Room With a View – Radio Show on Triple R
On Tuesday 25th April we – Kyla, Miya, Oliver & Oliver – presented our installment of Triple R and RMIT University’s collaborative radio show ‘Room With a View’. Covering topics such as the creation of identity within Melbourne’s international student community, the avenues available for extracurricular learning opportunities for adults and children alike in the city, and the ethics and significance of animal adoption and protection, the show was an enjoyable and challenging experience. Featuring interviews with Noah Tan, Maria Yebra of Laneway Learning, and Megan Seccull of the Australian Animal Protection Society, as well as songs from local Australian artists, the show was both an informative and fun hour of discussion and music designed for community radio.
The process of creating and organising the on-air show was multi-faceted, and required an enhanced focus on the collaborative aspect of media creation and journalism. We explored a broad variety of community issues to find suitable topics to cover and interviewees to approach, however it also came with many challenges. Trying to fit learning radio etiquette, broadcast talk, and the studio technology provided difficulty when combined with scheduling issues with group members. The demo show thankfully provided a strong yardstick for assessing the direction and competency of our show, and we adjusted certain elements of our work to better fit our strengths. Ultimately we are proud of our creation, and the strength and breadth of work that was passionately put into it.
This radio show was broadcast on Triple R FM on 25th April 2023 with all the necessary copyright/music rights clearances. You can find the show on the Triple R website here: https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/room-with-a-view/episodes/24645-room-with-a-view-25-april-2023
Radio Feature Package
Frogspotting Melbourne is a radio feature package we – Miya, Oliver & Oliver – created after many weeks of extensive and passionate research and personal involvement in frogspotting communities, and at events. Centered around the scientific and conservationist efforts of maintaining and preserving the city’s frog populations, the feature evolved over the course of its creation, shifting from a piece focused on Melbourne Water and its Frog Census, to instead a piece that merged the essence of community in these efforts with the experience of a frogspotting expedition. Featuring multiple interviews from both frog enthusiasts and ecological experts, we aimed to experiment with soundscapes, collages, natural and active sounds, and to tell a synthesised narrative of both factual information and personal experience.
The greatest challenge was organising talent and fitting them into a packed schedule, or even in receiving positive responses back from our enquiries. Both the in-class pitch and the rough cut exhibition provided opportunities for us to creatively evolve as we worked on the project, utilising the strength of some of the material in narrative and sonic ways that we hadn’t previously strongly considered. This was overall a rewarding challenge across all facets of media and journalistic creation, one that taught us many things about the topic, the creative process, and ourselves. Special thanks to David De Angelis.
Frogspotting Melbourne
It’s a dark, chilly night deep in the heart of Melbourne’s suburbs, down amongst the weeds and wetlands of the Yarra, and we’re here with a single focused purpose: to hunt for frogs.
Hunt in the scientific context, of course. Melbourne is home to a variety of frog species and ecosystems, all which present their own challenge for scientists and conservationists. Out of the fight for protection and conservation, a unique frogspotting community has emerged in the city made up of volunteers, environmentalists, enthusiasts and experts. This piece explores the relationship that Melbourne has with its amphibious fauna, the people who have dedicated a portion of their lives in service to this ecological cause, and to the distinctive experience of frogspotting itself.