Listening Journal 2

NPR, To Casket or Not to Casket:

About the site:
It has a wide variety of programs to listen to and as you are listening you can rewind, so if you miss a part you have a chance to get back to it. But the buffering is very slow compared to the BCC and the world vision report.

To Casket or not to Casket, a Review:

The interviewer Robert Kurwhich presents the speaker “Bernd Heinrich” by telling us about a service we can get from nature for free. Robert then explains is it in a creative way. He starts explaining in a way that everyone can relate to, relating beetles to undertakers and cleaning men; as they do the service of disposing dead animals and making them disappear. There was a sound of a shot, denoting that an animal has been shot, he didn’t have to say anything. The sound explains itself.

The job of the interviewer in this feature is not only to ask questions he also voices information, but not in a scientific way, unlike his guest the specialist in the fields. Both speakers alternate, making the feature sound like a friendly conversation.
There is not much Nat Sound, however the feature was quite entertaining to listen to. The conversation itself was interesting. The shifting of speakers made it easy for the listener to concentrate.

There was a song that was playing as in the middle of the feature. A very funny and exceptional song, it sounded like it was being played on a stage in front of people, since in the background you could hear people cheering and laughing. The song is “dead Earnest”, performed by Pete Seeger.

The feature ended with a suggestion to listen to another feature, also related to animals and death and burial.



With the audio feature, there is a related article that contains a letter from a student who doesn’t want to be put in a casket because this way, animals can’t reach him and so he would not be a part of the eco system.

5 min. 23 sec.



The BBC World Servic News:
About the site:
You can choose the quality of the audio; standard or high quality. The standard quality is very good, and it doesn't take much time to load. You can also choose between using Windows Media Player and Quick time, which makes the site compatible with Windows as well as Macs.

The Review:

The announcer speaks faster than speakers in features. There is mostly no Nat sound or sound effect. But there are other speakers to announce different information, like when he talks about a president he gives a part of the speech. And when he talks about a country he passes the Mic to a reporter to someone closer to the scene.

The language is very precise and professional and straight to the point, unlike features there is no use of metaphors. It is like a fast audio display of events. In five minutes it gave us an idea of what’s happening all over the world. It is not meant to dive in one subject in particular.

5 minutes

World Vision Report, Ultra-Orthodox Women go to work:

About the Site:

It is very simple to use, as soon as you open you'll find the feature stories, you just press on a story and it plays on the same window. nonetheless, you haveto be careful as you listen to the story since it plays one way, you can't rewind it.

The Review:

The story is about how really religious orthodox women in Israel are going to work due to recession

The introducer starts with talking about America since that is where the audience is mostly centered. Then with a Nat sound another speaker speaks, the Nat sound shows that he is in Israel, where the story is at. He interviews a lady, he doesn’t say that she is Jewish, but the listener can tell because of her accent. I like that they do not state the a obvious, since stating the obvious would take up time.

He explains what the life style of the religious of Israelis is like, and then starts to tell a story of a woman who has lived in Israel. The fact that he chose to spoke about one example makes it simpler to the listener and easier to comprehend.
He adds her voice in the feature to continue what he already started saying. I found that it makes me as a listener more alert especially that she is a woman and he is a man which makes the pitch different.

“When something becomes nothing you are in a big problem” I like how recession was described here it is very simplistic and even kids could understand it.

Women have no skills to go into the job market which means women has to go to the job market. The Nat sound changes to the job market, and the guy describes how the scene is like and what the women are wearing, which makes it easier to imagine.

He interviews so many women and it is interesting to listen to their different voices and the different opinions. The opinions are sometimes contradictory which makes the listener think.

7min. 16 sec