Growing up in the US with an unpronounceable Danish name provided an early lesson in effective communication.  I’ve been practicing ever since.

“Sidsel has a knack for cutting to the heart of the issue…”

For over a decade radio has been my medium of choice, and I love it primarily for one reason: radio reporters are poets.  Very literal poets.  We may have complex stories to tell, but our windows are ephemeral and, here, we work without the luxury of images.  Each word, each inflection, each editorial decision must be perfect.  Within the first ten seconds people must care, and within one minute (or two or four) they must understand.  Oh right, and it must be done by the top of the hour.

This is the first thing I teach my students, whether their sights are set on radio or another field entirely.  Because the need for good storytelling–thoughtful, succinct, meaningful storytelling–will never go away.  In comparison to radio, space here on the internet may be seemingly infinite.  But attention spans are not.  And while it’s easy to cater to those short attention spans with screaming headlines, I ferociously insist there is a better way.  It involves faith in the human desire for real knowledge.  And poetry.