“I was on deadline all the time,” said Allison, the creator and producer of “This I Believe” series on National Public Radio (NPR) that aired from 2005 to 2009.[break]
But the veteran journalist is in Nepal for the fortnight, working and vacationing at the same time. Allison is coaching local journalists on storytelling, which is considered to be Allison’s trademark.
A series documenting people’s beliefs in their own voice, “This I Believe” broadcast more than 200 personal tales from approximately 65,000 stories of people from all walks of life.
“The idea of this series was to ask everybody in America to think about one question: “What is the principle that guides your life?” Allison said this to a group of 20 journalists andradio broadcasters geared to community radio from different parts of Nepal participating in a workshop organized by Antenna Foundation Nepal.
Madhu Acharya, executive director of Antenna Foundation Nepal, said community radio in Nepal helps to connect people, build communities, and start constructive discussions. However, he quickly cites the weaknesses. “We need to learn how to engage community people in management, production and decision making [of radio programming].”
ALLISON’S EARLY DAYS
As a 25-year-old, Allison took up his passion for theater but soon figured he “didn’t know enough about life” to portray it on stage. So when Allison met Keith Talbot, who’s one of the pioneering producers of NPR and was a friend of his landlord in Washington DC, the young man’s course of life changed.
Speaking about his early days, with a gentle smile, Allison talked about Talbot. He handed young Allison a recorder and encouraged him to produce something using his theatrical skills to tell stories. He then shared his first story that aired on NPR’s “All Things Considered” in 1978.
“It was about an old couple,” he stresses, adding, “Two self-sufficient farmers living in West Virginia, and their daily life in winter. It was just a portrait of their personalities, their relationship and their activities in their house.”
And as he traveled with his recorder across America, the journey helped him “translate and transmit” the meaning of life, and thus stuck to his current profession.
From lending voices, he also dived into capturing images. Allison worked for ABC News’ “Nightline” working as a one-man team, producing 30-minute specials. Though he shares his profuse passion for radio, he talked about an aspect of television that captivates him—“people’s eyes.”
“[When people] look at the camera, me, and talk, sometimes the intensity in their eyes, the contradiction they make, gives an entirely different meaning,” he remarked.
But when he talks about radio, there’s a thrill in his tone. Speaking on one of the stories on “This I Believe,” he tries to connect to the Internet and bring up Dan Tani’s story, an astronaut who sent his saga from the International Space Station where he was working as a flight engineer.
In the packed room at Antenna Foundation’s office, Allison plays other stories from his laptop—a story of a California girl, her belief that one day her financial woes would vanish; about a soldier’s wife and her belief that her husband will call her from Iraq; and about a prisoner who is in prison for 25 years, his story about a cat in the prison.
“I believe that caring for something or someone in need is what makes us human” the voice says.
A simple story of a common person, though celebrities are also involved, is the signature of “This I Believe.”
“Most of the essays are about hardships and difficulties,” he stated. “ The time you tend to believe is when things are very hard.”
THE NEPALI APPROACH
In 2009, Nepal started its version of “This I Believe.”
Acharya said he had heard about Allison, his program and personal essays but the idea churned after meeting him at his Cape Cod residence in Massachusetts.
Speaking about the 24 hours Acharya and his radio partner Rajan Parajuli spent with him, Allison said, “I felt a real kinship with them and the work that’s being done here. We’re interested in the same kind of thing—giving voice to people whose stories we don’t know, and using radio to share experience and build empathy and create a sense of community.”
Parajuli, production manager of “Mero Jindagi, Mero Biswas”, said the program was launched at a time when people were frustrated in the country for various political and socio-economic reasons.
“We needed to sow not only belief but also hope,” Parajuli said, explaining that the Nepali version states people’s beliefs and also exemplify their accomplishments so others can get motivated by their stories.
However, Allison said that the Nepali version could focus more on emotional life and less on personal accomplishments.
Speaking to local journalists, his words being translated in Nepali, he shared his experiences in the radio industry, listened to the stories from his Nepali counterparts and offered suggestions.
Dipendra Paudel from Kanchanjunga FM in Jhapa, Chandra Neupane from Saptakoshi FM, and Sheetal Shah from Radio Janakpur voiced common concerns about the lack of technology and expertise along with their success stories of public broadcasting.
Community-based radio and public broadcasting helps in the development of the community, raise awareness about issues, and also educate people at the same time, Paudel said.
Allison further stated that the idea of creating such programs is to “identify with the community” and added Antenna’s version of “This I Believe” has helped raise the question about the principle that guides people’s lives and provided them with a space to share what is in their heart.
But Parajuli argues there is still a lack of storytelling in the Nepali media.
“Let people tell their stories,” he said, asking media outlets to involve people in their own coverage. “They don’t need moderators [journalists] to tell their stories.”
THE DAYS AHEAD
Allison has moved with the changing times and technological innovations.
Through his self-founded non-profit organization, Atlantic Public Media, Allison has ventured into the Internet with Transom.org, a Web site that created a platform for common voices and stories to be heard on public radio.
But he says public broadcasting needs to revamp itself in the Internet age.
“When I started it, in public broadcasting, it was how to get the public involved,” he said.
But today, with the digital medium booming, people can communicate on individual levels, and he doesn’t see the space for public broadcasting to convey messages.
Allison also commented that the Internet has revolutionized the radio concept, hinting on podcasts. He said it’ll help create loyalty among listeners since they would listen to the programs via the Internet if they’re not accessible to a radio.
“They’ll taste it on the radio but they’ll feed on it in the podcast.”
But in Nepal, due to lack of infrastructures and lower literacy rate, radio will still be a primary source of media for many.
“I’m really interested in the power of radio here,” Allison said. “I think it has more power to create change in Nepal than it does in America. Radio stations may have a different opportunity and different responsibility here—the opportunity to create change.”
And in terms of creating change, Acharya said there needs to be more of narrative storytelling in Nepali journalism, and the new season of “Mero Jindagi, Mero Biswas” will incorporate narration along with personal storytelling.
But Parajuli wants more. He said he desires a “positive journalism” in the country, which shows hope and assert that people can achieve. And he states that it can be done through similar programs like “Mero Jindagi, Mero Biswas.”
Allison agreed, and for him, radio is the medium.
“I believe in listening,” Allison said. “I believe in the power of listening and by listening carefully. That’s the way we can understand one another, and through listening, our hearts stay open. When we stop listening, we stop growing and start fighting.”