Final Thoughts

Hello everyone.

Well, we have made it to the end of the course. All of our podcast recordings and transcripts have been submitted. I have to say, based on the few podcasts that I have listened to that were posted in the tutorial blog, that they were all a great success. Personally, I am pretty pleased with the finished product of my podcast, considering the fact that prior to this I had no experience with the Audacity Program or podcast recording in general. If it were not for the assistance of a classmate during this project, I am fairly certain my podcast would have been an unmitigated disaster. One aspect of the podcast that I am not happy about is the fact that I had to cut out some of the material due to the time constraints that were imposed.

With that being said, there are quite a few alterations and changes I would have liked to have made if I had more time. I would have preferred to implement more sound effects during my podcast, as this would have heightened the overall listener experience. I also would have liked to have conducted a few more ‘takes’ to ensure that the tone and pitch of my audio were flawless. There were a few parts during which my caller in the podcast struggled with a couple of words and said it twice over. I would have desired to re-record those parts in particular. If time were not a factor, I would have much preferred to have rented studio-quality microphones. This would have improved the overall sound of the podcast.

            To be wary and distinguish between credible and not-credible sources, as well as good and bad sources, during the research process, are crucial pieces of advice that I would give to any student just commencing this course. If a student does not have legitimate sources, this weakens the overall veracity of the podcast. I would also advise any student to view some YouTube tutorial lessons as well as reading an online manual on the overall production features of Audacity before attempting the podcast assignment. Students should familiarize themselves prior to using the program for the podcast assignment.

 All things considered, this course has been extremely helpful, as it has broadened my skills in terms of researching and creating a podcast through which I can enhance and add to my Professional Writing portfolio.

It has been a great ride and a whole lot of fun!

"Freedom Lost: What Price Must We Pay For Security?" Podcast

Podcast Edited Final by user898570307

Structure

       

My podcast episode entitled, “Freedom Lost: What Price Must We Pay For Security?” follows the ‘All Things Considered’ (ATC) structure. In the opening scene of my podcast, I implement a song by the band 'Rare Earth' entitled, “Hey Big Brother.” I chose this song in particular, as it is consistent with the themes of my podcast, which are: security, surveillance, and privacy. After the song fades out, I begin speaking and introduce the podcast episode and address the listeners. Subsequent to that, I bring in a caller who then poses a question to myself (the reporter/host). Following that initial discussion, we engage in a brief conversation about her question. All of this comprises the straight-line portion of the ATC structure.

            After the preliminary remarks are made, I begin to answer and analyze the caller’s question. This can be considered ‘the trough’ segment of the podcast, wherein I consult with secondary sources such as newspaper and academic articles, as well as an interview from one of my political science professors (to get an academic’s opinion on the issue). During ‘the trough’, I may include an anecdote where I personally felt like my privacy rights were being violated. In this section, I will discuss why such surveillance methods are deemed necessary and justifiable? What gives the government the right to spy on citizens for no apparent reason? In ‘the trough’ section, I report which sources I interviewed on the subject of my podcast.

            The structure of my podcast is quite similar to the Freakonomics episode entitled, What’s the “Best Exercise?”  In the Freakonomics podcast episode, they introduce a caller named Jasmine, and she poses a question related to fitness. Dubner responds by referencing an expert in the field, David Meltzer (a doctor and an economist). At the end of the Freakonomics podcast episode, they return to Jasmine and she thanks them for their assistance and insight into the subject matter. Similarly, at the conclusion of my podcast, I return to my caller and express to her that I hope I was helpful in my analysis of the subject. The part where I return to my caller and address her would constitute as the ‘final line.’  

In terms of the number of citations in the podcast episode 102 "Icon for Access" of 99% Invisible, I counted 21. 

             

            

    

            

Search Strategies

Hello everyone,

It has been a couple of weeks since we have had to make a blog post. Time to get back into the swing of things!

I have been in University for a few years now, and I have utilized both Google Scholar and Library Databases. They are both very useful and beneficial types of technological resources. However, I personally prefer the various databases the University has to offer. The University E-Resources provide the student with a much greater variety and stronger choice of academic literature. When search results appear within the database, it provides you with many different academic journals. As a researcher, you have a greater number of sources with databases than Google Scholar.

            The scholarly journals that can be obtained through library databases are much more detailed than the articles found in Google Scholar. A noticeable difference between the Library Databases and Google Scholar is that some scholarly articles gathered through Google Scholar require payment in order to view the document. Another discernable feature of Google Scholar is that it does not allow you to conduct a Boolean logic search to narrow and categorize your topic. Library Databases allow you to formulate a specific search that, in turn, leads to a greater likelihood of a student finding research aligned with his/her particular topic.

            It can be beneficial to use both the Library Databases and Google Scholar. Sometimes when researching, articles found within Library Databases cannot be accessed. Therefore, by default, I would go to Google Scholar and find the source that I could not access through the Library Databases. Another example whereby I would consult with Google Scholar is when I collect a source from a Library Database, but cannot access the document in its entirety. In addition, I would use Google Scholar in combination with Library Databases to find quality popular sources about the topic I was researching.

            In future assignments that require extensive research, I would rely on Library Databases such as JSTOR or ProQuest as they are free to access through the University website, contains peer-reviewed scholarly articles and access to all of the major academic journals in circulation.

           

           

Digging Deeper

Hello everyone,

So the rigorous research process continues. Prior to beginning my research, I created an outline of questions I must answer in order for this podcast to be successful. After our most recent lecture, the concept of ‘knowns’ and ‘unkowns’ is making me take a whole new approach in terms of research.

            So far, I have found two scholarly articles from the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts section of the Security Studies Database. I was successful in finding information pertaining to the NSA, its history, and its methods of surveillance.

Scholarly Sources (so far)

Wong, Katherine. “The NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program.” Harvard Journal on Legislation 43.2 (2006): 517-534. Print.

Grundel, Olaf. “NSA. Anatomy of the Most Powerful Intelligence Service in the World.” WeltTrends. 51.1 (2006): 161-164. Print.

What I am looking for in my scholarly sources is documented cases and detailed accounts as to how the NSA’s surveillance tactics infringe on the privacy of an individual. I will be examining sources found in the Information Technology and Political Science databases as well, to examine the technological and political implications of such surveillance methods.

These are the popular sources I have gathered thus far:   

Cornwell, Rupert. “Edward Snowden is a modern American hero.” The Independent. 10 June 2013: A2. Print.

Runciman, David. “The Snowden Files by Luke Harding-review.” The Guardian. 13 February 2014: G4. Print.

I will be looking for more popular articles on US National Security and National Defence. I may study NPR’s political podcast entitled, “Intelligence Squared.” This podcast examines all global political controversies making news today. I will continue to find more articles from The Guardian, as they have an entire section dedicated to Edward Snowden.

Reading week is about to begin. Time to get some serious research done!

Topic Refinement

Personally, I felt the podcast pitch exercise was extremely helpful. It allowed me to narrow my topic down to the core questions I will need to research and answer. The main premise of my podcast is examining the hidden social costs of individuals losing their privacy (in reference to the NSA and Edward Snowden situation).

Time is of the essence, which is why pitches are valuable and helpful. ‘The pitch’ is a useful pre-writing exercise as it allows you to compare and contrast what information is more significant than others. ‘The pitch’ enables you to provide listeners of the podcast with the salient arguments that will be discussed in your actual audio recording of the podcast. It provides a writer with a sense of direction and structure. The best way to conduct your pitch is similar to the idea of an ‘elevator pitch’. A writer should go about their pitch as if they were in an elevator with a publisher and they only have twenty-seconds to pitch their idea.  

In my podcast, I will also discuss whether citizens of countries such as the United States, Canada, England, France and Russia are really gaining a sense of security with these types of surveillance methods.

I am excited to see how this process will unfold.  

Pitching

Given that my podcast pitch is coming up very soon, I have collected four reliable sources from the web that will prove to be of integral assistance in the development of my podcast pitch. The four sources I have read and will be consulting with during the process of creating my pitch are: Pitching and Presenting: Learn How to Pitch Your Ideas from the Cambridge University Press, How to Pitch a Podcast from the San Francisco Book Review, How to pitch your idea so that you get funding from philmckinney.com, and a podcast episode entitled Million Dollar Idea by Ira Glass.

Pitching and Presenting: Learn How to Pitch Your Ideas. (2008). The Cambridge University Press. Retrieved January 25, 2014 from (http://www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk/resources/multimedia/pitching.html)

This presentation is a reliable source as it was approved by the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School in order to allow for its publication.  Alex van Someren, co-author of this documented presentation, was a technology investor at the University of Cambridge and a Manager Partner at a venture capital firm called ‘Amadeus Capital Partners’.  Adrian Critchlow, the other author of this presentation, was also a technology investor at the University of Cambridge. According to his Linkedin profile, he invested in 12 early stage technology and clean-tech companies. He was also the founder and CEO of Iota Software Ltd, which created educational software used in over 50% of all UK schools (Linkedin). These slides of their presentation were of significant help and assistance to me. I will use this as an aid in terms of planning how to deliver my pitch. Critchlow and van Someren say that one must present a pitch with enthusiasm and displaying logical progression. They recommend the use of images and other visual aids in one’s presentation. Critchlow and van Someren advise presenters to create handouts with detailed particulars and information on it, not just the salient arguments. They also recommend that presenters never look at the screen and always look at the audience.

How to Pitch a Podcast. (2013). Stephanie Barko: San Francisco Book Review. Retrieved January 25, 2014 from (http://sanfranciscobookreview.com/2013/02/how-to-pitch-a-podcast/)

This article by Stephanie Barko is a credible source as she has been a literary publicist for almost eight years. She has been involved in pitching historical novelists and nonfiction authors since 2006. Barko also received a BBA in marketing from the University of Texas (Austin) in 1993. Despite the fact that Barko’s article is about an email pitch, there are some very helpful pieces of advice that can be utilized and applied to the presentation of a pitch idea. She states that specificity and clarity of your topic idea is fundamental so that the audience will get a clear understanding of your subject. Barko says that a unique title can help with gaining the interest of the audience.  She recommends that it is best to choose a subject that is relatable and relevant to the audience, as this will create a more intimate and personable presentation. Barko also advises presenters to connect their pitch to contemporary events covered throughout the various media outlets. This allows the audience to easily identify with the topic and creates a much more engaging discussion. Lastly, she says that the presenter must peak the interest of the audience, by acting similar to a sales representative. In essence, one must promote his or her  self.

How to pitch your idea so that you get funding. (2011). PhilMcKinney.com Retrieved January 25, 2014 from (http://philmckinney.com/archives/2011/03/how-to-pitch-your-idea-for-funding.html)

‘How to pitch your idea so that you get funding’ is a reliable and reputable article. The author, Phil McKinney, is the President and CEO of ‘Cablelabs’. ‘Cablelabs’ is a not-for-profit research and development company. McKinney was the vice-president and chief technology for Hewlett Packard’s Person Systems Group. He is also a published author with his best-known work being Beyond the Obvious. In his article, he urges people delivering a pitch to sell the cause of the idea. He describes that your pitch idea must grab people’s attention and make them stop what they are doing. He says that the presenter of a pitch should want to instill a sense of desire in the audience, by them wanting more and more information.

Million Dollar Idea. (2010). This American Life. Retrieved January 25, 2014 from (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/412/transcript )

Million Dollar Idea is a podcast episode on the public radio show entitled, This American Life. This podcast is a credible source, which is produced by the Chicago Public Media.  The creators of This American Life adapted their show into a television format, and it won three Emmys. Over a million people download this podcast weekly. In the episode called Million Dollar Idea, Ira Glass discusses this concept of the ‘elevator pitch’. He delineates this hypothetical situation that if an individual ran into a wealthy investor in an elevator, and he only had sixty seconds to deliver his pitch, what would he say. This is where the term ‘elevator pitch’ comes from. This concept will be helpful as I only have four minutes to deliver my pitch and I will have to outline the most important ideas and features of my podcast. It teaches a presenter how to operate efficiently under time constraints. Ira Glass advises the listener that when delivering an elevator pitch, one must be very straightforward and put the dialogue in layman’s terms.

 I will make reference to all these sources in preparation for my podcast pitch, as they all offer valuable information and advice.

Topic Selection

Daniel Calabretta

Student# 211059219

W14

Topic Selection

I have chosen to recreate a Freakonomics podcast, as it critically analyzes topics the most efficiently as opposed to the other podcasts available. Freakonomics looks at and analyzes various types of subject matter in a unique manner. Freakonomics offers more variety and diversity in comparison to the other podcasts. For example, ‘Grammar Girl’ focuses strictly on writing and grammatical elements whereas ‘Spark’ directs its attention to technological innovations and how they work. Being a political science minor, I am intrigued by Freakonomics, given the many political issues it covers. For example, in the latest podcast section of the website, Freakonomics discussed the contentious issue of whether or not to legalize drugs in more US states, in light of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. 

            For my podcast, I will attempt to emulate the style and the topics that are similar to those found in Freakonomics. For instance, Freakonomics recently published a podcast entitled ‘Fear Thy Nature’. Stephen Dubner, journalist and author, examines this play (where the audience participates), called ‘Sleep No More’, by applying a social scientific approach used by Philip Zimbardo in his Stanford Prison experiment. I find it intriguing and, indeed fascinating, to see the application of a credible and academic method to a case study. I would like to mimic this podcast in particular, as it interviews an expert in the area of discussion and then receives feedback from non-experts who attended the interactive-play. The one element that I will try to imitate is examining a topic through the lens of a particular discipline of study. Similar to Freakonomics, I will also input archival audio in my podcast and play segments of individuals I have interviewed.

            I will be creating a podcast on the topic of the incumbent Harper government as to the manner in which it has attempted to undermine and, in large measure, effectively discourage the work of independent and peer-reviewed scientific work conducted by scientists employed within the federal civil service because there findings and research do not always accord with the political and policy agenda of the Harper government. The deleterious environmental impacts and substantial carbon footprint caused by tar sands’ extraction and development in Western Canada are issues that these scientists have analyzed thoroughly, but whose findings and recommendations have not resonated appealingly to the Harper government. The dichotomy in respect to this issue is that science is based primarily on fact whereas politics are largely based on “spin”. In terms of interviews for the podcast, I may consult with Jessica Vaisica who is a research officer in the Faculty of Science at York, along with students in my class in an attempt to get multiple and varied perspectives on this issue. I will be analyzing the political, societal and economic ramifications of the discontinuance of federal research centers and the implications and consequences that this political agenda can have to the scientific community in particular and to all Canadians in general. 

Introduction and a little about me

Hello everyone.

            My name is Daniel Calabretta. I am a second year professional writing major and political science minor. I am looking to get into the periodical stream come next year with the prospects of getting into a career in journalism. I am currently writing for Excalibur in the News Department and looking to start up a blog of my own very soon.               

What do you want to learn about research? 

I would like to know what categorizes as good research versus mediocre research, and how to represent both or all sides of a debate without giving unnecessary credibility to the uninformed and misguided side.  I would also want to know what is the most effective and productive way to conduct research and to ensure that all credible sources are supported by factual evidence and/or have been peer reviewed.

What subjects/fields/disciplines are you interested in studying? 

The subjects that I am interested in exploring are sports, politics, and science. For sports related topics, I would examine the controversial issues such as player burnout, concussions, the use of performance enhancing substances and, lastly, why we glorify athletes but ignore them when they are injured or when their careers have ended. For topics related to politics, I am interested in discussions about the allocation of funding from every level of the government for projects that may go against their party platform, but which is still necessary for democracy to be carried out or to achieve societal objectives. I am also intrigued by the manner in which politics plays a role in the decision of allowing particular advertising to be aired or posted on billboards and buses as well as the extent of the government’s responsibility for the safety of the population and how much privacy they are allowed to interfere with or have intercepted. For science-related topics, I would be interested in exploring the reasons as to why science-education and promotion have taken a back-seat to business, sports and entertainment when technology, which all these fields rely on, is created through science. Why is there not more recognition and appreciation of scientists in Canada? What have the results of a school system been that predominantly emphasizes language and the arts, but not scientific knowledge? How can governments threaten scientists with losing their funding just because their research shows flaws or oversights that need to be addressed but which may not be politically attractive to those who are governing?

Have you ever used information management software like RefWorks or Zotero? 

No, I have not used information management software such as RefWorks or Zotero. I have used traditional on-line search engine vehicles available in databases such as JStor, Ebsco, and ProQuest. These databases serve as instrumental and highly useful resources for academic papers.

           

Everyone has research experience. Reflect on some of the information you seek for school, work, a hobby, or in social contexts. 

I research all the time. From the mundane searches, such as researching directions from Google maps, to a restaurant, theater event, or buying vacations online, I have also used research to explore new hobbies, how to play specific chords of a song, set-up instructional videos, cooking, and troubleshooting for my computer.

Do you have any experience with radio or podcasting? Are you feeling intimidated by and/or excited about the task of creating a short podcast episode? 

While I do not have experience with radio or podcasting, I am concerned about how to maintain my tone and heighten the interest of the listener for the duration of the podcast. I am going to listen to different podcasts to learn how to present the content in a way that covers a wide-range of topics but that does not confuse the reader.

Review the list of podcast shows and topics. Which podcast shows and topics are you considering for the course project? Explain why. 

            There are two podcasts on the list that I find compelling. I will be looking to emulate one of the two. On the Media as well as Freakonomics are the ones I have narrowed it down to:

On the media- This particular podcast really intrigues me as the media has such a significant influence in our lives.  Moreover, also knowing how people’s views and political beliefs are portrayed in the media is quite appealing. As an individual who is looking to pursue a career in journalism, I find this podcast interesting as it discusses the ethics of journalism and what is and is not fair.

           

Freakonimics- I am extremely interested in the economics of life from the perspective of individual decisions to group decisions made by societies or governments. This podcast is engaging as it activates the skeptic in all of us and allows the individual to critically analyze controversial topics relating to a vast array of topics.