The Next Generation Radio Project is a five-day digital journalism and audio training project. Our hybrid program, which allows some participants to work in-person and others from home, is designed to enable competitively selected participants to learn how to report and produce non-narrated audio pieces and multimedia stories. Those chosen for the project are paired with a professional journalist who serves as their mentor for the duration of the week.

Professional Staffing

Next Generation Radio projects are a hybrid of remote and in-person work. Our selected cohort will report from their current locations. Staffing varies with each project, and we don’t have the same staff each time. Still, project mentors generally fall into these categories.

Project Director

Assembles and leads the staff, manages sponsorships and project budgets, oversees co-community managers, and advises the NextGen community and the leadership team. Manages relationships with NPR and NPR-sponsoring stations. Mentors/coaches/support alumni and professional staff with their career development. Also, works with Next Gen Community Slack Administrator on post-project engagement and support.

Managing Editor

Lead organizer of all editorial content and works across platforms during the project week. Collaborates with digital editors and sound designers, overseeing daily operations. Works with reporter-mentor teams to turn ideas into non-narrated audio pieces. Using various digital tools, creates and manages workflow, and sets deadlines. The ME is an experienced coach, teacher, and editor, helping our selected cohorts produce their best work.

Digital Editors

Lead reporting teams in the process of conceptualizing their story as a fully unified, digital audio, written, and visual presentation. Supports reporters throughout the writing process by providing feedback on drafts and incorporating the narrative into the text. Meets with reporting teams individually to review content (audio, text, photos, graphics, additional media), visualize options for formatting the final piece, and assess further steps toward completion. Ensures reporters focus on all digital assets, not only on audio. Assists managing editor(s) with reviewing social media content and visual journalists in evaluating photos and captions. Understands WordPress and works with reporting teams, visual journalists, and developers on page layout. Reviews the project website to ensure formatting, grammar, syntax, and content are all accurate and visually appealing

Visual Journalists

Equips reporters to visually tell their stories by sharpening their skills in photography and video. Works one-on-one to develop and plan ideas in meetings before and during the project so that visuals are well thought out. Assists with setting up and troubleshooting technical gear. Ensures reporters meet deadlines. Sequence and finalize media within the web story with each team; content management — edit, organize, and layout visuals onto WordPress at the end of the week with web editors/developers.

Sound Engineers

BEFORE PROJECT

• Reviews tech surveys and initiates contact with all reporters about tech needs.
• Coordinate gear for the week with the sponsoring station, university, and mentors.
• Oversees the selection of audio apprentice candidates.

DURING PROJECT

• Communicates with audio team members about deliverables.
• Coordinates engineers to attend interviews, for help with individual students, and engineer-reporter pairings.
• Creates a presentation on Audition and gathers slides from other engineers for delivery on Tuesday, and records the presentation.
• Maintains audio production schedule for the week.

AFTER PROJECT

• Uploads video recordings of “mixing” tutorials and presentations, and shares with reporters.
• Ensures storage of all mix sessions and audio files for a possible podcast.

Editorial Illustrators

Illustrates student reporters’ portraits before the program. Shadows interviews to create multiple sketches for the article. Adjusting the mood and style of the illustrations according to the tone of the story. Each illustrator creates 1 to 2 editorial illustrations and a banner illustration during the project. Proficiency with digital illustration tools is required.

Developer

Sets up the project website before the program. Sets the look and feel for each project, uses ready-made themes, and installs any necessary plugins for the project. Ensure all assets are properly loaded onto the site, including video, audio, and photos. Consult with the reporting teams to see if there are any opportunities for different story displays or embeddable digital elements. Assists with building stories or sets up access so reporters can build their own stories. Proficiency with WordPress and using theme builders (or the built-in blocks editor) is a must; knowledge of HTML and CSS is a plus.

Project Mentors

These are professional journalists who think digitally and have a range of experience. We have many alumni who were once mentees who return to us as mentors. Mentors are paired, 1:1, with a competitively selected applicant by the project director at least two weeks before the program begins. They are the main point of communication for the mentee and explain project expectations. Throughout the week, mentors address any issues or questions the mentee may have, from refining the pitch to crafting interview questions and assisting with logistics to helping put the story together.

Most importantly, mentors ensure that mentees meet their daily deadlines. Mentors should be aware that each mentee’s experience and skill set is different, so the amount of guidance they need will vary. Mentors provide the first edit on all content, including the focus statement, the audio story, and the digital story, offering specific feedback and clear direction. They are also a motivator, offering support and encouragement throughout the project. Mentors give constructive feedback to mentees throughout the week. On the last day, mentors set up a feedback session with the mentee to reflect on the week. Ideally, the mentor and mentee maintain a relationship after the project is completed.

We strongly recommend that you closely review our past projects before deciding to apply.

Finally, you can stay up with us by following @nextgenradio on Bluesky, Twitter/X and on Instagram. We’re also on Linkedin and FB as Next Generation Radio.