The soundbites about podcasting are captivating. “$1 billion in ad revenue in 2020.” “800,000 podcasts in existence.” “90 million Americans listening.” “You can win a Pulitzer!”
It’s all dizzying and exciting for people trying to cash in on the buzz. But some of us on the inside know that the hype and drive towards profit will force a lot of podcasters to decide if they’re a pro or a hobbyist.
I believe that’s a good thing.
First, outside recognition, such as inclusion in the Murrow Awards and Pulitzer Prizes, signals a far more than mere acceptance for the nonfiction, journalistic genres flourishing in podcasting. It means podcasting is seen as a storytelling format on par with the best of what television, radio, and print media have to offer. It also means that podcasting is mobilizing audiences on such a significant level that major forces in media cannot exclude it from serious consideration. All that will legitimize the work that many brilliant independent creators are already doing. It will also extend the prestige of such honors to very deserving legacy producers and their teams.
Second, cross-pollination between media genres (i.e., podcast to streaming, podcast to film, podcast to VR) will encourage creators to think about their ideas as multidimensional, as seeds that can grow across genres and formats. Start with a good story or a fascinating main character and use the podcast to get the timeline and major details down. Then write a treatment for a long-form documentary that expands to important secondary players to get a capacious look at the larger themes at work in the narrative. Follow that up with a screenplay for a fictionalized version of the story in which an unexpected element (a superpower? divine intervention? time travel?) lets the story span generations back and into the future. The possibilities are endless.
Last, the approaching critical mass of sophisticated podcast listeners will come to expect more immersive experiences. That means a t-shirt will have to grow to a live event that will evolve to special access to the creators that will forge a community built around shared values that bind listeners to the show and to each other. Listeners will not be content to be mere passengers on our creative trip. They want to drive sometimes. The wonderful Podcast Brunch Club, with over 60 chapters across six continents, exemplifies the longing for connection podcast listeners feel. Its growth tells us a lot about what’s important when people gather around their favorite shows.
But these are all also among the factors will draw a line between hobbyists and pros.
Podcast hobbyists will experience 2020 as the year of reckoning. While some will be happy to produce an episode whenever they can find the time, others will leave full-time jobs and risk it all in podcasting. They’ll borrow money, drain their savings, and take a creative leap for a chance to be as financially fulfilled as they are artistically satisfied by making shows they love.
Current freelance podcast producers will find co-founders and go boldly together where each dared not go alone. They will incorporate, demand reasonable contracts, charge late fees, and reference knowledge banks like Werk It’s What Podcasting Pays Now and AIR’s Code of Fair Practices. They will take on technical and narrative challenges that will shed further light on what our genre and format can do. They will push their creativity to remain competitive but also raise their level of difficulty to stand out. And podcasting will be better for it.
I’ve seen signs of this change coming for two years as I’ve make the rounds at industry events and worked with some of the best producers and editors in the field. They’re poised to assert their worth as podcasting matures and monetizes its way into the mainstream.
The soundbites about podcasting are captivating. “$1 billion in ad revenue in 2020.” “800,000 podcasts in existence.” “90 million Americans listening.” “You can win a Pulitzer!”
It’s all dizzying and exciting for people trying to cash in on the buzz. But some of us on the inside know that the hype and drive towards profit will force a lot of podcasters to decide if they’re a pro or a hobbyist.
I believe that’s a good thing.
First, outside recognition, such as inclusion in the Murrow Awards and Pulitzer Prizes, signals a far more than mere acceptance for the nonfiction, journalistic genres flourishing in podcasting. It means podcasting is seen as a storytelling format on par with the best of what television, radio, and print media have to offer. It also means that podcasting is mobilizing audiences on such a significant level that major forces in media cannot exclude it from serious consideration. All that will legitimize the work that many brilliant independent creators are already doing. It will also extend the prestige of such honors to very deserving legacy producers and their teams.
Second, cross-pollination between media genres (i.e., podcast to streaming, podcast to film, podcast to VR) will encourage creators to think about their ideas as multidimensional, as seeds that can grow across genres and formats. Start with a good story or a fascinating main character and use the podcast to get the timeline and major details down. Then write a treatment for a long-form documentary that expands to important secondary players to get a capacious look at the larger themes at work in the narrative. Follow that up with a screenplay for a fictionalized version of the story in which an unexpected element (a superpower? divine intervention? time travel?) lets the story span generations back and into the future. The possibilities are endless.
Last, the approaching critical mass of sophisticated podcast listeners will come to expect more immersive experiences. That means a t-shirt will have to grow to a live event that will evolve to special access to the creators that will forge a community built around shared values that bind listeners to the show and to each other. Listeners will not be content to be mere passengers on our creative trip. They want to drive sometimes. The wonderful Podcast Brunch Club, with over 60 chapters across six continents, exemplifies the longing for connection podcast listeners feel. Its growth tells us a lot about what’s important when people gather around their favorite shows.
But these are all also among the factors will draw a line between hobbyists and pros.
Podcast hobbyists will experience 2020 as the year of reckoning. While some will be happy to produce an episode whenever they can find the time, others will leave full-time jobs and risk it all in podcasting. They’ll borrow money, drain their savings, and take a creative leap for a chance to be as financially fulfilled as they are artistically satisfied by making shows they love.
Current freelance podcast producers will find co-founders and go boldly together where each dared not go alone. They will incorporate, demand reasonable contracts, charge late fees, and reference knowledge banks like Werk It’s What Podcasting Pays Now and AIR’s Code of Fair Practices. They will take on technical and narrative challenges that will shed further light on what our genre and format can do. They will push their creativity to remain competitive but also raise their level of difficulty to stand out. And podcasting will be better for it.
I’ve seen signs of this change coming for two years as I’ve make the rounds at industry events and worked with some of the best producers and editors in the field. They’re poised to assert their worth as podcasting matures and monetizes its way into the mainstream.
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Helen Havlak Platforms shine a light on original reporting
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Victor Pickard We reclaim a public good
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Bill Adair A Nobel Prize, a Brad Pitt film, and a Taylor Swift song
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Josh Schwartz Publishers move beyond the metered paywall
Sue Robinson Campaign coverage as test bed for engagement experiments
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Lucas Graves A smarter conversation about how (and why) fact-checking matters
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Simon Galperin Journalism becomes more democratic
Mira Lowe The year of student-powered journalism
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Errin Haines Race and gender aren’t a 2020 story — they’re the story
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M. Scott Havens First-party data becomes media’s most important currency
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Michael W. Wagner Increasingly fractured, but little bit deliberative
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Geneva Overholser Death to bothsidesism
Kerri Hoffman Opening closed systems
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Annie Rudd The expanded ambiguity of the news photograph
Matt DeRienzo Local broadcasters begin to fill the gaps left by newspapers
Tom Glaisyer Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful
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Jakob Moll A slow-moving tech backlash among young people
Carrie Brown-Smith Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening
Steve Henn The dawning audio web
Laura E. Davis Know the context your journalism is operating within
Sarah Stonbely More people start caring about news inequality
Joni Deutsch Podcasting unsilences the silent
Jeremy Olshan All journalism should be service journalism
Jasmine McNealy A call for context
Bill Grueskin Our ethics codes get an overhaul
John Garrett It’s the best time in a century to start a local news organization
Don Day Respect the non-paying audience
Mariana Moura Santos The future of journalism is collaborative
Eric Nuzum Podcasting finally creates another mega-hit show
Talia Stroud The work of reconnecting starts November 4
Dannagal G. Young Let’s disrupt the logic that’s driving Americans apart
Tamar Charney From broadcast to bespoke
Sonali Prasad Climate change storytelling gets multidimensional
Joanne McNeil A return to blogs (finally? sort of?)
Zizi Papacharissi A president leads, the press follows, reality fades
Matthew Pressman News consumers divide into haves and have-nots
Jonas Kaiser Russian bots are just today’s slacktivists
Jeff Kofman Speed through technology
An Xiao Mina The Forum we wanted, the forum we got
Tanya Cordrey Saying no to more good ideas
Alexandra Borchardt Get out of the office and talk to people
Jake Shapiro Podcasting gets listener relationship management
Masuma Ahuja Slower, quieter, more measured and thoughtful
Doris Truong The year of radical salary transparency
Sarah Marshall The year to learn about news moments
Meg Marco Everything happens somewhere
Seth C. Lewis 20 questions for 2020
Rick Berke Incoming fire from both left and right
Jim Brady We’ll complain about other people living in bubbles while ignoring our own
Hossein Derakhshan AI can’t conjure up an Errol Morris
Heidi Tworek The year of positive pushback
Tonya Mosley The neutrality vs. objectivity game ends
Richard J. Tofel A constraint of the reader-revenue model emerges
Meredith Artley Stronger solidarity among news organizations
Joe Amditis Collaborative journalism takes its rightful place at the table
Mario García Think small (screen)
Cory Haik We’re already consuming the future of news — now we have to produce it
Kathleen Searles Pay more attention to attention
Cindy Royal Prepare media students for skills, not job titles
L. Gordon Crovitz Fighting misinformation requires journalism, not secret algorithms
Sarah Schmalbach Journalist, quantify thyself
Lauren Duca The rise of the journalistic influencer
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The business we want, not the business we had
Jennifer Brandel A love letter from the year 2073
Francesco Zaffarano TikTok without generational prejudice
Sara K. Baranowski A big year for little newspapers
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Barbara Gray Join local libraries on the frontlines of civic engagement
Craig Newmark Formalizing newsrooms’ battle against disinformation
Anthony Nadler Clash of Clans: Election Edition
Pablo Boczkowski The day after November 4
Whitney Phillips A time to question core beliefs
Nicholas Jackson What’s left of local gets comfortable with reader support
Kourtney Bitterly Transparency isn’t just a desire, it’s an expectation
Felix Salmon Spotify launches a news channel
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Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Power to the people (on your audience team)
Elizabeth Hansen and Jesse Holcomb Local news initiatives run into a capital shortage
Juleyka Lantigua-Williams A changing industry amps up podcasters’ ambitions
Alfred Hermida and Mary Lynn Young The promise of nonprofit journalism
Rachel Davis Mersey The business of local TV news will enter its downward slide
Mike Caulfield Native verification tools for the blue checkmark crowd
Alice Antheaume Trade “politics” for “power”
Brian Moritz The end of “stick to sports”
A.J. Bauer A fork in the road for conservative media
Imaeyen Ibanga Let’s take it slow
Ernie Smith The death of the industry fad
Logan Molyneux and Shannon McGregor Think twice before turning to Twitter
Sarah Alvarez I’m ready for post-news
Brenda P. Salinas Treating MP3 files like text
Emily Withrow The year we kill the news article
Christa Scharfenberg It’s time to make journalism a field that supports and respects women
Monique Judge The year to organize, unionize, and fight
Carl Bialik Journalists will try running the whole shop
John Keefe Journalism gets hacked
Candis Callison Taking a cue from Indigenous journalists on climate change
Joshua Darr All that campaign cash will make the media’s problems worse
Catalina Albeanu Rebuilding journalism, together
Alana Levinson Brand-backed media gets another look
Fiona Spruill The climate crisis gets the coverage it deserves