Welcome to the Radio Doc Blog

Hello, and welcome to the Radio Doc Blog.

This blog is intended to be a notebook filled with useful links, resources and personal reflection about the art of radio documentary. It reflects the journey I am currently taking for myself – I’ve been a journalist and radio maker for about six years now, but only recently have I begun to focus on the greater challenges of making radio documentaries. As I looked around for resources and help with the medium, I found that whilst film documentary was bursting with useful material – books, websites, and courses – the resources out there to help with radio documentary were relatively sparse and scattered.

Some of the articles on the blog will be about the practical challenges in making radio docs – everything from insurance to permissions to copyright. But mostly I would like it to be about the creative elements and craft, drawing on examples of great radio documentary makers in the field, past and present.

In part, I am creating the blog just to help order all the material I am currently collecting – I have a small but growing collection of books and documentaries on my shelves and on my computer. But writing a blog is also a social activity, and I hope that in putting myself out there, I may also meet some like minded radio makers willing to share their ideas, and also that what I am discovering may be of use to other radio makers wishing to learn more about the this medium.

I hope you like the blog and find it useful – and I look forward to hearing about your own projects and ideas.

Tom Allan, 2012.