What’s your war story? What questions do you have about life after military service? How do you convey these stories and questions?
Veterans with disabilities are invited to join our award-winning effort to better integrate people of varying physical and intellectual abilities in news and feature podcast media. We call our work the All-Abilities Media Project.
DAV podcasts have covered its 30-year-old Winter Sports Clinic and the legal status of Agent Orange Exposure.
The Center for Media Innovation (CMI) at Point Park University and Unabridged Press’ free podcast workshop for veterans with disabilities takes place Saturday, Aug. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is included. The CMI is in downtown Pittsburgh, at 305 Wood St., on the corner of Third Avenue. Please apply at the link here by midnight July 31.
“As the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act approaches, I hope more veterans with disabilities will take this opportunity to get involved in the public conversation about topics that can impact their quality of life,” says Jennifer Szweda Jordan, founder of Unabridged Press.
Military veterans are vastly underrepresented in newsrooms, according to the organization Military Veterans in Journalism. Only 1.1 percent of media workers are post-9/11 military veterans, the group says.
The program will include:
- How to access and use professional and consumer recording and editing equipment.
- How podcasting can become a professional skill–or even a job.
- A panel of guests will discuss information related to veterans with disabilities.
- Participants will be prepared for a recorded interview within the workshop.
- Participants will participate in a podcast-style interview during the workshop.
- Some people may worry about getting their voices out in the public sphere. We’ll share information on the latest internet safety tips for veterans with disabilities.
Participants will also have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with an acclaimed national veterans affairs reporter in the fall, as well as joining in other networking opportunities.
Our previous media mentees have won multiple Golden Quill Awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, and their work has been broadcast on Pittsburgh’s top news radio station, 90.5 WESA.
