Radio Documentary

Documentary (or nonfiction) production is one of the most demanding areas of radio production. Its main objective is to report on people and their stories—storytelling is an integral part of it. The concepts of “truth” and “reality” are deemed problematic in terms of documentary production. Reaching “absolute truth” is virtually impossible in a documentary, despite it being presented as the ultimate motivation by documentary makers. The message of the final cut of the documentary programme often depends on the recorded material and on the truthfulness of the statements presented to the creators; moreover, the interviewees always tell the microphone their version of the truth and that is, by definition, relative. Since the 1960s, theoretical reflections have introduced various definitions of radio documentary production. It is commonly stated that documentary production and the genres it encompasses should, first and foremost, be objective: the documentary strives for balance and objectivity, with the maker staying on the background of the presented topic. Reková discusses the methods used for recording documentaries, the rules of their production, the characteristics of the genre and the reception of the documentary programmes by the listeners. She deals with the terms such as objectivity and subjectivity and offers a comprehensive description of the characteristics of radio programmes, which include documentary elements.