Community Media Center Clinic with John Biewen of Scene on Radio

The best audio work has a feeling of mastery about it.
As you listen you feel you’re in good hands, just as you do when reading a fine novel or watching an expertly-made movie. Where does this feeling come from, and how do you make stories that have it? John Biewen looks at sure-handedness in structure, writing, and editing—with concrete examples and audience participation.

John Biewen is a longtime journalist and producer, now directing the audio program at the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University and producing/hosting the award-winning podcast, Scene on Radio. Previously, John reported for NPR News, American Public Media, and Minnesota Public Radio. Scene on Radio’s 2017 series exploring the history of white supremacy, Seeing White, and its 2020 series on American democracy, The Land That Never Has Been Yet, were each nominated for a Peabody Award. Biewen is also a two-time winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for outstanding coverage of the disadvantaged. John is co-editor of the book, Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound, published by the University of North Carolina Press.