From an NPR veteran, a “comprehensive and lucid” guide to “the values and practices that yield stellar audio journalism” (Booklist). Maybe you’re thinking about starting a podcast, and want some tips from the pros. Or perhaps storytelling has always been a passion of yours, and you want to learn to do it more effectively. Whatever the case—whether you’re an avid NPR listener or you aspire to create your own audio, or both—Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production will give you a rare tour of the world of a professional broadcaster. Jonathan Kern, a former executive producer of All Things Considered who has trained NPR’s on-air staff for years, is a gifted guide, able to narrate a day in the life of a host and lay out the nuts and bolts of production with both wit and warmth. Along the way, he explains the importance of writing the way you speak, reveals how NPR books guests ranging from world leaders to neighborhood newsmakers, and gives sage advice on everything from proposing stories to editors to maintaining balance and objectivity. Best of all—because NPR wouldn’t be NPR without its array of distinctive voices—lively examples from popular shows and colorful anecdotes from favorite personalities animate each chapter. As public radio’s audience of millions can attest, NPR’s unique guiding principles and technical expertise combine to connect with listeners like no other medium can. With today’s technologies allowing more people to turn their home computers into broadcast studios, Sound Reporting is a valuable guide that reveals the secrets behind NPR’s success.

[The book] is a window into the world of National Public Radio. These pages will guide you through the basics of broadcast journalism, introduce you to the technology and equipment, and initiate you into the art of creating exciting radio. -Back cover [The book] contains practical tips, personal insights, and fundamental policies that underpin this unique brand of American broadcasting. -Pref.

Over the last few decades, the radio documentary has developed into a strikingly vibrant form of creative expression. Millions of listeners hear arresting, intimate storytelling from an ever-widening array of producers on programs including This American Life, StoryCorps, and Radio Lab; online through such sites as Transom, the Public Radio Exchange, Hearing Voices, and Soundprint; and through a growing collection of podcasts. Reality Radio celebrates today's best audio documentary work by bringing together some of the most influential and innovative practitioners from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In these nineteen essays, documentary artists tell--and demonstrate, through stories and transcripts--how they make radio the way they do, and why. Whether the contributors to the volume call themselves journalists, storytellers, even audio artists--and although their essays are just as diverse in content and approach--all use sound to tell true stories, artfully. Contributors: Jad Abumrad Jay Allison damali ayo John Biewen Emily Botein Chris Brookes Scott Carrier Katie Davis Sherre DeLys Lena Eckert-Erdheim Ira Glass Alan Hall Natalie Kestecher The Kitchen Sisters Maria Martin Karen Michel Rick Moody Joe Richman Dmae Roberts Stephen Smith Sandy Tolan

Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.

With the collapse of Enron and other similar scandals, financial reporting and its relation to corporate governance has become a contentious issue. In this revealing book, author Paul Rosenfield involves the reader in exploring contemporary financial reporting and skilfully highlights the deficiencies in current methods. In doing so it provides a user-oriented guide to the salient issues which affect all aspects of financial accounting. Contemporary Issues in Financial Reporting challenges the reader to critically think through the issues and arguments involved in the practice of financial reporting. It goes to the heart of the most difficult and controversial problems, investigating the major issues and commenting upon the solutions offered in financial reporting literature. The grave defects in current accepted accounting principles are demonstrated and exposed, and alternative solutions are offered. Written by a former Secretary General of the International Accounting Standards Committee, practitioners and accounting scholars alike will find this volume to be an essential addition to their libraries.

"I was tasked with designing the communication system for Brad Pitt's spacesuit in "Ad Astra". A Sound Mixer told me to sweep the gravel of Western Town for a walk-and-talk dolly shot between two cowboys because it made too much noise under their boots. Another Mixer asked me to walk up 78 stairs to the top of a stage at night to find a cricket that was chirping - and then spray him with hairspray so his legs would stick together and not chirp. When I was booming a scene of an actress milking a cow, the cow peed on camera - and me! And I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything, because I love making movies!" Patrushkha Mierzwa, authorThis book illustrates the job of The Utility Sound Technician (UST), a career almost invisible, yet extremely interesting and exciting - and paying a high five figures a year. Ms. Mierzwa's book creates a process that has heretofore been non-existent, relying upon on-the-job training. The book identifies traits and characteristics of successful USTs and details the myriad responsibilities in pre-production and production. Special features include standardized forms and addressing scene elements that could take a lifetime to experience and learn from. Ms. Mierzwa takes you from the first work call to the final wrap, explaining the order of the work and the details that experience can provide, so you don't make mistakes that can sabotage your career before it's even started. More than the tasks and importance of preparation, you'll learn about the social dynamics of a set and why you can know a lot about film but not be able to sustain a career.Target market: Film school students or graduates, people considering sound as a career in movies & television, any working professionals who are curious about how to get better at their jobs, people who enjoy an inside look at the practical business of movie-making.