Doing an audio show is more taxing than I ever expected it would be. I’m sure it will get easier and easier the longer I do it. I’ve been producing The Becky and Joe Show on PDX.fm in Portland, Ore.
For my entire adult life — that’s 24 years and counting — I’ve been a print journalist and a writer. Making the transition to presenting information aurally instead of in writing has been like drinking from a fire hose. There’s so much more to it than you might expect when you first decide you’d like to dabble in it.
First there’s the diction and pronunciation part. As a writer I have never had to be able to correctly pronounce names and words except while doing an interview and even if I messed up then, the final product was pretty forgiving in that regard. And diction … let me tell you about diction. I discovered I had a lot to learn when I first heard my mushy recorded voice on tape. I’m taking training classes to improve that. Using my voice as I have always used my fingers on a keyboard is a whole new world for me, but it is exciting and challenging. Everyone needs a good challenge now and then to keep the brain young.
How the words come out.
Writing for speaking and listening instead of for pure reading was also a test of my abilities. Making my writing sound conversational was almost never a requirement for newspaper and online writing unless I was penning a column that necessitated it. What print news writing did do is prepare me for having to write sentences that are short and sweet. Brevity counts in both news writing for a printed product and a verbally-delivered one.
Then there’s the engineering aspect. As a print journalist I’ve had to learn various computer programs such QuarkExpress, inDesign, PageMaker, Photoshop, and so forth. I also had to learn how a newspaper or a Web site is designed — both the practice of doing it and the art of what looks good and serves the reader best. I’m not even going to delve into all the other tools I needed to learn when I started as a print journalist in the days just before computers were used to the extent that they are today. I’ll leave that for another column. Even the fact that I’m calling this a column indicates something about me.
Adobe Audition screenshot
But audio journalism or audio presentation of information has a whole other set of tools. One has to learn about sound and how it works, how the ear receives it and how the brain perceives it, what sounds pleasing and understandable and what does not. Then there are the myriad sound editing programs that one must choose from and then learn the proper use of. I finally settled on Adobe Audition, but the free Audacity program would work for many people as well. Learning sound editing prompted that drinking from a fire hose analogy I used earlier.
Of course before I was able to edit any sound in a professional way, I had to purchase equipment to capture the sound in a professional way. That required good microphones (I bought a couple Audix i5s that have a cardioid pick-up pattern and a ElectroVoice RE50N/D with an omni-directional pattern); a good set of headphones(I bought the Sony MDR7506); a decent recorder (I got the Zoom H4n for stereo recording and the Marantz PMD-671 for everything else, including interviews); there are a bunch of cords, clamps, pop shields, windscreens, stands, and other minutiae to support and connect everything else; and to hold it all, I got a large camera bag so I can carry my mini-audio-studio anywhere I go.
Sony-7506 headphones
If I had to guess how much it cost me, I’d say about $2,000. I didn’t buy it all at once — I accumulated it at each turn when I realized I needed something more to help. I spent that money because it is an investment in my journalism career, but audio production can be done for less than that. I just wanted to use the same tools that a person might use as a reporter at a radio station. It is a bit more expensive than buying some pens and paper, a laptop for writing and maybe a graphic program or two, but it has been rewarding and fun as much as it has been hard work.
You may have noticed that I never used the word podcast to refer to the audio show because that’s only a part of what I’m producing. The “podcast” 
itself is only one of a handful of modes of transmission of the show to the audience. You can listen to it streaming online at PDX.fm on Monday afternoons at noon and 1 p.m., you can listen to it on our Web site at beckyandjoeshow.com and of course you can download the MP3 file (the podcast itself) from iTunes or our Web site. So that’s why I avoid using that limiting term — podcast.
In addition, parts of the talk show will be removable to be presented in different media. I’ll be doing traditional radio news-type reports that I’ll post on PRX.org from time to time for public radio stations to use as they see fit. I’m going to offer them for free because at this point, knowing someone will use my material is more important than the extra income it would afford me. The Becky and Joe Show is the initial platform upon which all the journalism will be first presented.
I would be remiss to not mention the massive contributions that my partner and co-host Becky Bergman is making to the content of the show. Without her I’d only a mushy-mouthed sound engineer/journalist trying to figure out my way through this new region of the communication world all alone.
As I venture into a bit of the unknown of the rapidly evolving communications environment, I encourage you to try something new, to extend your imagination and creativity to new areas. It may feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose at first, but in the end it’ll all be worth it as you’ve grown and are so much more full of knowledge and valuable skills.
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