no farther. Mmmm. Cake.

13. Movie Sound Effects

All the people searching for sounds from famous movies will be thrilled to know that they not
only can find and use sounds from Academy-Award winning films, there are thousands to
choose from. Check out The Odyssey Collection by Mark Mangini

14. Weather Sound Effects

Brave the elements with sound effects from all weather patterns including wind, rain, thunder,
storms, snow & beyond.

15. Trailer Sound Effect

Video game and movie trailers need big, epic, Hollywood quality sounds to create an impactful
impression on the audience. Check out Colossal: Trailer Sound Effects designed by
feature film sound editors from Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Joseph Fraioli and Randy Torres for
a collection of high-energy impacts, whooshes, rumbles, and transitions.

16. Explosion Sound Effect

One of the most fun sound effects to work with: explosions. You can build your own with
individual elements (wood snap, glass debris, low frequency boom) or use pre-made effects
that already contain multiple sound layers. Boooooom.

17. Vehicle Sound Effects

Whether it's a high-speed chase or a casual Sunday cruise, chances are you'll work on a project
where someone is driving, flying, or sailing somewhere. Check out Fire Sound Effects

DJs often cross from traditional musical borders into the more abstract sound art territory.
Often spicing mixes up with sound effects, these libraries offer many sounds to choose from.
Check out Ember by Richard King for crackling, roaring, and smoldering sound effects.

18. Gun Sound Effects

Like explosions, gun sound effects are made from multiple elements, and each type of gun
sounds drastically different from the next. Pro Sound Effects customers are often searching for
gun sounds. We've got thousands to offer – Check out King Collection: Guns for the most
comprehensive collection of gun sounds available.

1. Promo
promo (a shorthand term for promotion) is a form of commercial advertising used
in broadcast media, either television or radio, which promotes a program airing on a
television or radio station/network to the viewing or listening audience. Promos usually
appear during commercial breaks, although sometimes they appear during another
program.

Promos typically run from 15 to 60 seconds, with 30-second spots being the most
common, although some occasionally last run as little as five seconds or as long as 90
seconds. Most promos show select video or audio clips of scenes or segments from an
upcoming program (such as a television or radio series, film or special). Some television
promos (particularly for an upcoming television series) utilize a monologue format in
which a star or host of the program breaks the fourth wall, which is often done in a
humorous and/or parodical manner. Most radio promos utilize this format as well, with a
host of the program discussing the show itself, though some feature audio clips from
past editions of the radio broadcast. Broadcast television stations promote upcoming
newscasts by featuring teases of select story packages to be featured in the broadcast,
such as an investigative report or a special-interest feature segment.[1]

The airdate and time of the program's broadcast as well as the name and/or logo of the
station or network that the program will be broadcast on are displayed either at the end
of or throughout the promo (in the latter case, the airtime and network/station may be
displayed before it is mentioned verbally by the announcer). Until the mid-1980s on
broadcast television stations, the text showing the date and time, along with the station
logo were displayed on the bottom of the screen (unlike with broadcast and cable
television, airtime information is not pre-displayed on promos for syndicated
programs as syndicated programs are typically aired at different times depending on
the market, and are instead inserted by the station itself); however, stations now
posterize graphics over the tail end of a syndicated program promos where the
program's logo is shown (many stations use this treatment on promos for programs
airing on networks that the station maintains an affiliation, such as Fox and The CW) or
show the latter portion of the promo within a box surrounded by the graphic.

Premium cable channels and other television networks that do not accept outside
advertising traditionally only air promos during pre-determined breaks that start after a
program concludes; the length of these breaks can vary depending on the start time of
the succeeding program, it is feasible for multiple program promotions to be shown
within the break until the start of the next program. Types of promotional media:- 1)
television 2) radio 3) internet 4) billboards 5) newspapers, magazines 6) pamphlets 7)
SMS 8) brochures 9) word of mouth

An ad in the lower third of a TV screen during a show helps to remind people what
network they are watching. Called a snipe, this type of promotion targets people,
especially younger people, who are used to seeing such items when they look at
computer screens or cell phones. Some people have criticized the practice because it is
distracting, and in some cases such ads cover up subtitles and prevent information from
being seen. In some cases, the additional information can help people understand a
story, but in others, too much information can interfere with communication. [2]

WHAT IS A TEASER ?
A teaser is like a short trailer that is meant to tease, excite and create a hype to the audience. It
gets into public discussions that build mass awareness early. Teaser usual doesn't reveal any
story elements or great detail. It is also the first to be released, in many cases be it for TV soaps
or in Movie is filmed before the footage for the original project itself has even began.

WHAT IS A TRAILER ?
A trailer is much longer than a teaser and it reveals more story elements and gives more insight
into the movie. It gives you a very good understanding of what is in the film by including things
like dialogue, plot, songs, cast and clues as to what genre it is etc.
A trailer is a short, edited taste of what the movie promises to be.

WHAT IS A PROMO ?
A promo is used to promote the product and is usually released close to the release date or
even after to remind people its out. It can sometimes show critics reviews and it gives the exact
release date. It's usually brief and shows short clips.

Basically they are shortened version of each other, as promo being the shortest about 5-10
seconds long (technically) ; teaser a little longer about 15-30 seconds ; trailer the lengthiest of
all can be considered around 1.5 - 2.5 minutes.

railers, Teasers & Promos: Lengths, Formats & Tips

The world of trailer and promo editing doesn’t get much time in the spotlight compared to its
longer-form cousin, feature editing.

In this short Edit Tip, we’ll be taking a look a few common structures you can use when cutting
your next trailer or promo.

Trailer & Promo Editing

While promo pieces come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, there are 3 primary archetypes
to understand.

1 – The Trailer
2 – The Teaser
3 – The Spot
 1. The Trailer
The trailer is the longest type of promo you might cut and it typically contains the most story
information.

Length:

Trailers can stretch up to 2 min 30 sec in length and typically contain 3 acts.

Act Structure:

Act 1 introduces the world and the main characters. It’s important to get to an engaging and
interesting moment as early as possible in the piece so the viewer stays on for the ride over the
next couple minutes.

In action trailers, it’s a big moment (which might be a great way to cold open the piece.)

In suspense and horror trailers, you’ll want to begin in normality and build to your first scare
and the reveal that something is amiss.

In comedy, do your best to setup your story using jokes. Structure your exposition-heavy open
in a way that naturally leads into moments of levity to prevent boredom and establish a
comedic tone from the start.

And, in drama trailers, do your best to present the viewer with likable and relatable characters.
Easier said than done in the first :30 of a trailer.

Across all genres, acts 2 and 3 serve as vehicles to introduce complications, top moments from
the film and ultimately build to your act 3 climax, which should be the biggest, funniest,
scariest, coolest moment of your film.

Trailer Tip:

Your trailer climax isn’t necessarily going to be the same as the climax of your movie. In fact, it
almost always isn’t.

Last impressions are almost as important as first ones. Many times, the ending is the only part
of the trailer your audience will remember.

2. The Teaser
Alright, moving down the list we’ve got the teaser.
Similar to the trailer, but the teaser is almost always a shorter piece. After all, its function is,
well…to tease.

Much of the story information is withheld and the goal is to simply entice the viewer with 1 or 2
of the best moments in the film and a general understanding of the central conceit or premise.

Length:

Teasers typically end up between :60 and :90 seconds in length.

Act Structure:

Most teasers fall into a 2-act structure. Act 1 will provide a bit of context and character setup
and act 2 will transition directly into a set-piece moment from the film – whether it’s a scare, a
stunt, a line or a joke.

Teaser Tip:

Be careful not to get sucked into telling too much story in a teaser.

It’s tempting to start adding all the great dialogue lines from your various characters to flesh
out the story. This will almost always lead you down a rabbit hole that will turn your :90 teaser
into a 2:30 trailer. If that’s not your goal, go sparingly with the story elements.

Length:

Spots can vary in length but are typically the shortest of the 3 types of promos. Some spots are
as short as :05 with others getting as long as :90. Most you’ll see on TV on the internet are :15
or :30.

Act Structure:

A spot has the difficult task of providing a full meal that represents the movie in a very
compressed time-frame. Despite their short length, spots will typically have 3 full acts, similar
to a trailer. They’re just much shorter.

One of the biggest challenges when cutting a spot is custom editing your music cue to fit the
shorter length. You’ll need to get pretty skilled at up-cutting and modifying the cue to go from
beginning to middle to end in a short timespan like 30 seconds.

A good rule of thumb is to start your spot with the beginning of the music, end it with the
climax of the music and then custom edit the middle to connect the two sections.

Viewers of spots are VERY impatient.

Unlike trailers and teaser, spots are often playing to a much more distracted audience. Most
people are viewing a spot in the form of a TV or web-based ad while they’re trying to do
something else. For that reason, a spot has to open strong.

Use attention-grabbing sound design to kick it off and get to an interesting moment within the
first 5-7 seconds. Otherwise, there’s a high degree of certainty that your viewer won’t make it
to the end.

How to use your voice effectively

When you give a presentation your first goal should be to capture and hold the attention of
your audience. Everyone must be able to hear and easily follow what you are saying.
Fortunately you have one very valuable and versatile tool at your disposal to make this happen
– and that’s your voice. In this post I will explain how to use your voice to best effect and
have the impact you want on your audience.

First of all it’s important to recognise that giving a presentation is not the same as having a
conversation with an individual or a small group at a meeting. When speaking in public you
need to put a lot more effort into how you use your voice.

How to improve your speaking voice – the 4 essentials

No doubt you’ve sat through a presentation where it was difficult to hear the speaker or they
spoke in a monotonous voice. Perhaps you persevered and tried hard to concentrate on the
message. The truth is that the majority of audience members will drift off, give in to boredom
and find alternative activities such as doodling on their notepads or fiddling with their
smartphones. To keep your audience engaged you must use your voice well.

1. Volume

Be aware of the volume of your voice. Generally that means speaking out and projecting your
voice more than you would in a normal conversation. It depends of course on the size of the
room and numbers in the audience. Don’t speak too loudly or it will sound as if you are
lecturing your audience. Don’t speak too softly either or they will simply lose interest. Whilst
the most important thing is to be heard at all times, you should also try to vary your volume e.g.
raise your voice to draw attention to a point; lower it to lend a bit of intrigue to what you are
saying.
 2. Clarity

As well as making yourself audible, it is of course essential that you speak clearly. That means
articulating words properly and taking care not to mumble or to ‘swallow’ word endings. The
best way to achieve clarity is to move your lips and open your mouth wide enough for the
sound to escape!

3. Tone and emphasis

The content of your presentation may be of high quality, but you’ve got to make it sound
interesting too. This means using your voice to convey enthusiasm, conviction, empathy etc.
The tone you adopt should be consistent with the content of your message e.g. avoid sounding
too cheerful if you’re announcing some bad news to your workforce!

Bear in mind that it’s possible to change the meaning of a sentence depending on the particular
words you emphasise. So it’s important to decide on what words you should emphasise,
perhaps by highlighting them in your notes and by practising out loud.

Avoid dropping your voice at the end of sentences as you are likely to send your audience to
sleep – a technique used by hypnotists! Instead, try to put a little bit more emphasis into the
final word of a sentence, without exaggerating too much.

4. Pace and Pauses

There’s a tendency for people to speak too fast when they are presenting. This may come about
because of nerves and an eagerness to get the presentation over and done with. As a general
rule, when presenting you should speak more slowly than in ordinary conversation. Aim for
about 150 words per minute to allow your audience enough time to take in what you are
saying.

No doubt you will have noticed how comedians use a deliberate pause before delivering a
punch line. This is a technique you can use also in formal presentations for deliberate effect and
to allow your audience time to absorb a key point.

5. Voice and relaxation exercises

Your voice is capable of making a wide range of sounds, although typically we use only a limited
amount of our voice capacity when presenting. Some of the inhibition comes from feeling
nervous about speaking in public. If you have to deliver many high level presentations, then you
may like to consider using the services of a voice coach.

Here are some simple exercises you can try by yourself to help warm up your voice before
delivering a presentation.

Get your vocal chords working by humming a tune.

Pretend you are chewing a sticky toffee.

Practice breathing deeply to fuel your voice.

Think of some tongue-twisters and say them out loud, taking care to articulate every word.

Improving your vocal quality will enhance your presentations and make you come across as
more confident and credible. Your body language and the visual impression you make matters a
great deal too.

ELEMENTS OF RADIO PROGRAMME

INTRODUCTION

A radio show is any type of program broadcast on the radio, or on the Internet in the
case of Internet radio. Radio programmes can be spoken word programmes or music
programmes. In spite of the type of programme aired on the radio, the elements of the
different programmes remain the same; such as –
1  Voice,

2  Music,

3  Script, and

4  Sound effects.
Whether music or speech based, radio relies on the human voice to connect with
its audience. It is the voices of presenters and RJ’s that we respond to on a radio. They are the
personification of a radio providing a personality with which we identify and connect.
The style of music each station plays is a crucial aspect of the station’s identity. In
any event, the music played on most radio stations is not randomly selected by individual
presenters or producers, but it is governed by a music policy that has been developed to appeal
to the station’s target audience.
A radio show script is a norm in the stations across the nation. While it may seem
that things are flowing naturally on your favorite radio station you can bet that a radio show
script is being used. Most radio shows are live, and to avoid catastrophe they will utilize a radio
show script for the guests and the personalities alike.
In short, Good audio content is anything that keeps your listener through the next
minute. Audio quality is determined by two main factors – the quality of the microphone and
the proximity of the microphone to the person speaking.

1. THE ROLE OF VOICE IN RADIO

For our voice to be recorded in a studio, we use a microphone. They amplify or in

other words, increase the volume of your voice. When you speak before a microphone, you
don’t have to shout. You speak normally and it will be made louder if you use a loudspeaker to
listen to.
Voice is important in the following ways:
 Voice conveys meaning.

 It stimulates our visual imagination: it creates visual images in our minds.

When we think of radio, the microphone is the most important element using which you
present your programme. The main stay in any radio programme is the human voice. Think of
the voice of an announcer or newsreader on radio. You often find them very pleasant and nice
to listen to. That is because of the quality of their voice and the proper use of it. There are two
aspects of the use of human voice in radio production:
 Firstly, there has to be a well written script to be spoken and

 Secondly, someone has to speak or read it before a microphone in a studio.

2. SOUND EFFECTS IN RADIO PROGRAMME

Sound effects in a radio programme give meaning and sense of location. It

adds realism to a programme and helps a listener to use imagination. Sound effects describe
the circumstances of a dramatic audio situation. They can be used for such things as setting and
place, conveying action, solving certain narrative problems and evoking characteristics. Effects
should sound as though they were being heard by the character. Dubbing adds extra sound
effects or bring disparate sounds together.
Sound effects can be used in two ways:
(a) Spot effects or effects that are created as we speak and
(b) Recorded sound effects.
Categories of Sound Effects:
a) Ambiences: It provide a sense of place, “where”, and perhaps of time “when”, events occur.
b) Discrete Effects: Indicates individual events; “what”, “how”, and “how much”. c) Crowds:
Sounds of many people in a crowded situation, without specific voices or words being
distinguishable. d) Dialogue: Dialogue is sound too. The character of the voice indicates a lot
about who the character is. Give importance to vocal contrast. e) Silence: A dramatic element.

3. MUSIC IN RADIO PROGRAMMES

Music is the soul of radio. Film songs and classical music programmes are independent
programmes on radio. Music is also used as signature tunes or theme music of various radio
programmes. It enhances the programme in the following ways:
a. Music adds colour and life to any spoken word programme. b. Music can break monotony. c.
Music is used to give the desired effect of happy or unhappy situations, fear or joy. d. Music can
suggest scenes and locations. For example, you have to create a bright early morning situation.
This can be done by playing a pleasing note on the flute along with the sound of chirping birds.
Most music based stations operate a playlist that is updated every week. The playlist
determines what will be played and how often it will be played. The selection of music is not
done on personal taste but is a professional judgement that takes into account a variety of
factors including the stations target audience, how appropriate a track is to certain times of the
day, and increasingly how well it has scored in audience research.

4. THE ROLE OF SCRIPT IN RADIO PROGRAMMES

A radio script is a writing which gives the detail of how an entire programme should be. A script
takes some of the pressure off presenters doing live broadcasts. It provides them with the
reassurance that they know what they
are going to say next so that they can concentrate on how they say it. Scripts also ensures that
an item is covered fully, in a logical manner and to set time. A radio script for a presenter is
largely a safety measure but it needs to contain certain characteristics to make it effective.

 Though it is written, it is spoken

 It is written for the ear not the eye.

 It is heard only once. The listener normally does not get a second chance to listen.

 It is conversational.

 It should be simply worded without any difficult or unfamiliar words.

 The sentences should be short and simple and not complex

.  There should be only one idea in a sentence and not many ideas.

 Though there are thousands of listeners, what is written should be meant for just one
listener.

 The words chosen should denote the exact meaning and not be vague.

 The words should make pictures in the minds of the listeners.

 Abbreviations or short forms should be avoided. If an abbreviation is used, then its full form
should be given.

 While referring to more than one person, avoid using ‘he’ or ‘she’. It can confuse the
listeners.

CONCLUSION
Radio differs from other media because it is for the ears, not for the eyes.
Therefore, sound, voice, script and music plays a vital role in a radio production. In fact, the
strength of a radio programme is that it speaks to individuals, and the way it does this by talking
to them, not reading to them. This means that whatever is said on the radio – whether it is a
link in a magazine programme, a film review, or even a voice piece in the news – needs to
sound as if it is coming from the mind of the speaker – almost like part of a conversation –
rather than something that is being read. The human voice in any radio broadcast is the main
element that helps the listener construct their own image and picture the person behind the
microphone.
Music is the straightest path to the emotional centres of the mind. Other
sounds, dialogue or effects must be translated and understood first. It makes significant
contribution in radio but must be used with great discretion. Suitability is an important factor.

Radio production
Electronic media of communication bring into our homes audio and video signals in the form of
various programmes. These programmes, which come on air as sound or both picture and
sound, are either live or are already recorded or shot, processed, and transmitted. Electronic
media viz. television, radio, and film (or motion picture) shares the following attributes:
Immediacy: These media can present topical, contemporary material live to the audience
immediately.

Impermanence: Programme’s brought by these media are perishable images and sounds.

Diversity: They bring a variety, of programme material, which appeals a wide range of
audiences. '

Flexibility: Material can be recorded edited, and duplicated for multiple playbacks.

In this lesson, we shall discuss about the basic aspects of radio Programme production.

RADIO PRODUCTION FORMATS

Many radio programmes are live. Some programmes on radio are recorded first and broadcast
later. Some programmes are studio based, while others are recorded on outside locations. Here
we shall discuss about a few different varieties of radio production formats:

1. LIVE on RECORDED RADIO PROGRAMMES:

The programmes on radio and television can be live, pre-recorded or a combination of both.
The nature of production calls for whether a programme will be produced live or recorded in
advance and used later.

Live production involves the risk of production errors, as there are no "second chances". It has
to be right the first time, which is the only time. However, live production is cheaper than
recorded production techniques and sometimes easier and quicker.

Recorded productions allow supervision and control over quality. In this method, first recording
of programmes is done. Editing and postproduction are done at a later time. This is an attempt
at enhancement to further refine production value and quality while shooting. This can also
combine with live production method. Portions or segments of programme can be recorded,
edited and processed in advance and incorporated into a studio production using live talent.

2. STUDIO OR REMOTE (OUTSIDE ON LOCATION):

Programmes can he produced within the controlled environment of an indoor studio which
otters the required settings of a programme. Studio settings otter personnel control, light
control, temperature control, sufficient power supply and access to supplementary production
personnel, equipment accessories and spare parts and even telephones and change rooms.

Production can also be done at a temporary remote location. A unique setting can be achieved
by thoughtful selection, planning and full use of a remote outside location. The realism and
detail required for the quality and success of a production can also be obtained. However, in
such a situation some production requirements, such as extensive lighting or elaborate sets are
eliminated.

A combination of studio and remote production is also possible. Most newscasts combine
anchors in the studio with reporters in the field. The anchor introduces a story from the studio
and the reporter provides the details from the field.

3. OTHER PRODUCTION FORMATS

Audio production can be carried out in many ways depending on the types and source of
programmes. Local live production employs station's own announcers or newscasters locally
and play records and tapes, which they themselves own. Live-assist production is one way
where stations retain local announcers and disc jockeys as the backbone of the programme and
uses syndicated programming, such as reels of taped (prerecorded) music and satellite
delivered music services.

In semi automation production a local radio station relies on the services of the syndicated
programme producer. The music is typically played on large tape machines. When a break point
for a programme announcement is reached, smaller cartridge tape machines are triggered to
play by a sub audible cue tone on the master tape.

EQUIPMENT FOR RADIO PROGRAMME PRODUCTION

The basic equipment to produce audio programme include the following:

1. The studio desk (mixer console or control board or control panel)

2. Microphones
3. Turntable
4. Compact Discs and Records
5. Audiotapes
6. Music and Sound effects

1. THE CONSOLE:

The control board or console processes the sounds and voices during recording, editing,
and dubbing. This mixes together the various programme sources to form the broadcast
 output. This is located in the central control point or control room. Three types of circuit
functions are operated.

Programme circuits: A series of channels, their individual volume levels controlled by separate
rotary faders.

Monitoring circuits: Visual (meter) and aural (headphone) means of measuring the individual
sources or channels as well as the final mixed output.

Control circuits: Provision of communication with studio or outside by means of “talk back" or
telephone line.

2. MICROPHONE:
A microphone (mics, pronounced myke) is a transducer, which converts acoustic energy
into electrical energy. Several types of microphones are available with audio pickup
pattern characteristics designed to meet various recording requirements and situations.
The directional property of microphones, which is also called the pickup pattern, is
important for selecting the right kind of microphone. According to the pickup patterns,
microphones can be classified as:

Unidirectional microphones are appropriate for one or two people speaking side by side.
Background noise is undesirable. These are also called cardioid mics because of their
heartshaped pick-up pattern.

Bi-directional microphones are used when two people directly facing each other.

Omni-directional microphones are used for picking up a large number of people and are
excellent for gathering background noise.

Stereo recording requires specially designed stereo microphones. It can also be achieved by
using at least two microphones. One such approach is M-S (mid-side) miking. A tat-directional
microphone picks up sound to the left and right and a super cardioid microphone picks up
sound to the front. The output of both microphones is fed through a complicated circuit. X-Y
miking is another method of stereo recording. Two cardioid microphones are placed next to
each other. One angles to the left at a 45-degree angle and other to the right at 45 degree. This
way both the microphones pick up sound from the center.

3. TURNTABLE:
 turntable picks up information recorded on a disc or record and sends this information
to the console for amplification, mixing, processing, and integration with other sound
elements.
4. COMPACT DISCS AND RECORDS:
Vinyl records or LPs are being replaced by high quality digital recordings made on
compact disc. In playing a disc, most control desks have a "pre-fade”, ”pre-hear" or
"audition" facility which enables the operator to listen to the track and adjust its volume
before setting it up to play on the air. With a record, a glance at the grooves will often
be sufficient to indicate whether there is a wide variation in dynamic range.
5. AUDIOTAPE:
Sounds can be recorded in the field or in the studio onto audiotape at standard speeds.
The audiotape used in studio may be in the form of continuous loop cartridges, or carts,
or materials may be recorded on reel-to-reel audiotape machines. Digital Audio Tapes
(DAT) record the signal in digital form in which the original electrical variations are
represented by a series of pulses or bits of information.
6. MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS:
Music and sound effects may be produced and recorded in CD or audio tape and may
also be prerecorded on disc or audio tape and integrated into the programme material
using the console or control board.

VOICE TERMS: The terminology used for production describes the placement (place of origin of
voice) and quality of voices. The voices are indicated using easily understood designations, for
instance, Voice 1, character’s name or Announcer # 1.

On mic (on mike): A voice or character is heard at a normal distance from a microphone.

Off Mic: When we want the voice to be heard as though coming from a distance or from the
back of a room we use this term.

Fading on or fades on: We write this when we want the voice to sound as though is
approaching the centre of action in the minds eye of the listener. Fade off or fading off could
indicate the reverse process, where the voice starts at a normal distance from the microphone
and then slowly moves away.

STAGES OF RADIO PROGRAMME PRODUCTION

Radio productions are planned in three stages.

1. PRE-PRODUCTION:
This is the planning and development stage. This begins with the generation of a script.
Unless a script is developed it is difficult and there will be confusion on what type of
 programme you are producing. The script contains instructions and guidelines for the
production of the programme.
2. PRODUCTION:
The second stage is production. The entire material for the programme is recorded or
organized at this stage. Selecting and positioning of the microphones, the type of tapes
to be used, and selection at various sources at sound through the mixer are all part of
this stage.
3. POST PRODUCTION:
This stage generally includes editing Sounds recorded during production and dubbing if
required, are the principal focus of post production. Putting together the previously
recorded sound and selection of sound are important. The purpose of editing can be
summarized as:
1. To arrange recorded material into a more logical sequence
2. To remove the uninteresting. Repetitive or technically acceptable portion.
3. To compress the material in time.
4. For creative effect to produce new juxtaposition of speech, music. sound and even
silence.

Newsreels
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the twentieth
century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories
and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs, and entertainment for
millions of moviegoers until television supplanted its role in the 1950s. Newsreels are now
considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record of
historical and cultural events of those times. Newsreels were typically featured as short
subjects preceding the main feature film into the 1960s. There were dedicated newsreel
theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and 1940s, and some large city cinemas also included
a smaller theatrette where newsreels were screened continuously throughout the day.

A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical
interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. [1] Typically presented in
a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, information, and entertainment for
millions of moviegoers. Newsreels were typically exhibited preceding a feature film, but there
were also dedicated newsreel theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and ’40s, [2] and some
large city cinemas also included a smaller theaterette where newsreels were screened
continuously throughout the day.
By the end of the 1960s television news broadcasts had supplanted the format. Newsreels
are considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record
of certain cultural events. [3]

Newsreels were short films shown in movie theaters, generally along with cartoons and feature
films. Though some footage of newsworthy events survives from the 1890s, the first American
newsreels were produced by the French Pathé firm in 1911. A competing newsreel was
produced by Vitagraph.

Newsreels were initially seen as entertainment rather than news, and as a matter of policy,
avoided controversial topics; later newsreel footage was censored. Several film companies
produced newsreels in America, including Fox (Movietone News), Hearst/MGM (News of the
Day, Metrotone News), Warner Pathé and Paramount (Paramount News).

American History in Video

Includes Universal newsreels 1929-1967, also United Newsreels for 1942-1946 (United
Newsreels were financed by the U.S. government to provide coverage of World War II).
Includes transcripts.

World Newsreels Online

Streaming video of international newsreels produced between 1929 and 1966. All are
accompanied by transcripts, with those in foreign languages translated into English.

newsreel, short motion picture of current events introduced in England about 1897 by the
Frenchman Charles Pathé. Newsreels were shown regularly, first in music halls between
entertainment acts and later between the featured films in motion-picture theatres. Because
spot news was expensive to shoot, newsreels covered expected events, such as parades,
inaugurations, sport contests, bathing beauty contests, and residual news, such as floods.

Among the best-known early newsreel series were the Pathé-Journal (1908), shown first in
England and France, and the Pathé Weekly (1912), produced for American audiences. The
March of Time (1935), produced in the United States by Time, Inc., illustrated the influence of
the documentary film by combining filmed news with interpretive interviews and
dramatizations. With the rising popularity of television news reports, documentaries, and
specials, the number of newsreels declined markedly. By the late 1950s the last of the American
weeklies, Fox Movietone News, had gone out of business.

PRODUCING A RADIO FEATURE

In radio, you are primarily responsible for all stages of feature production. In commercial radio,
particularly in smaller markets, the DJs of the station are responsible for producing features.
The same thing applies at NBS detachments. Once you are assigned a production, the entire
process, from researching the subject to putting it on tape, belongs to you.

In this section, "radio feature" and "audio production" are used interchangeably.

SELECTING MUSIC

Music is used to set the mood for a production. It can create a feeling of excitement,
tranquility, suspense or sadness. The following four types of music can be used in audio
production:

Theme

Background

Bridge

Fill

Theme

If you are doing a series of spots on a particular subject or using a particular character, theme
music will lend identification to that subject or character. Avoid using familiar songs as themes;
for example, "Gonna Fly Now" from the Rocky movie series or the theme from American
Gladiators. These selections tend to distract the listener and ultimately lessen the effect of the
message.

Background

Background music helps set the mood of the feature production and it increases audience
appeal. A voice-only production can be very boring, especially if it is just one voice. For
example, a few strains of dramatic fanfare might heighten listener anticipation of a story
climax. Conversely, you could use light, melodic music to support a comical subject. There is
instrumental music to fit almost any mood. It is just a matter of listening to the selection ,
perceiving the emotion or mental image it creates and matching the appropriate mood to your
subject.

When you are selecting music for background, instrumentals are preferred over music with
vocals. Vocal songs tend to distract the listener from the message of the production. Vocal
music may be used, but only if it contributes to the message. When vocals are used, level
balance becomes critical so that the music does not override the message.
Background music should be unrecognizable and match the subject. By adding the right
background music, you add to the aesthetic appeal of the feature.

Bridge

Bridge music connects or "bridges" two ideas or thoughts. Bridge music, also called transitional
music, was used in radio theater to change the scene. A short instrumental fanfare can signal a
change in topics - or, a new scene can be introduced with a short musical theme that suggests a
particular location.

Fill

Fill music is often called "pad" music and is usually an unrecognizable instrumental song. If your
feature production is required to be a certain length, you can use fill music to eat up time at the
end. This also allows the person airing the production an opportunity to transition to the next
program element gracefully with less chance of lapsing into dead air.

SELECTING SOUND EFFECTS

The use of sound and sound effects works much the same way as music. The purpose of sound
effects is to enhance the spoken word.

Creative use of sound can help develop a vivid picture in the mind of the listener. The success of
an audio production often depends on the mental picture conjured up by different sound
effects. Good examples are the spots produced for the Radio Ad Bureau promoting radio
advertising. By using sound effects, the producer created a visual picture in the listener's mind
by doing such things as draining Lake Michigan, filling it with chocolate and topping it off with a
750-foot mountain of whipped cream and a 10-ton maraschino cherry. This versatility is
available for any radio production and is limited only by your imagination and ability to locate
or create sound effects.

The following are the three main types of sound in audio production: . Real l Simulated l
Rerecorded

Real

Real sound effects are produced in the studio using the actual source, such as papers shuffling
or scissors cutting cloth. You are limited to the availability of the particul ar item to make the
desired sound.

Simulated
 Simulated sound effects are those that do not recreate reality, but merely suggest it. Crinkling
cellophane can suggest a campfire, and running your thumb across the teeth of a comb can
suggest casting a fishing line.

Prerecorded

Prerecorded sound effects are those available on tape or compact disc (CD). The two types of
these are the ones that create a sound picture, such as a city street or factory, and the ones
that create individual sounds, such as footsteps or the opening of a door. When using
prerecorded sound effects, you are limited to the recordings available in the tape or CD library
of your station.

USE OF THE VOICE

The voice is the essence of most radio productions, because it conveys the message.

Each announcer interprets copy according to his style of delivery and the type of delivery S
h
needed to communicate the message effectively. Voice characterizations may be
o
used if it is appropriate to the production, but make sure the characterization p

is realistic and portrayed well. N

o
w

Benefits of Live Streaming with Multiple Sources

Multi-source live streaming helps broadcasters at any level of expertise produce more professional-looking
broadcasts, which creates a higher production value. Switching between multiple camera angles and content sources is
the bread and butter of professional-grade broadcasters. M
O
TV stations, cable channels, and well-produced internet broadcasts all use multiple sources for better communication G
and greater aesthetics. A
O
Using multiple sources for streaming also makes it easier to add effects and pre-recorded footage. Meanwhile, another
P
source can be used as the main broadcast source. This gives you more flexibility for editing and adding effects on the
I
fly.

With added complexity comes a greater need for equipment and staff. This kind of stream is a bit more expensive to E
l
produce, but these costs are well worth it e
c
Use Cases for Multi-Source Live Streaming
t
Perhaps one of the best examples of a multi-camera event in action is a sporting event like the Super Bowl. Super r
Bowl broadcasts have used multiple cameras for a long time. However, the latest Super Bowls have added manyo
other sources. These include cameras mounted on drones and wires suspended above the stadium. n
i
Additionally, multiple camera shots are used in news studio settings to provide different angles.
c
Most studios have at least one streaming camera set for wide shots, one for medium shots, and one for close-ups.
A typical news broadcast begins with a medium shot, then switches to a wide shot, which could then be potentially C
followed by an up-close guest shot. o
m
Both of these examples come from high-end productions with large price tags. However, multi-source streaming
p
isn’t limited to those with multi-million dollar budgets.
o
Today, the cost of complex multi-camera shoots has been reduced greatly making it possible for those with small n
budgets to produce multi-source broadcasts. e
n
Equipment for Live Streaming with Multiple Sources
t
Multi-source live streams require a little more equipment than you’d need from a basic single-camera stream.
K
Let’s take a look at the live streaming equipment that is necessary for a multi-source stream.
i
1. Multiple Cameras t

Before we discuss cameras, we want to point out that “multi-camera” and “multi-source” streaming are not one and
&
the same. Streaming with multiple cameras is streaming with multiple sources. However, “multiple sources” could
refer to one live camera feed and other sources with pre-recorded audio and video.
T
Technically, you do not need multiple cameras for live streaming with multiple sources, but if you’re using two liveo
sources, you will need more than one camera. t
a
If you’re producing a Multicam stream, we recommend that you use the exact same camera when possible. This
…
provides the same color, resolution, dynamic range, and so on. Using high-definition cameras from different
manufacturers can cause problems with footage looking different. If you must use different cameras, try to use the
same brand. $
In some cases, using different cameras will be unavoidable. In this case, be sure to thoroughly test your cameras 2
before using them to ensure they don’t clash horribly with one another. 5
.
It is possible to get the look of a multi-source shoot without using multiple cameras. For example, you can use pre-9
recorded video clips within a live stream. Cutting to these pre-recorded clips mixes up the visual experience. This is 9
a lower cost, simpler alternative to multi-camera shoots.
(
For example, check out the innovative approach in this video below. Here, a small church is using a pair of 4K PTZ
1
(Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras for a master 1080p HD broadcast. This enables them to use digital cropping to get the
2
equivalent of eight camera angles!
2
2.Video Switching Software or Hardware )

Switching is an essential component to live streaming with multiple sources. Switching is the process of selecting
which source will be broadcast in a live feed at any given time.

Most often, broadcasters use encoding tools that offer switching features, and these come in both hardware and
software versions.

Hardware switchers tend to be more robust and reliable, but are also more expensive. With a hardware switcher,
video sources are connected directly to a panel or rack-mounted unit (usually via SDI or HDMI, sometimes viaX
Ethernet). A display panel is either built-in or connected externally. Buttons on the device allow the operator to X
switch between sources instantly. X
L
Software switchers are usually integrated into live-streaming applications like OBS Studio, Wirecast, vMix, and
others. These applications are installed on a computer, and can then be controlled via a standard mouse and
keyboard interface. E
l
Software switchers are more affordable but less robust. Don’t let that discourage you! They can work excellently. e
However, if you do use a software switcher, make sure you install it on a powerful computer. c
3. Mobile Streaming Tools t
r
hese days, it’s possible to wirelessly switch a multi-camera live video broadcast using mobile devices. Consideringo
that a full broadcast studio was the only option for performing this feat a few years ago, it’s pretty remarkable how n
fast the technology is evolving. i
Using a professional-grade camera is ideal, but the ability to stream from a smartphone or tablet is valuable if you c
want to incorporate live content from a remote location. This is especially valuable for new crews that often need to
act fast with on-site recording. C
o
For a great mobile option, consider Teradek’s Airmix iOS app. This app allows you to mix multi-camera live
m
streams from an iPhone or an iPad.
p
Other similar options are RecoLive MultiCam and Switcher Studio. o
n
4. Camera Capture Card or Device
e
If you’re running a software switcher, you’ll need a camera capture device. This connects to your camera (usuallyn
via SDI or HDMI) and imports the video signal. Capture devices usually come in two formats: cards that slot into t
desktop computers or boxes that plugin via USB, Thunderbolt, or other connectors. A
s
Two popular manufacturers of capture devices are Black Magic Design and Matrox.You only need one capture
s
card when streaming with multiple cameras from one location. If you are streaming from multiple locations, you will
o
need multiple capture cards or devices.
r
5. Non-Camera Sources t
m
A chroma key is a solution for shooting a video before a blank green (or blue) screen background and then replacing that
e
screen with another background.
n
Other, non-camera sources can be added to live streams as well. Some other sources that you could use include: …

Animated graphics
$
Chroma key (green screen) backgrounds
1
Titles and lower thirds (text) 9
9
Images
.
Pre-recorded video content 9
0
Any switching software or hardware platform will include a method for inserting this sort of content with minimal fuss.
$
Usually, switching to a non-camera source is as simple as hitting a button or selecting content. Overlaying titles, graphics or
2
other material is straightforward, as well. There are lots of ways to add multiple sources to your live stream to make the content
1
more interesting.
9
6 Steps for a Successful Multi-Source Live Stream .
9
As we mentioned, multistreaming with multiple sources is a bit complex, but it is not impossible. In fact, with the right
0
preparation and guidance, multi-source streaming isn’t hard at all. We

Here’s how you can get started in 6 steps.

(
1. Plan Ahead 5
8
Live streams with multiple sources require a little bit of extra planning and strategy. Make sure you plan out and prepare all of
the sources ahead of time so that there is no confusion at the time of your event. )

As you prepare, familiarize yourself with all of the tools that you’re going to use. This way, you won’t be learning on the fly.

Keep in mind that you should always stream for your target audience. Think of your audience’s wants, likes, and needs as you
prepare the sources you’ll use for your live stream. Thinking about your audience will help you create a multi-view streaming
experience your audience will enjoy.
2. Strategic Setup R
E
Camera operators and techs should arrive early and begin setting up well in advance to choose camera angles and a location for
X
the studio/switcher.
Q
Your streaming setup should be designed to create the most high-quality content and make everything easy to access for you asu
a broadcaster. a
l
Also, make sure you tape cables securely so that nobody trips. This may sound simple, but a rogue wire can really mess things
i
up in the middle of a live stream. Having a strategic set-up is essential for a multiple-camera streaming experience.
s
3. Test Run
E
Conduct a full live-streaming test. Set up and test encoders, computers, and switchers with the cameras. Make sure everything is
l
working how you want it to.
e
We recommend testing at least twice and on multiple end-user devices. This helps you to dodge any avoidable roadblocks orc
mistakes. A test run is essential for success with multiple camera streaming. t
r
4. Pre-Event Streaming
o
We recommend starting the main event live stream well before the event starts. Showing an animated graphic, perhaps with a n
countdown, is one way to go. i
c
This allows you to get everything up and running before you start the life event, which gives you a buffer if there are any last-
s
minute kinks to work out before the live event starts. This also allows your viewers to join early, so that when your live stream
starts, everyone is present.
C
5. Switching Sources o
m
When the event begins, the switch operator switches to a camera view, and you’re live. Throughout the show, switch between
multiple cameras to provide several views. The switcher controls this aspect. p
o
Ideally, each camera records its own feed to local storage. The main program feeds also records (locally, via OVP, or both). n
e
6. Post-Event Streaming
n
When the event ends, we recommend leaving the live stream up and running for a few minutes with another graphic showingt
on the screen. This graphic could include a call to action or options to purchase the event recording.If you record the live
stream, you can also turn it into a video-on-demand after the live streaming. F
u
For additional details, you can check out our tutorial on how to use several video sources with OBS Studio.
n
Picture-in-Picture and Multiple Simultaneous Views
K
With advances in technology and solutions, it is now more possible than ever to stream any event or broadcast using
i
multiple sources, even from mobile devices. t

Another type of multi-source live streaming is picture-in-picture. This is when there are multiple video feeds on one
…
screen. This is when you have multiple video This is great for sports and many other scenarios. Similarly, streaming a multi-
source collage is a viable approach. This one may have more limited uses, but can be fantastic for showing multiple
simultaneous views of the same event. $
Every live streaming software encoder – and most hardware encoders – makes these effects possible. Multiple video feeds on1
one screen are engaging for the viewers. 9
.
When using OBS Studio or Wirecast, for example, you can individually scale, resize, position, and layer. This allows you to 9
create a “picture-in-picture” effect, or merely display multiple camera feeds onscreen at the same time. This can create a more9
engaging experience for your viewers.

Phone in programme – (
1
In this age of technological development, phone-in is the most important format. This is called interactive
6
programming where the listener and the presenter talk to each other. Their talk goes on air instantly.The listener 8
2
has the satisfaction that his voice is being listened to and replied immediately. Other listeners also listen to him.
)
Such presentations need advance publicity so that the listeners get ready to air their grievances/queries or

requests. They dial up the announced telephone number at a stipulated time and get their problems discussed

with experts in the studio. Initially this format was introduced for playing the listeners’ request based film

songs. Now it is being used for health related programmes, rural broadcasts, complaints against the government/
administrative machinery etc.
K
in broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their
E
live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. Y
E
On radio, it is common for an entire programme to be dedicated to a phone-in session. On television, phone ins are S
often part of a wider discussion programme: a current example in the UK is The Wright Stuff. BBC Radio Nottingham T
U
is credited with having aired the first British phone-in on 4 February 1968, in a programme called What Are They Up D
I
To Now? Speech based Talk Radio UK was launched in 1995, with much of its programming featuring phone -ins. It
O
also introduced the notion of the shock jock to the UK, with presenters like Caesar the Geezer and Tommy Boyd
3
constructing heated discussions. Ian Hutchby has researched power relations in phone ins, looking at arguments and 7
confrontations. Using conversation analysis, he describes how the host retains power through devices such as "
i
The Second Position" — the concept of going second in a discussion, giving the host time to formulate a response.
n
Similarly, the last word is always the broadcast word. The public can choose to end the conversation, but they
1
are doing so by withdrawing from the interactional arena
S
How to Live Stream Video with Multiple Sources
e
.As live streaming becomes more accessible, many users are looking for a way to spice up their broadcasts. It’s easy n
enough to start using free services and simple equipment, but many are left wondering how they can take things to the s
next level. o
r
Live streaming with multiple sources is a great way to boost the production value of your online broadcasts. It adds a
professional touch to your content while making it more attractive and engaging.
K
In this post, we will discuss everything you need to know about how to live stream with multiple sources so that youi
can broadcast video from two locations or with a variety of camera angles. We’ll cover different equipment you need t
for multistreaming and 6 actionable steps for hosting your own live stream with multiple sources.
3
s live streaming becomes more accessible, many users are looking for a way to spice up their broadcasts. It’s easy 7
enough to start using free services and simple equipment, but many are left wondering how they can take things to the
next level. S
Live streaming with multiple sources is a great way to boost the production value of your online broadcasts. It adds a e
professional touch to your content while making it more attractive and engaging. n
s
In this post, we will discuss everything you need to know about how to live stream with multiple sour ces so that you o
can broadcast video from two locations or with a variety of camera angles. We’ll cover different equipment you need r
for multistreaming and 6 actionable steps for hosting your own live stream with multiple sources. s

O.B.Production ( Outside production ) …

Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover
television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. $
Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to 3
cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional 6
video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly .
transmission. 9
3
Some outside broadcasts use a mobile production control room (PCR) inside a production truck.
History (
Outside radio broadcasts have been taking place since the early 1920s [1] and television ones since the late 1920s. [2] The 7
first large-scale outside broadcast was the televising of the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth in May 1937, done by 1
the BBC's first Outside Broadcast truck, MCR 1 (short for Mobile Control Room). )

After the Second World War, the first notable outside broadcast was of the 1948 Summer Olympics.[4][5] The Coronation A
of Elizabeth II followed in 1953, with 21 cameras being used to cover the event. d
s
In December 1963 instant replays were used for the first time. Director Tony Verna used the technique on the Army-
Navy game which aired on CBS Sports on December 7, 1963.[8]
b
The 1968 Summer Olympics was the first with competitions televised in colour. [9] The 1972 Olympic Games were the y
first where all competitions were captured by outside broadcast cameras.
A
During the 1970s, ITV franchise holder Southern Television was unique in having an outside broadcast boat, m
named Southener.[12] a
The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981 was the biggest outside broadcast at the time, with z
an estimated 750 million viewers.[13] o
n
New technology
In 2008, the first 3D outside broadcast took place with the transmission of a Calcutta Cup rugby match, but only to an
audience of industry professionals who had been invited by BBC Sports.

In March 2010, the first public 3D outside broadcast took place with a NHL game between the New York
Rangers and New York Islanders.[15]

The first commercial ultra-high definition outside broadcast was a Premier League game between Stoke City v West
Ham, televised by Sky Sports in August 2013.[16]

Tests in 8K resolution outside broadcasts began to take place during the 2010s, including tests by NHK[17] and BT
Sport.[18] The first public 8K outside broadcast in the UK took place in February 2020.[19

Modern applications
Modern outside broadcasts now use specially designed OB vehicles, many of which are now built based
around IP technology rather than relying on coaxial cable.[21]

There has been an increasing rise in the use of flyaway or flypack Portable Production Units, which allow for an
increased level of customisation and can be rigged in a larger variety of venues.

In the past many outside broadcasting applications have relied on using satellite uplinks to broadcast live audio and
video back to the studio. While this has its advantages such as the ability to set up anywhere covered by the respective
geostationary satellite, satellite uplinking is relatively expensive and the round trip latency is in the range of 240 to 280
milliseconds.

As more venues install fiber optic cable, this is increasingly used.[24] For news gathering, contribution over public
internet is also now used. Modern applications such as hardware and software IP codecs have allowed the use of public
3G/4G networks to broadcast video and audio. The latency of 3G is around 100–500 ms, while 4G is less than 100 ms.[25]