Producer Profile: JoAnn Mar

JoAnn Mar's piece "Crime Pays" examines the massive influence of private prisons on the justice system, and was recently the recipient for a Polk award. When not involved in hard-hitting investigative journalism, she hosts "Folk Music & Beyond" on PRX member station KALW.

PRX:
How did you become aware of the rise of prison privatization?

JoAnn:
I never heard of private prisons until five years ago when folksinger Si Kahn appeared as a guest on the folk music program I host on KALW. Si Kahn is the executive director of Grassroots Leadership, a non-profit southern-based community activist organization which is spearheading a national campaign against private prisons. I became curious about private prisons and wanted to find out more. The rise of private prisons started in the early '80's mostly in the south. California has very few private prisons and where I live, private prisons have received very little media attention.

PRX:
How big a deal is that an independent producer won a Polk?

JoAnn:
I am very proud of having won the Polk award as an independent producer. Because of the economics (i.e. lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of connections), the fine work of many independent producers tends to get overlooked. Also, independents tend to have more latitude in covering controversial, under-the-radar topics that the networks won't touch. I hope my award will give encouragement to other independents. It is possible to gain the respect and recognition of your peers without having to compromise.

PRX:
What's transpired since the piece came out? Has there been greater awareness surrounding prison privatization?

JoAnn:
I'm hoping the awareness around prison privatization has increased. "Crime Pays" has now been broadcast on many non-commercial stations and translators around the country. KPFA in Berkeley broadcast the program right before the high-profile execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. An African-American station in Iowa KBBG (one of the oldest in the country) broadcast the program four times because management was so enthusiastic about it. One KBBG listener was so inspired, that he made sure his local public school system got a copy to share with students. Little by little, more people are becoming aware and hopefully this awareness has become enhanced with the Polk award.

PRX:
As a journalist and documentarian, what do you make of the trend of so-call "op-ed" documentaries of recent years such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Supersize Me, or Outfoxed?

JoAnn:
More power to them. Ten years ago, it was unheard of for investigative documentaries to attract the kinds of audiences, recognition, and awards these films have garnered. Like these documentaries, "Crime Pays" was produced as a program with a point of view in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow. Sometimes journalists, especially in public radio, can become overly cautious about achieving "balance" and "objectivity". As the late David Brinkley said, "show me an objective journalist and I'll give him a set of batteries." Although absolute objectivity is an impossible standard to achieve, journalists strive for this mostly, I think, as a way of avoiding controversy. As a result, I sense there are fewer radio producers producing hard-hitting investigative journalism documentaries nowadays.

PRX:
Is that something radio has problems with more than other mediums?

JoAnn:
I think the cause of investigative journalism is not helped by the current limitations of radio formats at many news/public affairs stations. While many of them have news departments that specialize in spot reporting, very few of them have investigative units devoted to in-depth long-form documentaries and features.

I don't know enough about print or TV to know what resources they have devoted to investigative reporting. I think many of them tend to have more investigative units within their news departments--but I could be wrong.

PRX:
Is it disruptive to move between hosting a folk show and doing hard news? Do you have to put yourself in totally different mindsets for each?

JoAnn:
Not at all. I think many people fall into the trap of drawing bright line dividers between music and public affairs, when in reality the line between the two is nebulous. My interviewing, producing, and editing skills have greatly enhanced the quality of my music program and as a result, it isn't a boring "needle-drop" all music show. At the same time, my exposure to music of all sorts has helped to creatively enhance my public affairs documentaries so that they're listenable and not just boring "talking-heads."

PRX:
How? By incorporating a score effectively?

JoAnn:
When producing a documentary, I'm looking for music and sound effects that will enhance the content and be sympathetic without drawing attention to itself. By enhancing, I mean use of music and effects that will help underline the mood and message being communicated by the content in as subtle a way as possible. This is an organic process--I often don't know exactly what I'm looking for in advance. I will spend a lot of time listening to and experimenting with a lot of different music and sounds until something clicks. Obviously, having a large music collection to draw from helps this process.

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