NPR Next Generation Radio’s Tracey J. Shanklin learns about contra dancing from caller Dale Wilson on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, at The Monday Club in Webster Groves. BRIAN MUNOZ / NEXTGENRADIO
Writing this reflection, I realize that you can’t limit yourself only to what you think possible. Honestly I’m still processing what I’ve learned about this industry and myself as a reporter. The theme of this reflection is, “Thinking I knew a thing and I know NADA!”
First, haikus are more about breaths than about breathing. Writing a haiku focuses on syllables rather than word count. This is how my journey started in this program.
I learned that I am better at delivering messages than writing. I have a tendency to be verbose and colorful in my writing: I meander through the woods and pick up pretty flowers, I notice the icky bugs, and oh, squirrel!
I am now aware of new programs like Miro, Slack, and Audition. With the latter program I honestly thought I was auditioning for something that I hadn’t been told about when my mentor, “Saint” Laura (I think of her and the other mentors as saints, because who or why would anyone choose to mentor someone like me, unless they were divinely ordained to do so), said, “Okay, today you’re gonna do your Audition.”
I experienced mind mapping, brain dumping, time management, prioritizing, storyboarding, and deadlines, or, for some, “breadlines” (shout out to Owen, a fellow mentee). My ADHD was on overload.
I briefly met my subject prior to getting permission to tell his story. When I began the interview, however, I was invested. My main takeaway: Keep the reporter out of the report! If it’s not an opinion piece, it ain’t about you, sista girl! [Thanks for validating my mother’s MOMtra (MOM + Mantra)]. Stories like these are not about what I think, but rather about how the reader (digital or web), listener (radio/audio/visual) receives this story. My challenge was to remove myself from, and to respect the boundaries of, the subject’s story.
One “gem” received from my mentor, St. Laura, affirmed by St. Sarah, was that “script and text for radio are written in present tense, and for print and web stories, write them in past tense.”
I learned to use my voice. I used my voice when I could no longer take the arctic temperature in the room my mentor and I were working in. I did it afraid, but it was done.
I learned that I have the hunger to learn new things, and it takes courage to try new things. I signed up to do this project knowing very little about it, but I did it. If you don’t know, ask. Get the gumption, find your voice, speak up and be heard, or give your voice to someone else’s story so they can be heard. Continue asking questions to get the answers needed to move forward, and the empathy to care enough about people to tell their stories.