MSU students are helping Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who recently returned from Japan, prepare for another journey.
This time her destination is the Internet.
The governor released her first radio address and podcast this weekend through a partnership with MSU's student radio station WDBM (88.9-FM), the Impact.
Impact Production Director Jeremy Whiting and General Manager Gary Reid head the team producing the governor's podcasts.
"It's a great experience for a young student to get involved and know how broadcasting works on a professional level," Reid said. "The value of hearing an unfiltered message from an elected official is very important."
Reid said he made a proposal for the governor to make weekly addresses on the radio about a year and a half ago. The project really took off this spring, he said.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to communicate directly with the citizens of Michigan," Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd said. "We're using what is essentially the latest and the hottest rage."
For the first recording, in which Granholm talked about her recent trip to Japan, Whiting said he and Reid met Granholm on Wednesday morning for a 30-minute recording session. She read over the three-page script once or twice for sound tests, and then she read as Reid and Whiting recorded the address.
She's very involved when she reads the script, Whiting said.
"She likes to make a lot of changes and add facts," the telecommunication, information studies and media graduate student said. "In fact, her staff is coming to her to check facts."
Reid and Whiting then take the recording back to the Impact's studio where they edit the recording into a 90-second podcast. The process of recording, editing and putting it online takes about 6 hours, Reid said.
When students come back to school in the fall, the crew working with Gov. Granholm will grow to five or six Impact members, Whiting said. Each member will rotate each week in recording with the governor.
Whiting said he hopes the partnership continues for a long time, no matter who is the governor. Reid has even contacted some Republicans to see if they wanted to produce a podcast of their own, Whiting said.
"It's a good opportunity not only for the governor's office but for a lot of students," he said. "It's kind of taking things beyond what we do at the Impact."
