NPR has picked a journalist to lead a new venture dedicated to developing innovative modes of storytelling.
Michael May, an instructor at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, has been named senior producer at NPR’s Storytelling Lab. The lab, which was announced early this year, is an incubator established within NPR to test out ideas for podcasts and other initiatives pitched by staffers.
The lab is designed to be a proving ground for bright ideas drawn from NPR’s ranks. In his new role, May will work with NPR staffers for a period of two weeks to hone their pitches and develop proofs-of-concept.
In a memo to staff, NPR Vice President for News Programming and Operations Chris Turpin emphasized May’s connection to the network’s editorial coaches.
Michael will be responsible for coordinating the Storytelling Lab and will work closely with staff members who are selected for two-week lab sessions. He will have a tight relationship with the editorial coaching and development team so that lessons from the lab can be integrated into our daily work across the newsroom.
May will start July 6. Here’s an excerpt from Turpin’s staff note:
I am delighted to announce that we have hired Michael May to be senior producer of the Storytelling Lab. Michael brings a depth of experience in audio storytelling as well as the ability to work with experts in other media.
He is a true producer-coach, someone who can bring out the best in whoever he’s working with. For the past four years he has been radio instructor at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine. In his work there, he’s helped cultivate dozens of fresh voices for public radio. He is also a skilled journalist in his own right. He worked on Weekend America, at KUT in Austin and as managing editor of the Texas Observer magazine. Several of the pieces he’s developed as an independent producer have been heard on All Things Considered. Michael will be responsible for coordinating the Storytelling Lab and will work closely with staff members who are selected for two-week lab sessions. He will have a tight relationship with the editorial coaching and development team so that lessons from the lab can be integrated into our daily work across the newsroom. He starts July 6.
