European Radio Documentary

A brief introduction of the content of the book. In this chapter you will learn about the topics which will be addressed subsequently in the text. The author of the book, Tereza Reková, explains her motivations to write the text and whets the readers appetite. She also addresses the terms audio and radio and offers a short characteristics of all the issues she deals with further in the book.

Radio used to be labelled (also pejoratively) as the “blind medium” or the “theatre for the blind”. The intimate nature of radio as a medium is also an aspect often associated with audio production. Reková explains why the “blindness” is an advantage and addresses specific radio grammar and its methods of inspiring listeners’ imagination. Stories make us happy or sad—they make us feel emotions. Our feelings do not know the difference between fiction and nonfiction, emotions always feel real, even though we know that one story is true and the other one is not. And stories in radio bring listeners to an adventurous journey.

Documentary (or nonfiction) production is one of the most demanding areas of radio production. Its main objective is to report on people and their stories—storytelling is an integral part of it. The concepts of “truth” and “reality” are deemed problematic in terms of documentary production. Reaching “absolute truth” is virtually impossible in a documentary, despite it being presented as the ultimate motivation by documentary makers. The message of the final cut of the documentary programme often depends on the recorded material and on the truthfulness of the statements presented to the creators; moreover, the interviewees always tell the microphone their version of the truth and that is, by definition, relative.

Since the 1960s, theoretical reflections have introduced various definitions of radio documentary production. It is commonly stated that documentary production and the genres it encompasses should, first and foremost, be objective: the documentary strives for balance and objectivity, with the maker staying on the background of the presented topic. Reková discusses the methods used for recording documentaries, the rules of their production, the characteristics of the genre and the reception of the documentary programmes by the listeners. She deals with the terms such as objectivity and subjectivity and offers a comprehensive description of the characteristics of radio programmes, which include documentary elements.

The beginnings of the feature genre—a more poetic or impressionistic version of radio documentary—can be traced to the 1920s in England. The exact year when the term feature was used for the first time is subject to discussion. The ambiguity of the definition permeates the entire history of the feature genre. Put simply, a feature may be seen as an artistic piece of opinion journalism or as an artistic documentary programme that uses specific characteristics of a particular fact, that is discussed or described, to present a more general topic. Reková addresses the history of the genre, various international definitions (the interchangeable characteristics of the genre) and the history of it in the Czech Republic. In this book, Reková deals with the feature genre for the most part, as defined by Peter Leonhard Braun, who sets the direction for many other creators. It is vital to point out, however, that in the golden era of the feature genre, there were multiple directions or schools of feature. Braun preferred the one that, in essence, represented “writing with sound”, while others focused more on working with music or a smaller number of characters.

The differences in the makers’ perceptions of the radio documentary and the radio feature are especially noteworthy. In practice, both genres tend to be interchanged on the international scene, which may cause terminological chaos. Reková compares the genres of the documentary and feature and brings a testimony of experienced and prominent radio creators about these significant fields of media production.

The author of the book presents what she personally finds interesting about documentary production and why she deals with it professionally. She explains the basic rules of interviewing and expresses her passion for the craft.

The International Feature Conference (IFC) is an annual noncompetitive event for radio creators and radio enthusiasts that provides a discussion platform as well as an opportunity to establish international cooperation. Founded in 1974 by Peter Leonhard Braun, Åke Blomström and Andries Poppe, the first edition of the IFC took place in 1975 in Berlin. The aim is not to compare the programmes and announce a winner but rather to enrich one another and create an atmosphere of support. The history of the IFC is inseparable from European history and, to some extent, even the world history of radio documentary production. This chapter addresses the conference in a great detail—in addition to the subchapter about the origins of the IFC and its changes over time, the reader can find also detailed descriptions of several ground-breaking editions of the conference. This chapter offers a unique testimony of Peter Leonhard Braun, the founder of the IFC, who describes the very beginnings of feature making in Europe. Even though the conference celebrated 50 years of its existence in 2024, this book is the first ever to describe it in such great detail.

The Prix Europa competition was founded in 1987, and it is the largest European competitive festival of media production. Today, Prix Europa has become one of the most influential European competitions focusing on media production (radio, television, digital media) with the aim of promoting good quality broadcasting. It gives creators the opportunity to gather and watch, listen, and discuss selected programmes from all over Europe. Each participant can also become a judge and has a voice in a decision as to who receives the prestigious festival award, which contributes to the community nature of the event. Due to a fully transparent evaluation of all categories, everyone can learn something new.

Prix Italia is an international media competition that takes place in Italy every year. Awards are given in the fields of radio, television, and online broadcasting. Prix Italia was founded on the island of Capri in 1948 by the Italian public broadcasting station RAI and has thus been one of the oldest media awards. The festival travels around the country, and each year it takes place in a different Italian city with a long cultural tradition. The prize awarded at this festival is very prestigious; nevertheless, unlike at Prix Europa, the laureate is not selected by all participants but solely by an appointed festival jury. This chapter addresses the history, the prestigious character of the event and compares it to the IFC.

The HearSay Audio Arts Festival is a gathering of, predominantly, independent audio creators from all over the world who come to an Irish mountain town of Kilfinane to discuss audio production, inspire each other and make business contacts for the future. The first edition of HearSay took place in November 2014, when 140 attendees from all over the world arrived at Kilfinane. HearSay Audio Arts Festival combines approaches to so-called creative audio both from the European point of view and from the overseas perspective. The festival has been attended by creators from all over the world, with many of the audio enthusiasts travelling all the way from the USA or Australia. The HearSay festival disrupts, in many ways, the classic approach to audio production and brings new possibilities not only for listening but also for the method of creating and processing the recorded material. Setting the festival in a small village supports strong community bonds among all participants, which is further supported by a significant number of side events taking place on the backdrop of the local inhabitants’ houses.

This chapter offers a thorough description of the history of the festival, the 2019 edition of it, and also compares it to the IFC. Even though the festival belongs to the most important audio meeting worldwide, this book is the first ever to describe it in such a great detail.

After the detailed analysis of the global radio community, Reková reflects on, in retrospect, the question of what actually the real contribution of the IFC and other festivals is. She offers some conclusions and passes the torch of documentary making on you.