Friday, April 1, 2016

Multimedia in Serial Podcast

Questions for class...


What are the posts about?
For season 2, episode 5, there were three extra multimedia posts, one that was the artwork, another that was a video, and the third was an audio extra. The video was the father of Bowe Bergdahl's father talking to the Pakistani Military, who captured his son.

Who posts here?
I don't know specifically who posts there, it doesn't say, but I'm assuming that it would be the creators of serial adding supplemental content.
How do they add the audio podcast?
They don't directly add to the audio, but provide supplemental material. The extra audio was just a bit more of audio interview that they didn't seem to fit into the episode. The video was something that was an insight into the situation that was happening with Bowe's family, specifically his father addressing the Pakistani Military. The art is just what shows up in the background.
What materials are found here?
Video, extra audio and art.

What types of related media are included?
A video, an audio recording interview, and animated artwork.
What information do they add to the podcast?
The supplement the story, by providing the video which shows insight into Bergdahl's family, specifically his father and how he and the family have been dealing with the crisis of his sons capture.
What are the sources?
A YouTube Video from Robert Bergdahl's YouTube channel, an audio file uploaded, presumably by the creators of Serial, and art provided by Serial.
What types of material can be found through the sources?
As stated above, the video and audio information that supplements the main podcast.

What do others say about Serial's approach to journalism?
Some websites that claim there is questionable journalistic practices (such as http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2014/11/20/3595208/the-ethics-of-serial/) all seem to reference season 1, talking about how the problems could arise that they were still researching and investigating the story, yet broadcasting parts of the story before. It'll greatly change how people react in future interviews (Jessica Goldstein talks about this in Part Two).
In relations to season 2, there was a summary by Kenna Griffin, describing the two sides of Serial and the journalism practices:
"Proponents of Serial say it’s proof that good journalism can still captivate online audiences, even for long stretches of time. Opponents say Koenig editorialized too much, was overly involved in the story and used journalistic tools to disrupt people’s lives for entertainment."
She even stated herself that, while she was in favor of the approach Serial takes, "There were times when I was listening to Serial that I was surprised Koenig was inserting so much of her own opinion." And although she feels that the journalism was separate from opinion, it seems that it isn't something everyone would be able to discern. Where is the line between entertainment and journalism in a multimedia form? That seems to be the area of great discussion revolving around Serial. It appears that in season 2, the personal insertion into the story has been lessened. According to Neil Verma, "We hear little about her own thinking, opinions, epistemological struggles ... In the Season 1 launch [Koenig] uses the object pronoun form “me” 14 times to refer to herself. In the launch of Season 2 she only uses it four times." This shows that Serial is pushing new grounds, and while there is criticism, the podcast isn't blind to it. As Koenig learns and grows in the multimedia journalistic venue, the message, too, adapts and becomes more journalistic in nature, responding to the criticism and comment, but still maintaining the integrity of the show.

Reflection:
For mine, I think avoiding assertion of my own opinion without having it directly tie into a statement is important. As well, it makes me want to try a narrative podcast, but use my narration not to create the story but to weave interviews together. I don't want to say what my own thought is on the matter, but instead want to use my narration to connect comments others have on things and tie them together to create a more cohesive story as opposed to in written form, it shows up as a lot of quotes and it becomes a bit difficult to follow the flow of the story.

No comments:

Post a Comment