By Malika-Budur Kalila

The Next Generation Radio program got my attention as soon as I heard about it – even though I had no idea what the word “non-narrated” meant. And the dates of the program gave me mixed feelings. I was excited to know that I had no classes the week of the project; however, it was the only off-week I had between spring and summer semesters. Since I’ve always wanted to improve my storytelling using multimedia tools, I decided to apply and learn some tips.

I’ve worked on multimedia projects before, but Next Generation Radio was something else! I still can’t believe that I completed so much work in only five days. I am now amazed to realize how much one can do with sound.

I can surely say, the strongest part of this program is its mentors, who are very helpful and professional. The instant feedback I received from the mentors during the interview helped me ask strong questions and collect better ambient sounds, as well as capture the most interesting images. In short, they kept me on the right track! I am so happy that I got selected for the program and can easily say I would sacrifice any “breaks” for projects held by Next Generation Radio. Thank you for teaching me what non-narrated means (in addition to countless other skills)!

Published by Malika-Budur Kalila

Malika-Budur Kalila is a broadcast and digital journalism graduate student at Newhouse School of Public Communications. Malika, who is from Kazakhstan, studied Economics and Management in Turkey for three years and earned her BA in Communication from Niagara University. As a graduate student, she interned at NPR affiliate WAER and traveled to Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as a member of two different investigative reporting teams. She is fluent in English, Russian, Kazakh and Turkish. Malika is interested in international reporting and covering human rights issues. In her free time, she enjoys exploring different cultures and learning foreign languages.