Sound images from the Czech Republic and the world. The News Report category took the audience to war zones, Portugal and České Budějovice
The second listening day offered a wide range of reports of various topics and backgrounds in the main competition programme. Personal testimonies of the war in Ukraine predominated.
The category was moderated by Czech Radio News Editor Pavlína Nečásková, who warmly welcomed and introduced the expert jury of Marianne Allweiss, Jeremy Bransten, Jolyon Naegele, Emily Thompson and David Vaughan. The student jury consisted of Magdaléna Marie Franková and Kristýna Motyčáková.
A total of six reports were devoted to the dominant theme of Ukraine. The first was Help to Vuhledar under Fire, depicting humanitarian aid on the front line. The jury evaluated it positively: "Perfect reportage as always," commented Emily Thomson. She pointed out the journalistic skill of Martin Dorazín in portraying the event without unnecessarily long descriptions. Ukrainian Women and Doctors on Childbirth in War: Life Always Wins by the Latvian journalist Ieva Balsiunaite received a similar feedback. The news report discussed Ukrainian women giving birth in constant danger in bunkers or cellars. The topic and its treatment were interesting. The atmosphere was heightened by the sound of children screaming.
According to the jury some reports lacked more interviewee voices or key context to support authenticity. This was the case in Europa Journal's Ukraine - Radio Experiences Rebirth in a Time of War by Daniela Prugger, which describes the cooperation of radio stations during the start of the war in Ukraine. Or Europa Journal: Russia - Free Media Can only Be Found Abroad by Markus Mueller-Schinwald on the flight of Russian journalists from the country due to the closure of critical TV stations and newspapers.
Report by Indra Sprance The Organization "Save Ukraine" Is Helping People Evacuate from Ukraine, describes the evacuation of citizens. Kharkiv Is Experiencing Heavy Attacks by the Russian Army reports on air strikes and civilian deaths. For these two pieces, the student jury praised the authors´ spontaneous approach, which made the reports feel alive.
"A clear message in two minutes," Naegele responded to Dmytro Grebinnyk's piece “There is sorrow in every house now" - in Groza People are Preparing for a Mass Burial. This report brings the fate of Valery Kozyr, who lost his entire family and half of his neighbours. The jury appreciated the short emotional statements that managed to deeply affect all the members of the jury and subsequently declared it one of the strongest reports on Ukraine.
The war zone theme was also part of the report “Help me! I'm a child, I'm being shot." Hind's Last Phone Call from Gaza by Azzurra Meringolo. The jury criticized this piece for its overly expressive music, which distorts the listeners´ emotions.
Other entries in the category included a report by Antoni Rokicki called Letters. It tells the story of a boy fascinated by the history of the Warsaw Uprising. As Far As Impossible by Portuguese author Mário Rui Cordoso reports on a play and was praised by the jury for its unusual choice of subject.
News report by Jan Kaliba Let Us Across the Rio Grande! gives an interesting insight into the refugee camp and the lives of its inhabitants who have arrived here from the American South. The judges praised the large amount of space devoted to the interviewees, ensuring that Kaliba provided a stronger relationship between the listener and the interviewees of the report.
Carnation Revolution: Spain Eyes on Portugal by Miguel Soares explains the relationship between the Portuguese and Spaniards after the 1974 revolution and it surprised the judges with well-chosen comments that adhered to the historical context and allowed the listener to understand the topic in depth.
Two reports from the Czech environment also competed for the victory. The first of these was created by Czech Radio journalist Veronika Hlaváčová, was Babybox stories – Johanna, talking to a baby girl who was put in a baby box in Pardubice. David Vaughn commented: "I've heard it twice now and I like it even more the third time." The report caught his attention both because of its touching subject matter and the author's ethical way of asking questions to the main seven-year-old respondent.
The second Czech reportage, Illegal Mining of Moldavites around České Budějovice by Matěj Vodička, describes an aggressive conversation with moldavite diggers who the author met them on a random walk. Juror Allweiss appreciated the topic - opening up the social problem of illegal looting not only of moldavites but also of other precious stones.
The winner of the reportage category will be announced by an expert jury on Thursday during the closing ceremony of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival. The student jury was most impressed by Ieva Balsiunaite's report Life Always Wins: Ukrainian Women and Doctors Reflect on Childbirth in Wartime.
"Radio can portray in a plastic way what is really important. In pictorial reporting, the detail can draw too much attention," says Jan Kaliba, a former foreign correspondent in the US, of the advantages of audio.
How did you get from Server HR to the Czech Radio Sport desk and then to the Foreign News desk?
Server HR was a bit of fun at school, but in retrospect I realise that it was very valuable for me because it was a free discipline. I interviewed various HR managers of quite large companies, but also, for example, the Count of Sternberg. They were quite long interviews that needed to be built up somehow, so I think it helped me a lot. I started working with the Sport desk at Czech Radio at the same time.
I needed radio practice at school, so I went to try the Sport desk because of my relationship with sports. I stayed there as a freelancer, then they hired me full-time, so it was actually quite straightforward. Eventually, I moved to the Foreign News desk when I applied for the foreign correspondent in the United States position.
How do you think about the construction and the final form of the report in relation to the environment as well as the subject matter?
It always depends on what the subject matter is, how much time you have, what the setting is, so it depends terribly on each particular situation, whether it's something that's planned or whether you just drop into the situation.
What does the genre of radio reporting offer? How do you work with the image of the place and the description of the situation?
The magical thing about radio reportage, as opposed to television, is that you just pack a little box (recorder) and you can go absolutely anywhere. I really enjoy making sure that the description, the recording of the situation and the sound background interact with the content and that everything feels natural. So I think radio reporting is the foundation of the craft and it's one of the most beautiful genres of journalism in general.
Does audio reporting have any advantages over audio-visual reporting?
In radio reportage you have to be the eyes of the listener. Some people consider it a disadvantage that there is no picture with a report. However, you are much better able to portray in plastic form what is really important there. Because with pictorial reports, something can grab too much attention and the substance of the report can go into the background. Another advantage is that people can be startled by the camera. So the logistics of not really needing a cameraman and working on your own easily in the field is a big advantage.
Has your experience at the Sport desk helped you?
I think so. The reason why I won the aforementioned job role for the Foreign News desk is because I learned radio reporting properly at the Sport desk. You can learn a lot from sports. I also think that commentating on sports broadcasts helped me a lot. Because there you simply stand and describe what's going on around you just like in a news report. It may seem like a silly comparison, but I think that's exactly it. I filmed an example of this kind of coverage during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in America.
How often does a foreign correspondent get into emergency situations in the US? What do they have to prepare for before filming and what surprises even an experienced reporter?
It depends on where one is going. America is basically a continent where a lot of things happen all the time that repeat themselves, like hurricanes or mass shootings in schools. These are situations that you have to try to be prepared for because you know they happen again in that country. But the truth is that there are some situations that you just can't prepare for.
I've walked straight into situations like this. The very first day I arrived in the US, there was a shooting in Las Vegas where about 60 people died. I went there without any preparation because there was no time for it. The stadium was surrounded by security tape, the main entrance locked, so I found a back entrance to get in. But once I was inside, I saw normal life. Music was playing, people were dancing, machines were playing and it didn't match the gravity of the situation at all. It was totally bizarre, I took advantage of it, and with only a recorder to shoot with and I made a good report out of it. Ironically, I think of it as some of the best reporting I've done in the six years I was there.
What is the importance of competitive shows (gatherings of creators and students) like this radio festival?
I think it's an amazing the way worlds blend there. If I were a young person, a student, I would want to have the opportunity to discuss the work with its author. For me it's very inspiring and interesting to listen to foreign works and see what kind of methods they use.
The author is a member of the student editorial team of the Prix Bohemia Radio website.
