Nieman Foundation at Harvard
It’s Episode 14 of Press Publish, the Nieman Lab podcast!
My guest today is Jenna Weiss-Berman, the director of audio at BuzzFeed. Jenna was hired last fall to figure out the site’s podcasting strategy, and thus far she’s launched three shows, each targeting the sites’s young diverse audience.
Just about everything BuzzFeed does draws attention, and its approach to podcasting is no different. Jenna’s job is to figure out audio’s place between BuzzFeed’s two great goliaths — text with pictures on one hand and video on the other. BuzzFeed’s enormous success with viral content might make you think social sharing is her team’s main goal — but in some ways BuzzFeed’s podcasts are more traditional than that.
We talked about how podcasts can reach a younger audience, whether audio is just a stepping stone to video, and her advice for young people who want to break into the podcast business. Here’s our conversation.
Or listen in your browser:
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/niemanlab/PressPublish014.mp3]
Jenna Weiss-Berman on LinkedIn
@WBJenna
BuzzFeed Podcasts
Another Round
Internet Explorer
Rerun
Jack Shepherd
What is the best way to track podcast “listenership”?
Ben Smith, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief
Lean In
Julia Furlan
Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton, hosts of Another Round
Internet Explorer on SoundCloud
Another Round live show in June
“What Kind Of Stuff On The Internet Do Teens Actually Think Is Cool?” (July 15, 2015)
“14 Times Daria And Quinn Morgendorffer Were You And Your Sister” (Aug. 17, 2015)
Earwolf
Panoply
The debut episode of Internet Explorer
Carl Kasell
NPR One
TED Radio Hour
Call Your Girlfriend
Matt Lieber of Gimlet Media
Serial
Welcome to Night Vale
“35 Hidden Podcasts You Really Should Be Listening To” (July 8, 2015)
An example of an ad in Another Round
“BuzzFeed Motion Pictures videos reach 1 billion monthly views” (March 12, 2015)
Grantland’s podcasts
“NBCUniversal to Invest $200 Million in BuzzFeed” (Aug. 18, 2015)
Acast
99% Invisible
Scumbag Steve
Anna Sale
Death, Sex, and Money
It Gets Better
