• Home
  • About
    • Chloe Veltman
    • lies like truth
    • Contact
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

lies like truth

Chloe Veltman: how culture will save the world

What Role Might Public Media End Up Playing in the Podcast-o-Sphere?

May 30, 2015 by Chloe Veltman

Apple's podcasting icon (Wikipedia fair usage image.)

Apple’s podcasting icon (Wikipedia fair usage image.)

Perhaps the most common word that comes up in my daily life these days as senior arts editor at KQED is “podcast.”

Ever since the This American Life spinoff podcast Serial stormed the digital airwaves, it seems like my industry has been seized by the idea that the format will somehow do for public radio what Downtown Abbey has done for public TV.

But what role is public media likely to end up playing in the podcast arena? Will the industry ultimately serve as a producer of original podcasts or rather see the podcasting medium as a way to deliver content along the same lines as it’s done for a long time?

Along with many of my colleagues across the organization, I’ve been listening to a lot — and I mean a lot — of podcasts lately. We’re on the hunt for bankable material. Some of the content I’ve listened to has been produced in-house, and some has gravitated my way from the outside.

The podcast drive comes at a time when the future looks bleak for traditional radio as we know it. It may not be too long before we have an RIP FM situation on our hands. (Norway was recently the first country to announce that it would unplug in 2017.)

And just like iTunes proved that consumers prefer to buy music by the single rather than the album, so signs are pointing to the “a la carte” approach for other kinds of audio content: Listeners want to pick and choose what to listen to rather than be fed what’s what in the order that’s given. The development of NPR One  is a move to respond to this appetite for content delivery.

So, with the death knell potentially sounding for FM, it makes sense for public media organizations to be jumping on the podcasting bandwagon with particular verve. After all, professionals who produce content for our ears on a daily basis ought to have the best handle on leading the podcast revolution, right?

Perhaps and perhaps not.

While we public media pros might have some advantages over non radio people creating podcasting material out there, such as access to professional recording facilities and engineers, it strikes me that we’re still at the very early stages of understanding the format.

One basic question that I’m grappling with is: Should a podcast be an extension of / interchangeable with what already appears on public media? Or should it be its own particular product?  I mean, Serial could have worked just as well as a radio series, and in fact relied on the This American Life brand name and distribution platform for its launch and ensuing runaway success.

I’ve been of the basic opinion up until now that a podcast isn’t a radio show and that it should differentiate itself somehow in content and style. A podcast can cover esoteric ground that mainstream radio can’t so easily program; it can run at any length rather than having to be wedged into a timeframe that fits the NPR clock; its creators don’t have to adhere to the buttoned-up, family-friendly NPR style.

But the “secret sauce” of podcasting remains largely elusive, and there are a vast number of podcasts out there that are, frankly, tiring on the ear: Creators think that saying “like” and “sorta” and “um” every other word frees up the style, when instead the talk just sounds sloppy. Not having to adhere to a strict timeframe leads to long-windedness and an excuse to do little or no pre-production and editing. And podcasters don’t realize that it’s not enough to be passionate and knowledgeable about 1950s Georgia bluesmen, French cheese or Beyonce’s latest outfit; they need to be able to communicate this passion in a way that is meaningful to people other than themselves.

Many of the podcast ideas I’m seeing emerge in public media land doubtless benefit from high quality production and storytelling chops. The producers know to keep the uptick from their voices. And they know how to construct a traditional narrative and use a perky theme tune. But the fact is, I’ve yet to come across a project prototype or concept that truly makes my ears prick up. I fear that many ideas (both generated by the traditional public media mill and elsewhere in the podcast-o-sphere) appear to rehash well-worn tropes like the variety show, the mini-documentary and the two- or three-way conversation.

Which leads me to wonder how this will all shake out: Will public media be a major creative source for the audio content experience in the digital age, or will its greatest strength lie in offering what it’s always offered — the only major difference being the delivery method?

And if that’s the case, then maybe the innovation in terms of content and style will mostly in the end come from elsewhere. And perhaps public media will go on to act as a formidable launching and branding platform to get the ideas out to the biggest possible audience.

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on Reddit
Reddit
Email this to someone
email

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Chloe Veltman

...is the Senior Arts Editor at KQED (www.kqed.org), one of the U.S.'s most prominent public media organizations. Chloe returns to the Bay Area following two years as Arts Editor at Colorado Public Radio (www.cpr.org), where she was tapped to launch and lead the state-wide public media organization's first ever multimedia culture bureau. A former John S. Knight Journalism Fellow (2011-2012) and Humanities Center Fellow (2012-2013) at Stanford University, Chloe has contributed reporting and criticism to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, BBC Classical Music Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, WQXR and many other media outlets. Chloe was also the host and executive producer of VoiceBox, a syndicated, weekly public radio and podcast series all about the art of the human voice (www.voicebox-media.org), which ran for four years between 2009 and 2013. Her study about the evolution of singing culture in the U.S. is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. Check out Chloe's website at www.chloeveltman.com and connect with her on Twitter via @chloeveltman. [Read More …]

lies like truth

These days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fantasy. As Alan Bennett's doollally headmaster in Forty Years On astutely puts it, "What is truth and what is fable? Where is Ruth and where is Mabel?" It is one of the main tasks of this blog to celebrate the confusion through thinking about art and perhaps, on occasion, attempt to unpick the knot. [Read More...]

Archives

Recent Comments

  • william osborne on When A Critic Abstains from Coverage for Ethnicity Reasons: “Several years ago you wrote a blog about African-American science fiction that was very informative. Until then I hadn’t realized…” Jun 29, 22:30
  • Kerri Hoffman on Thoughts on Public Media’s Potential Role in Podcasting: “Thanks for writing - I don't think we have enough of these conversations. As distributors to public…” May 31, 12:59
  • william osborne on What do cactuses sound like?: “I've heard that orchestra musicians have to deal with a lot of pricks...” May 18, 00:36
  • swiss on What do cactuses sound like?: “pretty sure Renga is not about vacuous nothingness...quite the contrary” May 17, 19:43
  • Ken on Thoughts as I start a new professional chapter: “Welcome back to the Bay Area Chloe! We are lucky to have you.” May 13, 16:57

Blogroll

  • About Last Night
  • Artful Manager
  • Audience Wanted
  • Bitter Lemons
  • blog riley
  • Clyde Fitch Report
  • Cool As Hell Theatre
  • Cultural Weekly
  • Dewey 21C
  • diacritical
  • Did He Like It?
  • Engaging Matters
  • Guardian Theatre Blog
  • Independent Theater Bloggers Association
  • Josh Kornbluth
  • Jumper
  • Lies Like Truth
  • Life's a Pitch
  • Mind the Gap
  • New Beans
  • Oakland Theater Examiner
  • Producer's Perspective
  • Real Clear Arts
  • San Francisco Classical Voice
  • Speaker
  • State of the Art
  • Straight Up
  • Superfluities
  • Texas, a Concept
  • Theater Dogs
  • Theatre Bay Area's Chatterbox
  • Theatreforte
  • Thompson's Bank of Communicable Desire
Return to top of page

an ArtsJournal blog

This blog published under a Creative Commons license

Copyright © 2018 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in