Immediately after reading the excerpt from Listening Is An Act of Love, I went to storycorps.org and spent my Saturday evening listening to emotional and inspirational stories that people shared with the public. I enjoyed reading the history on Storycorp and how David Isay found his love of radio. He was able to take memories from his childhood and use it to create something big and phenomenal. Isay talked about searching for the audio tapes that he recorded of his grandparents and remembering how he wished he had them. He created an outlet for anyone to generate their own memories and have it archived and shared.
Sound is especially powerful in telling a story. If you think about how history was passed on before technology, before widespread literacy, it was told orally to generation after generation. A voice can carry a colorful tone and wide range of emotions and feelings and it can effect the listeners in different ways.
I think Storycorps.org is invaluable to American culture. It takes a different approach in preserving history. Like Isay says, non-celebrities, people like me, should have a chance to tell their stories. As a journalist, I aim to tell the stories of under-reported communities and using audio as a medium is something I would I intend to do. This may sound cheesy but I want to literally give a voice to the community. Isay was able to provide a voice to ordinary people and archive it in the Library of Congress forever for future generations to access.
As I was driving to work this afternoon, a piece from Storycorps was featured on NPR as part of the 9/11 Commemorative. A woman was describing her ex-husband’s last moments before he died because his building was hit. When she said that he called to let her know that he’s always loved her, her voice was breaking up and she started crying. It really effected me. It’s amazing that her voice travelling on radio waves was able to reach me in Austin,Texas.
This is her story: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/11/140378332/obama-visits-shanksville
Sound is especially powerful in telling a story. If you think about how history was passed on before technology, before widespread literacy, it was told orally to generation after generation. A voice can carry a colorful tone and wide range of emotions and feelings and it can effect the listeners in different ways.
I think Storycorps.org is invaluable to American culture. It takes a different approach in preserving history. Like Isay says, non-celebrities, people like me, should have a chance to tell their stories. As a journalist, I aim to tell the stories of under-reported communities and using audio as a medium is something I would I intend to do. This may sound cheesy but I want to literally give a voice to the community. Isay was able to provide a voice to ordinary people and archive it in the Library of Congress forever for future generations to access.
As I was driving to work this afternoon, a piece from Storycorps was featured on NPR as part of the 9/11 Commemorative. A woman was describing her ex-husband’s last moments before he died because his building was hit. When she said that he called to let her know that he’s always loved her, her voice was breaking up and she started crying. It really effected me. It’s amazing that her voice travelling on radio waves was able to reach me in Austin,Texas.
This is her story: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/11/140378332/obama-visits-shanksville
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