The Masterclass Podcast

"Every story that you do, you need to talk to people." 

Julia Bergin's journalistic career has taken her as far afield as Japan and the Northern Territory, meaning she's had to work at building up her contact book time and time again. In this episode, she talks about all that goes into finding the right interviewees for a story.

"It's broadening this remit of interviewing from just a Q&A to the groundwork that happens before. And that's not just about writing up questions. That's developing a rapport with your interview subject."

Articles mentioned:

https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/04/24/alice-springs-traditional-owners-launch-patrol/

https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/06/13/dingoes-research-dna

https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/10/13/voice-to-parliament-aec-silenced-alice-springs-indigenous-supervisor/

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“You have to learn by doing, and you will only get better with practice.”

Angus Thomson started with Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet in 2022, and is currently their health reporter. In this episode he explains how he goes about finding news stories, reflecting on his experience as a student at The University of Melbourne and as a professional journalist. He has a key piece of advice for those unsure of where to start in finding a news story.

“Go local. Draw on your networks.”

Articles mentioned:

Two towns separated by a bridge, a border – and $28 million lost to gambling.

Matthew was given a 20-year ban for this. Now he’s fighting to clear his name.

From Port Phillip Bay to the Coral Sea, tracking the travels of the eels.

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In 2018, Silvi Vann-Wall was a journalism student who was chosen as a finalist in a nationwide podcasting competition.  Suddenly she found herself on a stage, pitching her idea to the best podcasters in the world.   Her advice on developing your podcast concept is very simple, "You must be able to describe it in one sentence by the time you're ready to pitch.  Otherwise, keep trying!"   She went on to produce, with Izzie Austin and the Wheeler Centre, the Pill Pop podcast, which she describes as an audio road trip for the chronically ill.

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“The most helpful part of the series arc is dragging people to the next episode,” says ABC’s Matt Bevan, the host of China, If You’re Listening.  That’s the fifth season of his geopolitical pod, for which he’s done both chronological and thematic season arcs.  In this episode of the Masterclass, he shares what he’s learned about shaping narrative arcs across a season for a podcast, including how to tempt your audience to keep listening and how to reward loyal listeners.

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Audience and sustainability are two key factors for Deadset Studio's Executive Producer Rachel Fountain in thinking about what podcasts will work. "When you know who the podcast is for, you can think about what they might be using it for, and tailor your content to that," she says.  Rachel has worked on many popular podcasts at ABC Audio Studios, including Days Like These and Pineapple Project, and here she shares the secrets to turning your ideas into a podcast.

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"It's never finished, but you get closer and closer to 'I'm happy with this'".  Martin Peralta is one of Australia's most sought after sound designers, having worked on ABC podcasts including Trace and Unravel, as well as Gimlet's Science Vs, and many others. In this episode, he outlines his work processes, his secrets for finding the right sound design and how to use music in podcasts.

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"A good piece of work is written once.  A great piece is written five times."  To Elizabeth Kulas, the host of ABC's Days Like These, narrative structure is front of mind in planning and writing every podcast episode.   Formerly the host of 7am, she gives a Masterclass in structuring your episode.

Louisa Lim teaches Audio Journalism and Podcasting at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism.  She has been a journalist for more than two decades, working as a foreign correspondent in China for a decade for the BBC and NPR.  She co-hosts a podcast on China, The Little Red Podcast, which won the Australian Podcast Award's News and Current Affairs prize in 2018.

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In season 2 of The Masterclass, Louisa Lim explores podcasting with some of the world's best podcasters.  In this episode, Marc Fennell, the creator and host of the smash hit podcast Stuff the British Stole, gives a masterclass in how to tell complicated stories in a way that people can understand. 

Louisa Lim teaches Audio Journalism and Podcasting at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism. She has been a journalist for more than two decades, working a foreign correspondent in China for a decade for BBC and NPR.  She co-hosts a podcast on China, The Little Red Podcast, which won the Australian Podcast Award's News and Current Affairs prize in 2018.  Her book, The People’s Republic of Amnesia; Tiananmen Revisited, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Find her on Twitter @limlouisa

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Louisa Lim explores the booming phenomenon of podcasts with investigative journalist Richard Baker and the ABC’s Rachael Brown. What makes this genre so compelling to audiences, and what does it tell us about ourselves and how far can you push the the story telling?

Host details:
Louisa Lim has been a journalist for more than two decades. She was a foreign correspondent in China for a decade for BBC and NPR. She subsequently wrote a book called The People’s Republic of Amnesia; Tiananmen Revisited, which was named anEconomist Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. She co-hosts a podcast on China called The Little Red Podcast with Graeme Smith from the Australian National University. She teaches Audio and Video Journalism at the University of Melbourne.
@limlouisa

Production Team
Buffy Gorrilla is an award-winning audio journalist and a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne’s Master of Journalism programme. Buffy has been a producer at the ABC for
Radio National and ABC Radio Melbourne and is currently working with RN’s Blueprint for Living. She is also host and producer of an podcast for the University of Melbourne called Starting Somewhere.

Ruby Schwartz is a Research Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. She provides research support for books, essays, op-eds and speeches, and co- produces the Vice-Chancellor’s public policy podcast, The Policy Shop. Ruby has co-hosted a weekly intersectional feminist news and current affairs show on 3CR, produces audio stories for FBI Radio’s All The Best and written articles for the Sydney Morning Herald. She was an editorial assistant at The Saturday Paper and wrote a thesis on gendered cyber harassment.

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Louisa Lim moderated a lively discussion between Natasha Mitchell, host of the ABC's Science Friction and Robert Smith from Planet Money on NPR. They tackled topics such as their individual approaches to a story, how podcasts are pushing the boundaries of narrative story telling and how much of yourself should you insert into a story?

Host details:
Louisa Lim has been a journalist for more than two decades. She was a foreign correspondent in China for a decade for BBC and NPR. She subsequently wrote a book called The People’s Republic of Amnesia; Tiananmen Revisited, which was named an Economist Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. She co-hosts a podcast on China called The Little Red Podcast with Graeme Smith from the Australian National University. She teaches Audio and Video Journalism at the University of Melbourne.
@limlouisa

Production Team
Buffy Gorrilla is an award-winning audio journalist and a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne’s Master of Journalism programme. Buffy has been a producer at the ABC for
Radio National and ABC Radio Melbourne and is currently working with RN’s Blueprint for Living. She is also host and producer of an podcast for the University of Melbourne called Starting Somewhere.

Ruby Schwartz is a Research Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. She provides research support for books, essays, op-eds and speeches, and co- produces the Vice-Chancellor’s public policy podcast, The Policy Shop. Ruby has co-hosted a weekly intersectional feminist news and current affairs show on 3CR, produces audio stories for FBI Radio’s All The Best and written articles for the Sydney Morning Herald. She was an editorial assistant at The Saturday Paper and wrote a thesis on gendered cyber harassment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.