.jpg)
Podcasts are hot right now. Chances are that if you’re not listening to series such as “Serial,” “The Joe Rogan Experience, or “This American Life,” to name just a few, you know someone who is. With the podcast industry booming and popular interest only growing, it makes sense that the ExCollege, longtime at the forefront of innovative classes at Tufts, is meeting student demand by offering it as a signature Visiting Lecturer course this fall. And instructor Andrew Whitacre definitely knows his stuff.
As the Director of Communications for MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, Whitacre is a prolific podcaster and brings experience and knowledge to Podcasting: Crafting Audio Stories, which he calls a “big mix of analysis and production.” At the end of the semester, students will have actually created a podcast episode, guided along the way by Whitacre and distinguished guest speakers.
It’s a good time to get into podcasting. And a good time to ask the question: What exactly does the podcasting biz look like? If you follow the money, advertising revenues last year reached $314 million, small change compared to the billions poured into TV or online ads. But contextually, those numbers mean big business: revenues are “up 86 percent from last year, and ... they’ll grow another 110 percent over the next three years, at which point they’ll hit $659 million,” according to Recode. It’s a rapidly growing industry, and news organisations are still trying to figure out the best way to handle their podcasts. Some are finding it more difficult than others: Buzzfeed, Slate’s Panoply, and Audible all recently laid off their podcasting staff, leading to speculation on whether there’s a bubble bursting anytime soon.
I’m not an expert on podcasts, but Whitacre is. And he’s not worried about the industry, saying that podcasting is “still in its infancy in terms of experimenting with business models and, for outlets where podcasts are just one part of a larger news enterprise, even figuring out the basics of how to measure revenue.” His favorite aspect of podcasts is that anyone can start one with very low costs and a whole lot of passion and hustle. That’s why he’s convinced that podcasting, regardless of news organizations' successes or failures in the medium, “isn’t going anywhere.”
Certainly, if you talk to Professor Whitacre’s students, the love for podcasts – and now, podcasting — is apparent. Danny Nelson, a senior from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, regularly listens to shows like “The Bugle” and “99% Invisible.” He decided to take the class because he “thought it’d be a great way to better understand a medium that I’ve loved for years…and learn how to go on the other side of the microphone.” That sentiment is echoed by his classmate, Jarod Gowgiel, a senior originally from Portland, Oregon, whose favorite podcasts include “Armchair Expert” and “This American Life.” “I’ve been listening to podcasts for a while, and I’ve considered making them in the past, but I’ve never actually taken the necessary steps to make a great sounding podcast,” he explained.
Where there’s demand, there’s almost always supply — but as Whitacre pointed out, outside of a handful of schools, including Tufts’ neighbor Emerson College, “podcasting is rarely taught as a standalone class” despite its rising popularity. His class is an attempt to “help fill that gap” that exists if you’re a student who’s perhaps into podcasting, but not a dedicated journalism major. And this is not going unnoticed by his students. “I think that it’s really cool that the ExCollege is dedicating the resources to running this [course],” said Danny, an English major.
But you don’t need to be in Whitacre’s class to get started on that podcasting hustle. He offered a plethora of free online resources, including Transom.org, training.npr.org, and airmedia.org/resources, where burgeoning podcasters “can learn all the basics,” as well as his own class syllabus: cmswm.it/podcasting-syllabus. Whitacre himself got started with — and recommends — classes offered through Lynda.com, which is free for Tufts students. Online resources aside, if there’s one takeaway that I’ve learned, it’s that podcasting doesn’t have à particularly difficult barrier to entry. In Whitacre’s parting words: “You're not the only one excited about podcasting. Find a fellow student who's excited too, and just get at it!”
About the Author
Max Lalanne is a senior majoring in Film & Media Studies. Born in Paris and raised in New Hampshire, when he's not writing for The ExPress, he's running his own daily newsletter, News in French. He plans to continue a career in media and publishing.
Opmerkingen