WYEP Workshops

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at radio storytelling? If you’re a fan of programs like “This American Life”, you know that radio is a great medium for exploring human interest stories that can be complex, quirky, hilarious or moving.

Guest presenters Jennifer Jordan and Brian Siewiorek invite you to join them for an evening workshop series at The WYEP Community Broadcast Center that offers an introduction to radio journalism and creative audio storytelling. We’ll listen to “This American Life” pieces, you’ll learn in a small-group setting about gathering audio, creating a story arc, producing your piece and more.

Each participant will have the opportunity to work on his or her own 2-3 minute short audio story with the help of a WYEP producer. Participants will learn how to operate portable digital recording equipment* as well as a basic introduction to the Adobe Audition audio editing program.

Sessions are held Mondays, March 16th, 23rd & 30th from 7-9 pm. Class size is limited to 20 participants.

All three sessions are available for a total tuition cost of $60 for WYEP members, $75 for non-members.
Register by phone at 412-381-9131 × 220. Please have your Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card ready. Holiday gift certificates available if registration is received by 12/18/08.

*Note: Limited digital recorders will be available on a sign-up basis. Participants are encouraged (though not required) to bring their own equipment. For equipment suggestions, please visit the What to Buy article at Transom.org.

About the Instructors:

Jennifer Szweda Jordan reports and produces radio stories about the environment for The Allegheny Front, which is broadcast on WYEP-FM. Her free-lance work for National Public Radio includes a story about a 15-year-old pinball wizard, and a piece about dairy farmers labeling milk produced from cows treated with hormones. Jennifer also produces stories for The Environment Report, broadcast nationally. Her essays and features for The Allegheny Front have received Golden Quill Awards from the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. Jennifer used to be a newswoman for The Associated Press. Colleagues accused her of being a public radio groupie — accepting Prairie Home Companion Fur Parkas in exchange for her favorable interviews with StoryCorps founder Dave Isay, This American Life host Ira Glass, and Democracy Now! firebrand Amy Goodman. She has neither confirmed or denied these charges.

Brian Siewiorek received a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Kent State University in 1999. He worked at a Public Radio station in Alaska where he filed stories on the Iditarod and on life in the rural parts of the state. In 2001, he moved to Illinois where he was the local host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” and an arts reporter. In his career, he has produced stories on topics like the installation of a Dale Chihuly glass work, the haunting of a shuttered mental asylum, to the annual ice “break up” on the Yukon River. His work has received a national Edward R. Murrow award and has been awarded prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, The Associated Press, and both The Alaska and Pennsylvanian Broadcasters Associations. Brian is currently the Production Director at 91.3 WYEP, where he produces “Discumentary” along with on-air promos and other programs for the station.