When I began my independent producer fellowship with Weekend America, I had produced segments for a variety of radio programs, but had little perspective on how these programs were actually created. Over the course of my four weeks at Weekend America, I learned a tremendous amount about what it takes to produce a live weekly show, but more importantly I came to understand the story-development and editorial process behind one of the most creative programs on public radio.

I spent the first week observing some staff members as they performed their daily duties, such as pre-interviewing potential guests, prepping the hosts for interviews, recording interviews, listening to and critiquing produced pieces, and editing scripts. During this week I also researched and pitched two pieces and began production of one of them. My second week was spent as a sort of on-site independent producer at Weekend America. I spent my time scripting, editing, tracking, and mixing (with the help of the technical team) a six-minute piece that aired at the end of my second week. I focused on two major skills that week: writing for radio and voicing. The staff members of Weekend America taught me some incredibly valuable approaches for improving these skills that I will take with me as I pursue my career as an independent producer.

During my third week I acted as more of a production assistant -- I was given a topic assignment and researched different angles, identified potential interviewees, pre-interviewed them, selected an interviewee, prepped the host, arranged studio time, facilitated the interview, and then cut the interview using my newly acquired dAVid editing skills. I found this week to be very instructive and really showed me what it would be like to actually work on the show's production team.

My final week was spent researching a couple of Hurricane Katrina stories, culminating in the production of a short interview for the show. The staff had been working hard to figure out how to cover the disaster and to tell the stories of the people it impacted. It was a challenge to think about how to sensitively and fairly approach this unprecedented event in American history, and the stories that I heard were simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting.

My experience working with Weekend America was challenging, thought-provoking, instructive, and very fun. Being part of the daily meetings taught me how the show evolves over the course of the week, in terms of individual segments as well as the entire show. As a visiting producer I was privy to the conversations between the very talented staff members, who are encouraged to think creatively about every issue and story. As they worked through an idea -- seeing it from a variety of perspectives and then eventually choosing one and executing the idea -- I learned techniques for expanding and improving my own creative process. I also learned about the nuances of the program -- the music, transitions, and even the tone of the funding credit -- and how those sounds help form other overall sensibility of the show, making it a cohesive whole. As an independent producer I have been only concerned with my own pieces, not the tone and pace of overall programs. I now have a greater appreciation of the countless decisions that must be made to create a show of Weekend America's scope and quality.

I believe that being part of the program's production team in Los Angeles -- from show conception to actual live feed -- has been instrumental in developing my understanding of the show and its sensibility. I am confident that I will now be able to efficiently produce stronger content for the program in the months and years to come. Thank you to Weekend America and its funders, and to AIR, for this wonderful opportunity.

Rachel McCarthy is an independent producer in Washington, D.C. and associate producer of Prime Time Radio. E-mail her at rachelmccarthy2002@yahoo.com.