Fall 2022 podcasting class releases 'We Met U When...'
Final year students in assistant professor Shari Okeke’s Advanced Podcasting and Radio Doc course last semester dipped into news stories from a decade ago to examine the impact of journalism from the subjects’ perspectives. Each of the four episodes of We Met U When… revisits news stories from 2012, as the journalism students attempt to unravel what has happened to the newsmakers since that time. Also, including a fifth bonus episode, in which students share some of the behind-the-scenes moments of making their episodes.
Okeke says that the production of this series had students “thinking about their role as journalists, the responsibility that comes with that role and how they want to handle that responsibility going forward.”
“My favourite part of teaching this class and producing this podcast was seeing my students’ growth over the 12 weeks. It was truly impressive,” she says.
Here are some of those students giving us a behind-the-scenes look at what the production process looked like for some of the episodes:
Season 1, Episode 1 - Giftedness: A Sticky Label
This episode was co-produced and narrated by student Kendra Seguin and covers the story of a SeaSea Nemecek, a young adult who was interviewed when she was 12 years old about her experiences as a gifted student, and now, 10 years later, reflecting on being interviewed and on how that news story still follows her a decade later.
What was the most challenging and rewarding part of working on the episode?
The most difficult part of putting together our podcast episode was condensing all of the information we gathered down to 20-minutes. I think I did four to five hours of interviews with SeaSea alone, so it was a bit of a challenge to narrow down her big story into something that is smaller but still accurate.
The best part about working on this episode was how much I learned. I definitely learned a lot of technical podcast production skills, but this project also taught me a lot about myself and journalism in general. Talking to SeaSea and hearing her story with gifted education made me reflect back on my own experiences in gifted programs … My conversations with SeaSea about how this news story from when she was 12 (years old) still impacts her today has really emphasized how much power we have as journalists, and why it is so important that we tell stories with a lot of attention and care.
Why should people give this episode a listen? What would you want them to walk away thinking about?
I hope listeners leave the entire podcast thinking about the power that news stories can have on the people from the moment that they are first interviewed, to years down the line. With Giftedness: A Sticky Label in particular, I hope people also gain a more detailed understanding about giftedness and how gifted education and labels can affect young people.
What was your experience exploring audio storytelling and working with Shari?
I feel like this podcast episode is the thing I am most proud of producing in all my time at j-school and this is a testament to the great experience I had in the class. The production of our episode throughout the semester was consistently supported by Shari, Angela Glover (as) tech support, and, classmates who gave detailed feedback - not every class environment is that lucky.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Season 1, Episode 2 - Just Roll With It
Gwen McDonald opened a roller skate shop in 2012, with money from her late father. The business was described as “the only one of its kind” in Toronto. What happened next becomes a story about grief. Narrator and co-producer, Jasmine Afnan Al-Kholani, did not expect McDonald’s story to become part of her own journey. Megan Camlasaran was also a co-producer on the episode.
What was the most challenging and rewarding part of working on the episode?
“I am always hesitant to talk about myself, so to include my story in this podcast was a challenge. As a journalist, you are often told not to be biased or to insert yourself into the story which is something that I had to do for this project. It was even more challenging knowing that I had to share a vulnerable part of my life, but I am very proud of how the podcast turned out,” says Al-Kholani. Camlasaran says, getting to learn Gwen’s background was the most rewarding part of the process, “She was a great storyteller who spoke with passion and transparency.”
Although, they both found piecing together the full story to be challenging, because of all the moving parts including different timelines, characters, etc. “It was difficult to ensure that it was easy to follow while being engaging and entertaining … It was both fun and satisfying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together,” says Al-Kholani. Camlasaran found that Gwen was a complex personality who did not define herself in one way or another, and “had many stories to share about grief”, adding depth to the story.
Why should people give this episode a listen? What would you want them to walk away thinking about?
Both producers say that this episode heavily follows the topic of grief and how people experience it differently. Al-Kholani says “[We wanted to talk] about grief from a perspective other than just pure sadness. Grief is about hope and love and I believe our story represents that.”
“Listeners will get to hear about different ways people cope with grief and might be inspired by the positive outlook our main character has maintained in her own life, even when life gets hard,” says co-producer, Camlasaran.
What was your experience exploring audio storytelling and working with Shari?
“Working with Shari allowed me to develop journalistic instincts. Journalism is a difficult profession, where decisions have to be made every day and sometimes we are faced with questions where there are no obvious right or wrong answers,” says Al-Kholani.
Both producers felt they were working in a supportive environment where students used a critical ear to push one another to produce a podcast that they are all proud of. Camlasaran says it was most important for her to “tell our characters’ stories in a way that truly represents who they are.”
You can listen to the full episode here.
Season 1, Episode 4 - Don’t Mess it Up
For years, Michael Hinds participated in interviews with journalists. But, when he realized the media attention wasn’t helping his community or his work, he stopped. That was until journalism students approached him to reflect on that experience. Maddy Mahoney was the narrator and one of the co-producers on this episode.
What was the most challenging and rewarding part of working on the episode?
The sheer amount of work it takes to put something like this together [was challenging]. Even just a 15 minute radio documentary involved hours and hours of interviewing, and re-interviewing, collecting tape, scripting, re-scripting and then mixing it all together. I have always loved listening to podcasts, but I certainly have a new appreciation for how much goes into it.
I loved the collaborative aspect of it, as I am more used to working in print, where journalism can be fairly solitary. On the podcast, it was amazing to be bouncing ideas off of my co-producer (and classmate) Brit Weaver, and workshopping scripts and mixes with Shari, Angela Glover, and the rest of the class. I think the final podcast is so much better off for having had everyone’s input and ideas incorporated.
Why should people give this episode a listen? What would you want them to walk away thinking about?
People should listen to our episode, Don’t Mess It Up, because it is about the real impact negligent coverage can have … it was really powerful to hear our main source speak about how his bad experiences have made him wary of journalists, to the point where he actively avoids interviews … I would want people to walk away thinking about how the way we cover things today really does impact the kind of stories we will be able to tell in the future.
What was your experience exploring audio storytelling and working with Shari?
I loved it! Shari is amazing, and so hands-on. She was really there to guide us and encourage us every step of the way. The class as a whole was really committed to the project, which made it really fun and engaging. I loved that we worked as a podcast production team more than as a classroom, though of course we learned a lot, too.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Okeke quickly picked up on the enthusiasm and professional standards that students had and is very proud of the progress that they have made.
“Many of them went to great lengths - even after classes were done - to ensure their episodes could be published,” she says, “By the end of the semester, some students told me they were so invested in these stories, it would feel strange to not be working on them anymore. I’ll miss the team that produced Season 1 but I really look forward to seeing what they do next!”
You can listen to the rest of the episodes of We Met U When… including a bonus behind-the-scenes episode, by following this link.