Research Seminar. The power of Podcasting for Journalism: Understanding the Intimacy of Audio
Since the first podcast launched twenty years ago (August 2003), podcasts have exploded as a new medium and cultural space. Conversation formats can be relatively cheap and easy to make and the lack of gatekeepers allows new and minority voices to blossom. For journalists, podcasts provide exciting platforms to do deep dives into news, conduct revealing interviews and tell serialised stories in ways that can attract whole new audiences.
But podcasting is not as simple as it seems! To really engage listeners, you have to understand how the audio medium works: how to harness the power of voice and sound. Listeners often develop a strong parasocial relationship with a podcast host: this can be cultivated in different ways. Investigative journalists make compelling narrative podcasts that can sound effortless, but are often based on months of research, writing, editing and production. Examples include S-Town, Wind of Change, Burn Wild, The Greatest Menace, Mother Country Radicals, Suave, Somebody and of course Serial, the true crime investigation that became a huge podcast hit in 2014.
In this presentation, multi-awardwinning Australian podcast producer Siobhan McHugh will reveal the secrets of making a compelling storytelling podcast. She will demonstrate the process using actual before and after scripts, playing illustrative clips to show how you can build impact through sound. The presentation will also provide an overview of ways in which podcasting can extend journalism and discuss distinctive characteristics of the medium.
Siobhán McHugh is an award-winning podcast producer, critic, consultant and academic. Her book, The Power of Podcasting: Telling Stories Through Sound (Columbia University Press 2022), hailed by an academic peer reviewer as ‘invaluable… the first comprehensive book on storytelling podcasts’, is a critique of podcasting as a new medium and growing industry, as well as a practical guide to making compelling narrative podcasts. Siobhán was consulting producer on Phoebe’s Fall , Wrong Skin, The Last Voyage of The Pong Su, investigative journalism podcasts that all won gold at New York Radio Festivals, and on The Greatest Menace, a queer history/true crime podcast dubbed ‘Australia’s S-Town’, which won Best Social Justice Podcast at New York Festivals 2022. It has since won fifteeen major awards, including Best Documentary (Signal, US) and a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism (Australian equivalent of a Pulitzer).
Siobhán founded RadioDoc Review, the first journal of critical analysis of audio stories. She has written widely in scholarly journals, academic online outlets and esteemed publications such as Harvard University’s Nieman Lab about the theory and practice of narrative podcasting, audio storytelling and the affective power of voice. In 2022, she founded the Hub for Innovation in Podcasting, a coalition of podcast researchers, creators, fans and industry. She is Honorary Associate Professor at University of Wollongong (Journalism) and the University of Sydney (Media/Communications).
Twitter: @mchughsiobhan
Website: https://siobhanmchugh.org/
Since the first podcast launched twenty years ago (August 2003), podcasts have exploded as a new medium and cultural space. Conversation formats can be relatively cheap and easy to make and the lack of gatekeepers allows new and minority voices to blossom. For journalists, podcasts provide exciting platforms to do deep dives into news, conduct revealing interviews and tell serialised stories in ways that can attract whole new audiences.
But podcasting is not as simple as it seems! To really engage listeners, you have to understand how the audio medium works: how to harness the power of voice and sound. Listeners often develop a strong parasocial relationship with a podcast host: this can be cultivated in different ways. Investigative journalists make compelling narrative podcasts that can sound effortless, but are often based on months of research, writing, editing and production. Examples include S-Town, Wind of Change, Burn Wild, The Greatest Menace, Mother Country Radicals, Suave, Somebody and of course Serial, the true crime investigation that became a huge podcast hit in 2014.
In this presentation, multi-awardwinning Australian podcast producer Siobhan McHugh will reveal the secrets of making a compelling storytelling podcast. She will demonstrate the process using actual before and after scripts, playing illustrative clips to show how you can build impact through sound. The presentation will also provide an overview of ways in which podcasting can extend journalism and discuss distinctive characteristics of the medium.
Siobhán McHugh is an award-winning podcast producer, critic, consultant and academic. Her book, The Power of Podcasting: Telling Stories Through Sound (Columbia University Press 2022), hailed by an academic peer reviewer as ‘invaluable… the first comprehensive book on storytelling podcasts’, is a critique of podcasting as a new medium and growing industry, as well as a practical guide to making compelling narrative podcasts. Siobhán was consulting producer on Phoebe’s Fall , Wrong Skin, The Last Voyage of The Pong Su, investigative journalism podcasts that all won gold at New York Radio Festivals, and on The Greatest Menace, a queer history/true crime podcast dubbed ‘Australia’s S-Town’, which won Best Social Justice Podcast at New York Festivals 2022. It has since won fifteeen major awards, including Best Documentary (Signal, US) and a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism (Australian equivalent of a Pulitzer).
Siobhán founded RadioDoc Review, the first journal of critical analysis of audio stories. She has written widely in scholarly journals, academic online outlets and esteemed publications such as Harvard University’s Nieman Lab about the theory and practice of narrative podcasting, audio storytelling and the affective power of voice. In 2022, she founded the Hub for Innovation in Podcasting, a coalition of podcast researchers, creators, fans and industry. She is Honorary Associate Professor at University of Wollongong (Journalism) and the University of Sydney (Media/Communications).
Twitter: @mchughsiobhan
Website: https://siobhanmchugh.org/