Journalist's Toolbox Newsletter XLII

Feb. 22, 2022

Feb 22

Quick ‘n Dirty Audio Editing Tools

Adobe Audition is a go-to software for many digital audio editors. But many times, you may not have access to Audition if you’re working remotely and don’t have it on your laptop.

But fear not. There are many phone apps and browser-based desktop audio editing tools you can use for free. Here’s a quick sample of a few I’ve used on-the-fly when I’ve needed to clip a quick soundbite. You don’t have as many editing tools

Sodaphonic: A simple audio trimming tool that has a cool retro stereo feel to its interface. Easily highlight clips and export them.

AudioTrimmer: Similar to Sodaphonic, this is a simple trimming tool that handles dozens of file formats. The home page has a short video to walk you through how to use it.

Audacity: This is free, open-source, cross-platform audio editing software that’ very popular. It has more editing tools than Sodaphonic and Audiotrimmer. You have to download it to your hard drive and launch it locally.

Garage Band: You can use this iOS software — standard with any iMac or MacBook and also available as a mobile app — to build podcasts, mix music, etc. Next to Audition, it’s probably the best digital audio tool out there, but it’s limited to iOS.

Headliner.app: Available in paid and free versions, Headliner is a simple interface to help you turn audio into visual audiograms using images. This is great for building visual audio clips for social media posts and for visual podcasts you can post to YouTube.

Wavve.co: Another good audiogram-builder tool.

Anchor: This Spotify tool is excellent for making podcasts. It lets you edit audio and build audiograms. Watch this video tutorial.

Hokusai: This phone app helps you edit audio quickly on your phone. Here’s a great tutorial from Amara Aguilar, a USC journalism professor:

Around the Web

Colibri.ai: An AI transcription tool that journalists can use to transcribe online and offline interviews in real-time and capture key points with the click of a button. With Colibri, journalists can focus their full attention on their interviews — not on taking notes.
Guidelines for Inclusive Journalism: Resources from the Seattle Times.
Adobe Essential Documents & Organization Tips for Freelancers: Resources for managing your files as a freelance reporter.

Cool Tool Tuesday

Don’t forget that at 1 p.m. CT each Tuesday, we feature a new resource on #cooltooltuesday, like you see in our Around the Web section of this newsletter. Be sure to check it out and retweet it. Here’s a video of some of my past faves:

Tips Welcome

If you like the resources we share in this newsletter, on Twitter, the YouTube training videos or on the Toolbox site, you can send Mike Reilley a tip on Twitter. Just open the Twitter app, go to @journtoolbox and click on the tip button in his profile header and tip away. Tips are never expected but always appreciated.

In Quotes …

"I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world." -- Henry Luce

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