First Voice Apprenticeship is an apprenticeship program at KPFA 94.1 FM in Berkeley and is designed to provide comprehensive broadcast, technical, and administrative skills training in radio. First Voice also aims to build and strengthen community and empower our participants to find their voice and tell their stories.
The First Voice program is based on community building, a collaborative work environment and passing on our skills and stories. We focus on bringing women and people of color into media and work in partnership with Pacifica community radio station KPFA and other community media outlets, both locally and nationally.
First Voice Apprenticeship Mission
To fulfill the missions established by the Pacifica Foundation in 1949 by fostering & promoting media access, opportunity and equity to women, people of color and underserved communities.
These can be summarized as community building and working to build peace.
First Voice has 2 options for Group 45 participants, a 12 month basic curriculum and an advanced curriculum of 18 months [which incorporates full participation in Full Circle, the apprenticeship's weekly broadcast program.]
Basic Curriculum:
GROUP AGREEMENTS/GROUP DYNAMICS - 6-8 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS:
- TO BUILD INTER GROUP BONDS AND COHESIVENESS
SOUND FORGE BASICS – 8-10 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS:
- TO LEARN HOW TO USE THE SOUND FORGE APPLICATION TO PROPERLY RECORD, SAVE, EDIT AND PLAYBACK SOUND FILES.
PRODUCTION CONSOLE BASICS – 2 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVE/GOALS
- TO LEARN THE BASIC OPERATION & USE OF THE AUDIOTRONICS 210 PRODUCTION CONSOLE TO PLAYBACK, RECORD & SAVE STANDARD AUDIO SIGNALS
COMMENTARIES - 4 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE & OBJECTIVE OF COMMENTARIES
- TO WRITE & RECORD A PERSONAL COMMENTARY
ADOBE AUDITION BASICS – 8 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO LEARN HOW TO USE ADOBE AUDITION FOR MULTI TRACK SOUND MIXING
- TO CREATE AN ADOBE AUDITION PROJECT USING NARRATION, SOUND EFFECTS
AND MUSIC
PSA PRODUCTION - 4 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT & SIGNIFICANCE OF A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
- LEARN THE KPFA PSA GUIDELINES
- WRITE AND PRODUCE A PSA WITH A MUSIC BED
WRITING BASICS - 4 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS:
- TO LEARN THE BASICS OF RADIO WRITING, INCLUDING AN UNDERSTANDING OF
THE DIFFERENT TYPES [SCRIPT, COMMENTARY, FEATURES, NEWS]
- TO UNDERSTAND AND STRENGTHEN YOUR PERSONAL VOICE
-TO COMPLETE A SCRIPTING ASSIGNMENT
VOX POP PRODUCTION – 4 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO LEARN THE NATURE OF A VOX POP
- TO PRODUCE AN AIRABLE VOX POP, INCLUDING GATHERING & ASSEMBLING AUDIO FILES
FULL CIRCLE TECH ASSISTANCE – 24-26 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THE FULL CIRCLE SHOW BY HELPING TO BURN CD'S FOR ON AIR PLAYBACK, CUEING CD'S AS NEEDED DURING THE SHOW, ENTERING INFORMATION IN THE CONFESSOR REPORTING SYSTEM, POSTING DATA TO KPFAAPPRENTICE.ORG WEBSITE
INTERVIEWS – BASIC – 4-6 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO LEARN THE COMPONENTS TO PRODUCE AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW, INCLUDING
INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES, AUDIO QUALITY, AND EDITING.
- TO PRODUCE AN INTERVIEW [15-20 MINUTES] THAT IS SUITABLE FOR BROADCAST
AND PLAYBACK ON FULL CIRCLE.
NEWS PRODUCTION BASICS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
- TO LEARN THE COMPONENTS NEEDED FOR COMPREHENSIVE BROADCAST NEWS STORIES.
- TO LEARN THE TECHNIQUES FOR RECORDING NEWS STORY COMPONENTS OUTSIDE OF A STUDIO SETTING
- TO PRODUCE AN AIRABLE NEWS STORY.
FIELD/REMOTE PRODUCTION – 2 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
– TO PARTICIPANT IN & LEARN THE BASICS OF A FIELD/REMOTE LOCATION PRODUCTION
FULL CIRCLE SHADOWING – 14 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVE/GOALS
- TO GAIN A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW A WEEKLY BROADCAST PROGRAM IS
PRODUCED BY ATTENDING & OBSERVING EDITORIAL MEETINGS.
USING SOCIAL MEDIA - 2 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS:
- TO GAIN FAMILIARITY WITH THE CURRENT POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS, HOW TO ACCESS THEM AND HOW TO POST TO THOSE SITES.
- FORMULATE A GROUP PLAN FOR ONGOING POSTING DURING THE GROUP'S FIRST VOICE PARTICIPATION.
Advanced Curriculum:
FULL CIRCLE PRODUCTION - 24-26 SESSIONS
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
-TO PRODUCE, HOST, AND ENGINEER A WEEKLY LIVE RADIO BROADCAST
FIELD/REMOTE PRODUCTION – Additional Opportunities as they occur
The First Voice Apprenticeship Program has a 12 months basic skills option and an 18 month graduate level option during which participants produce, engineer & host Full Circle. Everyone is required to spend one business day each week working at KPFA, as well as two class nights. The dayshift is a three hour shift and apprentices do administrative and production tasks. The dayshift runs on an intergenerational group learning model, with each phase teaching the next, and integrates service to the station, skills acquired in classes, motivation and leadership.
This week on Full Circle we are commemorating 530 years of resistance to genocide and colonization by Indigenous People of Turtle Island.. On tonight’s show we’ll hear commentary on what the Thanksgiving day holiday means to Indigenous people. We’ll also be hearing sounds from the 43rd Annual Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering from Alcatraz
This week on Full Circle we’ll be diving back into the lynching case of Timothy Charles Lee at the Concord BART station in 1985. On tonight’s show we’ll hear voices of the community that gathered in Concord for the 1st annual Memorial Walk for Timothy Charles Lee; testimony from Kiku Johnson, the now former
Executive Director of the Rainbow Community Center in Concord. We’ll hear a brief history of lynching in the united states by First Voice graduate Rod Akil and LA based artist Ken Gonzales Day and his history of lynchings in California by Shiloh B. We’ll meet San Francisco based visual artist Maria Judice and learn how Timmy’s story has influenced her life and her work.
If you need or know someone who needs help or support from the LGBTQAI+ community, please reach out to Rainbow Community Center at this link: https://www.rainbowcc.org/
Follow the visual artist Maria Judice at Mariaaj.com and @mariaajudice (on all platforms) elephantbym.com
Tonight, on Full Circle we give a shoutout to Motown – to Hitsville USA that place on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan that produced music that’s been heard around the world. And that changed the music industry.
We will hear songs and personal stories from Apprentices and Staff of their favorite songs with comments. And a glimpse of how it all started with the Funk Brothers.
To watch the Marvin Gaye videos from the What’s Going On 50th Anniversary click on the links below.
On Full Circle tonight, we enjoy again ‘The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol’ as recorded in the KPFA Performance Studio. The show was hosted by First Voice graduate Theresa Adams. In addition, this show serves as a reminder that on Sunday, Nov 27, at 4pm, the Black Women’s Roots Festival takes place at Freight & Salvage located at 2020 Addison Street in Berkeley – a fabulous afternoon of entertainment, headlined by Faye Carol herself.
This week on Full Circle We will interview with Imani Wilson Shabazz of PLAN C on Medical Abortion Pill options; Listen to how a group of women in Mexico distribute abortion pills to women in Texas and in other restrictive states; We hit the streets to ask young women how the overturning of Roe has affected the way they will vote; We will listen to Hillary Clinton endorse Proposition 1, a California constitutional amendment to safeguard abortions into the future; We speak with Carol Marasovic, a Berkeley activist, about how we can inspire the youth to vote; We’ll talk to women and men about how men can take a more active role in birth control, And we’ll end the show with a humorous yet important tale from an ancient Greek play on a stand women took to prevent men from going to war.
Tonight on Full Circle we’ll delve into local and state politics with an update on some California bills that were signed this year before the closing of the 2022 legislative session; we’ll hear about a historical rent control policy signing celebration held earlier this week in East Contra Costa City of Antioch; including an excerpt from an Antioch City Council District 1 debate; and finally, we’ll get an update on a special community event to honor a Bay Area resident who was murdered at the Concord BART station in 1985 in what was believed by many to be a racist and homophobic attack.
Find new bills signed into law at the Calmatters and Governor’s website below
Tonight on Full Circle, we’ll honor Indigenous People’s Day 2022. We will hear sounds from the live broadcast on Alcatraz; two special programs from Indigenous People’s Day presented on KPFA; a feature story about Blood Quantum (also known as Paper Genocide); and an interview with Kanahus Manuel, a First Nations sister from unceded Secwepmemc Territory. Manuel is a Tiny House Warrior who is fighting the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which is plowing through their unceded territory.
Visit the KPFA Presents Podcasts at Area 941 on the KPFA website and listen to the Blood Quantum story or any of the personal stories shared during the KPFA Presents Indigenous Peoples Day Special https://kpfa.org/area941/program/kpfa-presents/
Welcome to Full Circle, your cultural affairs radio magazine produced by members of the First Voice Apprenticeship Program. On tonight’s show we will hear some sounds from past Indigenous People’s Day gatherings. We’ll also get an update from KPFA producer and First Voice graduate Sara Blanco on the upcoming special hour of programming for Indigenous People’s Day. In the second half of the show we’ll hear speakers from the recent Free Julian Assange, Free Mumia and Free Palestine event held in Berkeley last month and Code Pink Bay Area Coordinator Cynthia Papermaster will give an update on the October 8th Hands Off Assange actions that are planned around the globe including here in San Francisco.
To contact Cynthia Papermaster directly email codepinkgg@gmail.comTo learn more about the Indigenous Peoples Day Gathering, visit the International Indian Treaty Council on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/472034871595586?ref=newsfeed
Tonight’s program is a shout out to the United Nations International Day of Peace. On tonight’s we’ll hear about a peace protest from the 1960’s. A report back from the International Day of Peace at Lake Chabot Park in Castro Valley. Recognition of the amazing peace work of Code Pink. An interview with an African-American Buddhist monk whose work has lead to a campaign for his nomination to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
On tonight’s show we’ll get an update on the situation in Yemen. After 7 years of aerial bombardment by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A ceasefire and truce is in place and has been holding for the past few months. This update comes from the amazing and moving Dr Aisha Jumaan of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. Near the end of the show we’ll hear a poem performed by Alice Walker at the free Julian Assange Free Mumia Abul Jamal and Free Palestine event held last Saturday at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley. And of course. We will be asking for your support tonight as part of the Fall fund drive. All that tonight on Full Circle
LINKS AND INFORMATION
Learn more about the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation and the work they do on their website: https://yemenfoundation.org/
Also, for more information on Yemen, Follow the work of the Yemeni Alliance Committee on their social media outlets
First Voice Apprenticeship 