Sunday 19 August 2012

Thoughts on Lecture 4

The last lecture was on sound and could only be accessed on Blackboard as an audio file. The whole thirty minute lecture is two interviews with people in field of radio. The first interview is with a man, who as apart of his career, conducts long-form intimate interviews with generally interesting people such as famous sportsmen and politicians. He discusses some of his techniques that he uses to get the most out of an interview, making it more organic and natural, and really have a deep discussion with interviewee. One that he highlights is the power of listening, ensuring that when the interesting person is divulging a meaningful anecdote or some other private information, that he/she is not interrupted. The general rule is that when an interviewee fondly reminiscing, bombarding them with follow-up questions is the worst thing for the situation. Another good point he made, was the beauty of silence in radio and how it can be used for effect. He recounted when his former co-host - unfortunately - frantically talked during a silent moment in an interview because he thought that was ruining it.

The other man of the two interviews is better known for his role in talk-back radio. The only reason I remember his name, Steve Austin, is because it's the same name of the famous "professional" wrestler. He talked about how he tries to discuss important topics of the day on his radio program, with some being more serious than others. Austin made the interesting observation that on his program, the vox populi is more vocal towards more trivial things like the feud between cyclists and motorists rather than big affairs such as the War in Iraq. I found this to be very interesting. The interview also gave me some intriguing insight into the selection process for callers who want to voice their opinions.

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