When I started at NPR 25 years ago things were very different. We were in the last part of the heyday of audio engineering, since we were still an analog shop. It took an acknowledged amount of skill to do what we did, & the bar was high. Then digital came along.
There was a perception that working with audio became easy. Producers & reporters could now record clean audio with a device not much bigger than a deck of cards, then manipulate it easily by using software which worked sort of like a word processor.
Management acknowledged this new era by reducing our numbers by almost 2/3rds in the Oughts. Since then we've fought to find our place in the organization. Slowly there has been an acknowledgement that audio is not as easy as they thought.
These days one of our main roles is fixing all of the bad audio which comes in, before it hits air, if they give us enough time. We realized what we signed up for was a frenetic paced job with lots of demands, & unforgiving deadlines.
Many days there's satisfaction, but along with it is a lot of frustration. one of the issues we're working on is having the Audio Engineers be reassigned to places where they could make the audio better before it needs to be fixed.
For example, making us more available to the shows & podcasts. Adding more Tech Directors, who could train & put in place procedures which would make the recordings of hosts & guests sound better so their audio at least wouldn't need to be fixed.
The other thing we are fighting for is parity. We frequently contort ourselves to make things happen for the show to go on, yet we are paid less than our counterparts in SAG-AFTRA. (the voices & names you know)
Many of us have spent the pandemic on site at the mothership or other places keeping the ship afloat. We have sacrificed pay to make sure the organization would be strong during the pandemic.
Also, there has been an acknowledgement that engineering requires highly skilled people who are above the average "Joe or Jane" I know I wouldn't be hired today since for the last Engineering position which was available was filled by a Grammy winner for audio mastering.
One of my former colleagues, who was laid off in the Oughts, & has been working at an NPR Member station ever since, didn't make the cut.
Our contract ends on Thursday March 31st. So far it seems management still doesn’t think much of our role here & their proposals reflect that. We’re sad since NPR’s negotiations with the other bargaining units have been seemingly fruitful.
We fix NPR, we mix NPR & we connect NPR to you, so others can make the NPR you rely on. Please show support on Social Media with #WeConnectNPR or by contacting the powers that be so they understand how vital our role is & will not treat us as an afterthought in our negotiations.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
