Hannah Allam, national security correspondent for the National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States, explained that the finished product of a podcast, if done well, cannot be compared to any other kind of journalism.
“You are in people’s ears, you are in the car with them, they are listening to you as they rock their baby to sleep, as they brush their teeth and as they workout in the gym,” she said at Podfest, the first podcasting event in Egypt.
It was held on March 7 at the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Tahrir Cultural Center where journalist Ahmed Feteha won the grand prize for his pitch on a mental health-focused Arabic podcast, titled “On the Edge”.
Feteha was one of the competitors in the Podcast Pitch Competition alongside two other teams; the first made up of AUC students Nadine Hammady and Christine Mounir, and the second team including writer Nayera ElGohary. Hammady and Mounir’s pitch was focused on retelling interesting stories from history in a humorous way in Arabic. Meanwhile, El Gohary’s pitch was centered around the stories behind those who participate in open mics and spoken word poetry events.
Although it was difficult for the judges to select one winner as all candidates showed passion towards their pitches, Feteha was awarded for his idea that tackled subjects society still views as taboo. His presentation to the judges: AFP reporter Farid Y. Farid, Mazen Yasseen from Just a Go Proer and Allam herself, included a snippet of his podcast looking into postpartum depression that women often go through after giving birth.
After seven minutes of presentation time given to every candidate, Feteha won a prize package that includes everything one might need to start a podcast: three hours of studio time from Just a Go Proer; three hours of mentoring and coaching from the Ehky Ya Masr podcast team; an audio recording kit including a Zoom H5 recorder, headphones, and an equipment bag provided by Shams Stores; a one-year PRO license from audio-editing software Hindenburg; a one-year music license to Blue Dot Sessions; and a PodFest Cairo swag bag.
Overall, the event was a half-day conference that included both listening sessions (English and Arabic) and panel discussions followed by questions from attendees. Sessions were generally focused on tips for podcasting such as, narration, interviewing, choosing equipment and on telling a story in the best possible way.
“We are glad to be part of the growing podcast community in Cairo,” said AUC’s Journalism and Mass Communication Professor, Kim Fox who is also the founder of PodFest in Egypt, in her opening speech before opening the floor for the keynote speaker, Allam.
Having spent 20 years as a journalist, Allam said she has covered “births, deaths, uprisings, revolutions, post revolutions, elections and coups” and that she’s “interviewed powerful world leaders and refugees who escaped with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.”
Considering that Allam started her career in print journalism, she told attendees that they probably know more than she does when it comes to the ‘technical side’ of radio production. However, one thing is for certain and that is the base of audio: storytelling.
“It is an incredibly intimate connection that you are building. It is our job to make that connection last for seven minutes, half an hour, an hour or a whole season of a podcast,” Allam added.
She admits that of course, the technicalities of audio production are necessary; however, the foundations of storytelling are necessary.
“At NPR, we strive for the ‘driveway’ moment, and that is because you are driving in your car while listening to a story on the radio. You arrive [to your destination] but can’t get out because you want to sit in the driveway until you hear the ending,” she said.
For this to all come through, AUC’s Senior Technical Supervisor Mohamed Badawy explained that sound production is key as he went through the types of technology and recorders that would help in a case by case situation.
Attendees got a chance to ask their questions to experts in the field, all while also listening to successful podcasts and networking throughout the day. The conference was sponsored by AUC’s Journalism and Mass Communication department, AUC’s Mass Communication Association and the Ehky Ya Masr podcast.
The partners for the Podcast Pitch Competition were Just A GoProer, Shams Stores, Hindenburg, Blue Dot Sessions and the Ehky Ya Masr Podcast.
Fox expressed that because Egypt has such a rich and long history of storytelling, podcasting should be part of this legacy too. And on that note, PodFest Cairo has future plans to do another micro podcasting event at AUC’s New Cairo campus next fall for faculty, administrators and students.
