WLRN Producer Talks Radio Storytelling
Julia Duba, SPJ-FIU’s former marketing director and current WLRN producer, returned to her alma mater Sept. 23 to talk to students about radio storytelling.
Duba spoke to journalism students at the SPJ-FIU meeting about National Public Radio’s (NPR) Miami member station, WLRN. Duba, who was hired after graduation this August, said writing for radio is much more intimate than traditional print.
“You have a challenge of writing only for the ear,” Duba said. “You have one shot at your listener.”
She spoke about grabbing the listener’s attention and using creativity to paint an image over the air. “You have to use your imagination,” Duba said.
Duba explained the idea of “sense of place” in WLRN’s story conception and production. She said there are sense of place topics that are influential to Miami listeners and people of South Florida, like the issues of sea level rise. She also noted that there are sense of place moments, like hearing popular phrases in Spanish such as “Ay dios mio,” which need no translation in South Florida.
“We need to be selective for the stories we pick. The audience comes back for that sense of place,” she said.
“News as a shared experience” is another core value of working at WLRN, according to Duba. Their Public Insight Network, or PIN, works as a reporting tool for getting the community involved in city issues and stories that matter to listeners.
Duba hailed from the first WLRN class held at FIU in Fall 2012. It is a new partnership between the media company and FIU where students can learn the art of radio reporting in the studio, in addition to the courses offered on campus.
From structuring stories to creating archetypes and learning videography, the WLRN program helps students improve writing skills as well as write concise scripts for getting a story across to listeners on the air.
“It’s valuable for any aspect of journalism,” said Duba. “You can make it work. You can do sense of place in any medium; it doesn’t have to be video or radio.”
After taking the class, Duba applied for an internship in the summer with WLRN. Paired up with reporter Kenny Malone, Duba turned a class project from the WLRN class into a three and a half minute story that aired over the summer.
She emphasized that it takes a lot of technical expertise as well as dedication.
“You have to know where to place the mic for good sound,” said Duba, who has worked with audio recording devices, video editing systems and internet media such as websites and social media handles.
Duba now works part-time from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and said, “It’s tough, but you get used to it.”
“And I do freelance work, so I get to write my own feature stories,” said Duba who loves working in radio because of the impact it makes on the city.
“You don’t have to like your voice, by the way,” she said as she recalled hearing her voice on the radio for the first time, burying her face in the palm of her hands.
But Duba is cogent. “You get over it. The listeners don’t care; all that matters is the story. If the story is good, they’ll listen.”
Duba can be reached by email at jduba@miamiherald.com for more information on the FIU-WLRN course.
Listen to WLRN on 91.3 FM, follow on Twitter @WLRN and like WLRN on Facebook.
